W3 Company - News

Remembering ALL Our Fallen

on-going project - collecting photos of all our
deceased veterans headstones

these will be displayed against their name on
the Company roll - see examples 

scan and email the photo here  [please do close-up photos for best detail]

link to more news beginning July 2013 - news archive

Attention to Whiskey - Sunray [9 June 2013]

Background [Wikipedia]:  Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash.  Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn.  Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, made generally of charred white oak.  The word whisky (or whiskey) is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic word uisce|uisge meaning water.  Distilled alcohol was known in Latin as aqua vitae = "water of life".  This was translated to Gaelic as Irish: uisce beatha and Scottish Gaelic: uisge beatha = "lively water" or "water of life".

Sunray:  Recently I was reading an article about a distillery in Scotland and the point was made that "the word whisky comes from the Gaelic "uisage" which means water; however, in Scotland, unlike most other places it is spelt without an "e"". That got me thinking about our time in Vietnam and I couldn't remember whether it was spelt with or without an "e".  As rifle company designations were taken from the phonetic alphabet giving us Alpha, Bravo, Charlie etc it follows that V and W Companies would follow with the phonetic alphabet spellings which are Victor and Whiskey. I looked up some documents from our tour and found it difficult to find the word in full - most references were to either W Company or W3 Company.

Back home in 1989 Denny King sent out a letter about a Labour Weekend W3 Company reunion to be held in Christchurch.  He headed the notice Whiskey 3 Reunion and on the same line reproduced the W Company logo with the caption Whisky 3 Company.  Denny is in good company opting for both spellings.  In the book "The Vietnam Scrapbook" it is spelt "Whiskey" and in the book "1st Battalion RNZIR 1957-2007" it is spelt "Whisky".  It is interesting to note that prior to 1956 W in the phonetic alphabet was "William" or "Willie". I would prefer Whiskey/Whisky any day so we can all drink to that..!

webmasters note:  Despite my Scottish heritage I have attempted to use 'whiskey' throughout the website.  I can't say the same for other contributors..!  For the purists among you I would describe W3 Company as a Blended malt whisky being a mixture of single malt whiskies from different distilleries [corps-trades-Aussie]. We could argue the 'age' of our whiskey [time between distillation and bottling] since legally it must be the least aged of all the blends [some of us with a decade or more of service, others under two years] but at around 40% alcoholic strength W3 were surely potent..!

31 May 2013 - Bill and Merie will be in Palmerston North from 4 June for 6-weeks for Bill to start his radiation and chemotherapy, going home on weekends.  Merie reports that Pancho takes the strength and well wishes of W3 with him for the this part of the journey - kia kaha Pancho..!

NOTICAS UPDATE Neville Howell 2Pl - MFC85B [3 May 2013 - last NOTICAS 27 October 2012]
Neville had an email exchange with me this week, checking that the website had his correct email address.  He advises that the medics have him on new medication which leaves him basically pain-free but that the cancer is still spreading.  Nev remarks that the cancer is not beating him, that last September they gave him a 4-6 month timeframe, now well behind him, and that he's working on being around at Christmas.  Why not make Nev's day and drop him a message at nuidat2@hotmail.co.nz

We Remember - webmaster [22 April 2013]
While 25 April ANZAC Day is about remembering those who are not with us now, it is also about the story of two nations military working together for a common cause, illustrated by the creation of ANZAC battalions in 1ATF but also practically represented in the field when fighting as one force. 
This ANZAC Day story concerns the W3 mortar section who during their tour spent many days attached to and working with the Australian 3 Cav Regiment.

Note of Appreciation for W3 Service - webmaster [10 January 2013
From the website feedback service:  persons_name_: Janette (Trang) Maring  email_address_:tutam189@charter.net 

story_title_: Small Beginnings and Baria Orphanage – Bruce Young
offer_comment_: Dear Mr. Young,  You and I haven't formally met but I ran across your touching story as I was researching for my old orphanage.  As an orphan of the Viet Nam war, I would like to take this opportunity to express my utmost gratitude and appreciation for your unwavering service to my country of South Vietnam, especially to the forgotten orphan children. You forever placed your imprint in our hearts and our light of hope.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I ran across your page some time ago (about maybe 1 1/2 years ago)..  Your story was very difficult for me to read, but truly touching…I can't thank you enough for sharing it.  I bookmarked it and revisited it again last week…and finally, gained enough courage to contact you so I was delighted upon receiving your email…  I hope that this note finds you well and in good spirits.  It's wonderful to make your acquaintance and I am deeply honoured to have the opportunity to thank you personally for your service to the noble cause…

Message from a Fellow Veteran - webmaster [10 January 2013]
Welcome home to you all. I am a Canadian Vietnam veteran who served as a medic with the 1st Aviation Battalion at Phu Loi '69-'70.  I found a Youtube video on your welcome home parade.  I am glad you finally got the recognition you deserved.  As a Canadian volunteer, we were treated worse as it "wasn't our war" and were called mercenaries along with the usual disrespect.  We thought we were helping our neighbor as had been done through the years.  We were not welcomed home and not allowed to march in Remembrance Day services until 1994.  I just wanted to welcome you back home and say be proud of your service.  We all did our job and did it well.  A friend of mine wrote a song about my service and I added some of my photos.  The end result according to many was that it was a moving tribute.  If you would like to see it - Google The Ballad of Don Rogelio on Youtube.  Any comments would be most welcome as I cannot view it from a distance as it is too close to home.  Wishing you all a prosperous and happy 2013.  Brothers and Sisters forever.  With Respect Roger (DOC) Arndt

Website Statistics 2012 - webmaster [2 January 2013]
The W3 website had a pretty solid readership in 2012 as demonstrated by the figures below:  unique visitors is based on different IP addresses [same computer multiple visits equals one] - No of visits is a person who has not linked to the site in the previous hour - pages is the total of times a HTML [web] page has been viewed [but does not count PDF or other files or images], while hits show total of everything viewed or downloaded [page plus all images on page are counted].

The second table shows the top ten countries for readership in December, the US is consistently the largest group:

Visits duration shows 85-90% of visitors leaving within 30-seconds [2536 in December 2012] which means Google displays the website as a top option during queries, but 272 stayed for longer [in December] with 74 reading on for greater than 15-minutes to over an hour [6].

My exact sentiments about W3, All the Best for the New Year.  

link to more news from before January 2013 - news archive