President's Message

By: Frank T. Church
3rd Issue, 2025




When we returned from Vietnam, we were not welcomed by the major veterans’ organizations, as a result the Vietnam Veterans of America was established. For much the same reason the 11th Armored Cavalry Veterans of Vietnam and Cambodia was formed. We were proud of our service in answering our countries call but stayed silent for many years. Our bond to each other as brothers of battle was strong and we united with our own.

The sting of rejection is still felt but we have put that behind us. We are now accepted and sought after to fill the ranks of all veterans’ organizations. We were also estranged from the already established 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment’s Blackhorse Association. But in recent years we have partnered with the Blackhorse Association on many projects and they were all successful. Our greatest success is our memorial in Columbus, Georgia. It is a tribute to all who served with the Blackhorse and to those who died in defending the freedom of peoples from all around the world.

A few years ago, the active-duty Regimental Commander sought to build a memorial that not only honored our storied past from the Philippines to Southwest Asia but to include the Blackhorse Troopers of today and tomorrow and the contributions they will undoubtedly add to the Blackhorse legend, to share the history and the give them a sense of continued pride to be part of the 11th Armored Cavalry legacy.

The new memorial will also serve to bring together the current Regiment, the Blackhorse Association and the 11th Armored Cavalry’s Veterans of Vietnam and Cambodia with a common goal. It will be the bridge to a better understanding of the roles the three organizations and the uniqueness of each.

The role of the Regiment is to train our military in the art of modern war fare. The BlackHorse Association is focused on members of the cold war era and veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both are serving critical functions.

The purpose of the 11th ACVVC is to reunite all those that served in Vietnam and remember those that did not return, to meet annually to reaffirm our bonds and enjoy the uniqueness we have, to be who we chose to be individually and as an organization in being a major contributor to the Blackhorse legend, and to celebrate being brothers of battle under the 11th Armored Cavalry guidon.

We will continue to partner with the Blackhorse Association in mutually beneficial endeavors that support the active-duty Regiment.

The 11th ACVVC held its 40th annual reunion in Tulsa Oklahoma early September of this year. It was very successful. We had just under 600 troopers, families, and guests. The hotel was the right size for us and easy to negotiate, the staff was one of the most professional and courteous of any hotel we have previously visited. It was, in my opinion, one of the better reunions we have held. Tulsa is worthy of a repeat visit in the future. Every Trooper I spoke with was very satisfied with the reunion and very complimentary of the entire week of events. I am very grateful to all of those who made it so successful.

The 71st Regimental Commander, Col. Kevin Black, Regimental Command Seargent Major David Shipman, and the color guard from Ft. Irwin joined us as our special guests. The color guard ceremony of posting and retrieving the colors was done in strict military style and the highlight of the evening. I had the good fortune to spend a few minutes with them during their practice, the banter and joking of young soldiers reminded me of when we were young soldiers that engaged each other in the same manner. I had a very good time laughing with them. Many thanks to the regiment for breaking away from their primary mission to make this reunion even more special and successful.

We will be meeting again in early September of 2026 in Orlando Florida for a third time. It has always been a great place to unite for a good time together. (The thought of hurricanes will not stop us.) See the State of the Reunion article in this TR edition for details.

We were, we are, we will always be Blackhorse Troopers.”

Allons, Frank