Dave Creamer, Wes Scheller, Ed Escobedo and Vic Francoeur were all stationed at the 798th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron in Belleville, Illinois. Affectionately known, as "Turkey Hill", this radar site was officially opened in 1951. Dave was the first of the four to be assigned in 1951. Wes and Ed arrived in 1952. Vic was assigned in 1953. Close friendships were formed. All four married Belleville women. A note of interest, the wives of Dave, Wes and Vic are related.
In early 1992, Dave came to visit in Belleville. A get together was planned at Wes Scheller's house. Ed and Vic were present. The four started reminiscing about the "good ole days" when Dave came up with the idea of trying to locate enough of our old Turkey Hill friends to have a party, reunion or just a plain get-together. Several of the early 50s Turkey Hillers had married local girls and still resided in the Belleville area. With the help of the wives, we started jotting down names of old friends. We came up with 12 names of people that we knew we could get in touch with. Someone had to be given the task of record keeping and trying to locate these former members. Vic was given the job with much prompting by Dave. A monumental task considering the passage of 40 years.
On 13 April 1992, the first piece of correspondence was mailed out to ex 798th people. At this point in time, we were only trying to locate people that had been there from the early to mid 50s. Roy Meyer of Decatur, Georgia and Ron Palmquist of Cape Elizabeth, Maine were instrumental in helping to get the total effort rolling in the right direction.
Ron Palmquist had tried to organize a reunion in 1991. He had written Wally Spiers of the Belleville News Democrat and the PR people at Scott AFB to gather information on the 798th. Ron inserted articles into American Legion Magazines, several large newspapers scattered all over the US. He did receive some replies from interested ex Turkey Hillers. Wally Spiers published an article in his daily column in the Belleville newspaper of the interest to initiate a reunion among ex 798th members. Roy Meyer from Decatur Georgia, notified Vic of this effort. Vic immediately contacted Ron Palmquist and they exchanged information. The names provided by Ron provided a good jumping off point in locating ex members. It quickly became evident that the invitation to a reunion had to be expanded to anyone that had ever been stationed at the Hill. People that were contacted provided additional names of friends that they had stayed in touch with. The original list of 12 names quickly grew in numbers.
The first letter was mailed out on 13 April 1992. The letter requested assistance with adding new names to the list and for providing addresses for people who they knew that had been at Turkey Hill. When the list grew to 40 people, it was decided to hold a reunion in the spring of 1993. Initial questionnaires were mailed out to prospective attendees. The response was very gratifying and plans were evolving. The planning for the first reunion was done by the "Committee of Four". By June of 92 the planning phase had progressed to the point that facilities were being visited and activity plans were being formulated. Interested attendees were provided updated lists of located members and planned activities during this first reunion. By year-end 1992, plans had been formulated. The Hyatt Lodge in Belleville had been selected as the motel of choice to house out-of-town members. Fischer's Restaurant, which adjoins the Hyatt Lodge, had been selected as the location of our banquet and festivities. Trips were planned to the old "Union Station" train depot which is now a gorgeous shopping mall. We then visited the Arch Grounds. Bus transportation was provided and was very well received by the attendees. They especially enjoyed the tour of the old 798th site. All in all, our first reunion was very successful and was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone in attendance. During the business portion off the evening, festivities, a committee was selected to assist in planning future reunions. A total of 11 members volunteered to serve on the committee. The 93 Reunion weekend was the 16-17-18th of April 1993.
The first 798th Turkey Hill Newsletter was mailed out in August of 1993 along with a copy of Dave Creamer's presentation "The Birth of the Hill", an early history of the 798th as researched by Dave. Shortly after declaring the '93 reunion a success, the committee went into full swing planning the '95 Reunion. The first Committee meetings was held on 19 Jan 1994, and about every 2 to 3 months afterwards for purposes of assigning task chairmen. In many of our newsletters we have solicited the input of old orders for the purpose of locating former members. This has been a very successful effort. Shortly after the '93 reunion, two members volunteered to be our official locators. John Yurcak from Nashua, NH and Chuck Soltis from Valparaiso, IN. These two members have diligently located our former friends by using Phone Disks on CD ROM installed on their computers. Their success is borne out by the large increase of names in our master database. We started with 12 names. The initial evolved into 380 by mid 95. Our current database numbers about 673. Newsletters are mailed to 195 members for which we have a valid address. Just think if half of these members would attend the next reunion with their wives, we would have about 200 people at our next reunion. (Remarkable)
The same process was used to develop a schedule of activities for the '95 reunion as the '93 reunion. The '95 reunion, held on 28-29-30 April 1995, was also a huge success. A trip to the 798th site was made on Saturday the 29th, in the morning, and the afternoon found our reunion group aboard the Casino Queen gambling riverboat. Everyone had a marvelous time. We returned to the Hyatt Lodge about 6:00 PM. Banquet and associated festivities were again held at Fischer's Restaurant. Dinner music was provided and Dave Creamer again did a marvelous job as MC. Photos were taken of everyone in attendance and sold after the reunion. After dinner, a business meeting was held. It was the opinion of the majority of members in attendance that annual dues would be set at $10.00. A committee was also established to create a memorial to all personnel from the ex 798th unit. Mauro Rodriguez was voted in as the chairman. On Sunday morning the 30th, a brunch was held at Fischer's and gave us all a last chance to bid our farewells. Attendees were anxiously awaiting the announcement of when the next reunion would be held.
These events bring us up to date on where we are. Our next reunion will be held in April of 1997. The committee has yet to meet, but when we do, planning will begin in earnest to make sure that our '97 reunion is every bit as enjoyable as it was in '93 and '95.
UPDATE
The 1997 Reunion was extremely successful. I am writing this addendum to bring this history up to date. Planning for the 798th Memorial to be erected at the old site proceeded in earnest. I am happy to report that the project was completed and dedication ceremonies were conducted at the 1999 Reunion at the 798th site. The generous donations of our members made this possible. Eddie Quinn and Wes Scheller were extremely instrumental in the installation of the concrete pad to hold the Memorial Stone which honors all prior military and civilian personnel who served at the 798th site from 1951 till 1968. The 1999 Reunion was probably the most successful reunion to date. The change of venue from the Hyatt Lodge in Belleville to the Ramada Inn in Fairview Heights was well received by our reunion members.
The next reunion is scheduled for the 13-14-15-16 September 2001 timeframe. It will mark the 50th Anniversary of the 798th Site opening in 1951. Plans have not been formalized for this reunion but the committee will be meeting quarterly during the rest of 2000 and 2001 and I am sure plans will be formulated which will ensure a successful reunion.
UPDATE
The events of September 11, 2001, decisions had to be made on hosting our 2001 Reunion. The committee opted to go ahead with reunion plans. Considering the travel situation, many of our faithful members made the trek to Belleville to attend this Anniversary Reunion. The reunion was deemed extremely successful. A tribute was paid to all who lost their lives in the 911 atrocities.
Written by Vic Francoeur, Secretary/Coordinator 798th Reunion Committee.