It is 20 months since my father "Big Ray" passed away. He wrote in this thread many times of his affection towards the men he served with in Germany 56-58, about the re-unions which he attended each year with eight members making the annual meetings on a regular basis. I drove my mother and father to his last re-union (oct 2013) which was barely 2 months before he passed away. Although he only made it for the Saturday and the evening meal he was especially grateful to me for "getting him there" as he knew he would be making his last week end with these special men. These men have met annually every year since 1958 and I know my father was saddened to be leaving them. Though he will not know, he made it to every re-union. In the year that followed my father`s death, two more of these elite men were to succumb to illness, my mother and I attending their funerals in Doncaster and Mansfield to "represent my father". The remaining five men have vowed NOT to attend any more re-unions but to remember their time together. I guess we will meet four more times (there will be no one to meet at the last funeral) Our area does not seem the same without my father as chairman, meetings seem to be accompanied by a hollow void in my chest, a dry throat and a yearning for things to return as they were. It`s a wonderful group though and the future of the club looks to be in safe hands.Tony NORTH STAFFS AREA M.V.T.