17- CIB Austin meets 82nd Airborne Paratrooopers
Sunday, August 31st, 2008
In this episode of the Southern Branch H21, Austin Chapter, of the Combat Infantrymen’s Association podcast series, we focus on several events for the CIB Austin chapter.
(1) The chapter meeting on 2 August 2008:
In this meeting, we had a full Agenda. You can get to view what it was by clicking here: 
(and how the items discussed are described in the audio mp3 file of this episode).
(2) During the meeting, it was approved by a vote of the members to schedule a trip to San Antonio to attend a meeting of the 82nd Airborne Division Association, Alamo Chapter: 
We wanted to present both a certificate of appreciation, but also a complementary membership, to Darrell G Harris, author of the book Casablanca to VE-Day: A Paratrooper’s Memoirs.
[Note: you can get a full interview of this paratrooper's history in episode 12 of this podcast series]
(3) The 82nd Airborne Division Association Meeting on 27 August 2008:
- We presented the Certificate of Appreciation to Darell G. Harris – click here to view the certificate: ;
- Bobby Briscoe presented a free membership to D. G. Harris to the Combat Infantrymen’s Association;
- Bobby Briscoe then presented a signed copy of his book, Jungle Warriors, to D. G. Harris (my apologies for not having a steady hand while taking the photo);
- D. G. Harris also presented signed copies of his own book, Casablanca to VE-Day, to the members of the CIB Association, Austin Chapter.
- Attending the meeting were: Bobby Briscoe, Tony Martinez, John Torres and Fred Castaneda;
- The members talked to those paratroopers with CIBs and encouraged them to join our association. Below, Fred Castaneda and DG Harris (note- Fred is a member of BOTH the CIB Austin and 82nd Airborne Association, since Fred served 2 tours with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) and the 505th PIR, and like Darrell, has both jump wings and a CIB badge);
- We met Don W. Bailey, a future interviewee, as he received his CIB for the combat that he saw in Grenada in 1983; and
- We agreed to have a joint meeting for both the 82nd Airborne Division Association, Alamo Chapter, and the CIB Association in Austin in the first half of 2009 at the VFW 8787 location, so that the camaraderie between these 2 groups can continue and grow.
(4) If you are interested in acquiring the audio version of the books described in this podcast, here are the links for the audio version (note: the hardcopy versions are almost depleted):
- Casablanca to VE-Day: A Paratrooper’s Memoirs by Darell G. Harris;
- Jungle Warriors by Bobby Briscoe.
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