USAF Medic Bryan Booth Pinning Ceremony - June 9 2021
June 9, 2021: The EC-47 History Site Commemorative Partner Program (CPP) committee in San
Angelo, Texas, hosted a Vietnam veteran lapel pin and Certificate of Appreciation presentation to
Bryan Booth in the home of the committee coordinator on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.
Committee member, Carl Frentz, representing American Legion Post 572, made the presentations. Booth was accompanied by his spouse, Connie Booth.
In this photo, L-R: Tom Nurre, Carl Frentz, Bryan & Connie Booth.
Bryan Booth graduated from Texas A&M University in the Class of 1968. Although not a member of the Corps of Cadets, he did have some military service and commissioning opportunities (especially in Army helicopter aviation career fields) being provided by the raging Vietnam War. Bryan enlisted in the Air Force in 1969 and completed his basic training and medical technician training at Lackland (San Antonio) and Sheppard (Wichita Falls) Air Force Bases, respectively. Following graduation, he was assigned to the 3rd USAF Dispensary at Bien Hua Air Base, South Vietnam. Bryan also pulled duty with a US Army unit operating in and around Long Binh. He got his opportunities to ride in those choppers after all.
Then-Staff Sergeant Booth completed his enlistment in 1973 and returned to Texas, eventually turning to the ranching life on the family holdings near Junction in Kimble County. It was our honor to host this "Welcome Home" ceremony and to offer him the tribute and thanks that should have been part of his return from Southeast Asia fifty years ago.
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L-R: The EC-47 History Site Vietnam War Commemorative Partner Program (CPP) committee coordinator, Tom Nurre, welcomes Vietnam veteran Bryan Booth to a CPP pinning ceremony in the Nurre home located in San Angelo, Texas.
L-R: Bernie Molaschi, surviving spouse of WWII veteran Henry Molaschi, visits with Kitty Nurre about the Vietnam War Commemorative Partner Program. Bernie attended the Memorial Day CPP presentations to deceased Vietnam veteran surviving spouse, Edie Potter, and wished to attend the Bryan Booth pinning ceremony as well.
L-R: Tom Nurre and Bryan Booth review the military, sports, and early family life memorabilia displayed in Nurre's home office. Of most interest was an aerial photograph of the Nurre Liberty Jersey farm where Tom grew up in northern Iowa. The two veterans exchanged livestock and farming stories.
L-R: Tom Nurre and Bryan Booth trading war-stories about goodness knows what. . .a new friendship in the making. One particular point made by Bryan and the dairy business...cows don't give milk, you have to work to get it! A lesson in life for sure.
L-R: Connie Booth made the initial outreach to the CPP to have her husband recognized with the Vietnam Commemoration lapel pin. In this photo, Tom Nurre is welcoming Connie to the Nurre home along with her husband and the other guests attending.
The Vietnam War CPP pin and certificate presentations were preceded by this program information briefing presented by the San Angelo CPP coordinator. He cited the genesis of the local program with credits to the Angelo State University West Texas Collection staff and the University Honor's Program leadership and students. L-R: Carl Frentz, Bernie Molaschi, Deanna Potter, Connie Booth, Tom Nurre and Bryan Booth.
L-R: Tom Nurre reads the citation on the EC-47 History Site Certificate of Appreciation as American Legion Post Adjutant Carl Frentz affixes the commemorative lapel pin to Bryan's shirt collar. Connie Booth stands in solidarity with her husband...with a noticeable squeeze of his hand during the pinning process.
American Legion Post 572 joined the local CPP committee in 2015 and began hosting an annual event on Vietnam Veterans Day in 2018. In this photo, Post 572 Adjutant Carl Frentz, himself a USAF Senior Master Sergeant retiree and Vietnam veteran, welcomes Bryan home while affixing the pin on his shirt collar. Carl has performed many pinnings over the last five years.
Post 572 Adjutant Carl Frentz offers his personal comments and a firm handshake with Bryan Booth on behalf of the CPP committee organization members. Deanna Potter takes personal pictures of Carl Frentz and Bryan & Connie Booth. Connie has long been active in community support to veterans and in every sector of the civilian population in her role as Executive Director of the Kimble Country Chamber of Commerce and Junction Visitor Information office. She retired in 2018.
Carl Frentz presents the CPP committee Certificate of Appreciation to Bryan and Connie Booth. Bryan is an active Kimble County rancher representing more than 100 years of "cowboying" on the Booth family ranch. Connie is an active member of the Concho Valley Community Action Agency (CVCCA). It was her meeting with the CVCCA in San Angelo that offered this opportunity to have Bryan accompany her and make this CPP ceremony possible.
Well well...Connie insisted that she and Bryan share a "kissing moment" during events like this one. It is also a "Kodak moment" and we appreciate this loving and heartfelt sentiment...no better "Welcome Home" than a kiss and embrace from one's special life partner. Way to go, Connie!
Bryan and Connie Booth pose for a formal presentation picture. Carl "Brad" Bradley owns/operates Faith in a Flash Photography and has become the "go-to" photographer for CPP events for nearly five years. Brad and his spouse, Sandra, are both military veterans and truly understand the ins and outs of military-type presentations. This photo is a wonderful example of his work.
The presenters and recipients pose for a group photo. L-R: Tom & Kitty Nurre, Carl Frentz, Bryan & Connie Booth, Deanna Potter and Bernie Molaschi. Much of the social conversation had to do with the fun of games of chance in casinos and on cruise ships. Fame and fortune, both, won and lost! It was a fun and meaningful get-together.
Wrap-up comments being made all around as the photographer widens the lens angle to show more of the Nurre home decor. It provided a warm and welcoming ambiance. Three cheers for Mrs. Kitty Nurre.
Connie & Bryan Booth share parting comments at the conclusion of the presentation ceremony.
Tom Nurre describes the contents of the pocket folder of materials provided by the Commemoration. The packet included the Presidential Commemoration Proclamation, lapel pin Fact Sheets, bumper stickers, tin pins and a Commemoration brochure. Bryan and Connie were also interested in the literature describing the four additional commemorative lapel pins established in 2016 through the Certificate of Honor program.
USAF Senior Master Sergeant (Retired) and Vietnam War veteran Carl Frentz is the current Adjutant of American Legion Post 572. He is also an avid/active Boy Scouts of America leader at the local and state levels. He is always ready to help plan, organize and direct these special events.
Bryan Booth is showing Tom Nurre a photo of a contrail that appears to form the Morse code DAH DAH DIT of the letter G or GOLF in the phonetic alphabet. In this instance, Connie believes it forms the first letter of GOD in reading from the bottom and ascending toward the heavens. There was great fun in showing it to Tom Nurre who was a Morse code operator during his military career. He wholeheartedly agreed.
Bryan Booth shares the contrail Morse code phonetic alphabet letter G as in GOD to former radio communications analyst, Carl Frentz. Bernie Molaschi looks on with interest and agreement that in this instance the correct phonetic for the letter G would be GOD instead of GOLF.
Bottom of the skyline to top: Morse code DAH DAH DIT, the letter G as in GOD.
Tom & Kitty Nurre pose with Bryan Booth in this photo taken by Connie Booth as they prepared to depart San Angelo for the drive back to their ranch in Junction, Texas. We all salute our new friends...and welcome them to our home whenever they travel this way again. Salute!
