Our 63rd Annual reunion was held in Tampa, Florida Thursday, August 18 to Sunday morning August 21, 2011 at the Embassy Suites Tampa—Airport/ Westshore hotel.
Click here for an invitation letter from Association President John S. Weston.
A special day planned for Friday was first a visit to the Armed Forces Military Museum in North Largo and then lunch with Helen “Taffy” Bates, the widow of Colonel Paul Bates, the well-beloved commander of the 761st Tank Battalion. The Armed Forces Military Museum is a first class 35,000 sq. ft. museum of military memorabilia, vehicles, tanks and a motion simulation theatre. If you are an original 761st Tanker, you may recognize artifacts from many years ago while touring the museum. These items were donated to the museum through the generosity of Taffy Bates to honor the memory of the 761st. After the museum, travel of a short distance to the Florida Aquarium to board a their new (air conditioned inside) 72 foot catamaran and journey out into the bay to see dolphins, numerous species of birds and fish, manatees and much more. The banquet was Saturday August 20, 2011.
