The National Timberwolf Pups Association held their 6th Annual Reunion in Washington DC this September in collaboration with the 106th Infantry Division. The joint reunion was hosted at the Sheraton Pentagon City in Arlington, VA.
Beginning on Wednesday afternoon, reunion attendees began to arrive at the Sheraton Pentagon City where registration was held from 2:00pm- 6:00pm. Following registration, members of the NTPA had a Meet & Greet Mixer with the 106th Infantry Division members and spent time swapping stories in the Foxhole.A highlight of the reunion was the group’s trip to Ft. Meade and the Holocaust Museum. Fort George G. Meade is an Army base that includes the Defense Information School, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of the United States Cyber Command and National Security Agency. Originally opened in 1917, Ft. Meade has a rich history serving as a recruit training post and prisoner of war camp during WWII. Interestingly, many members of the 106th spent some time at Ft. Meade when active in the United States Army. The group enjoyed lunch at Club Meade, a base dining facility, and had a guest speaker visit with them as well as members of the band and active duty Army members present the Colors. After lunch, the group visited the Holocaust Museum, America’s only national memorial to the Holocaust. The museum which was established by a unanimous Act of Congress, contains a permanent exhibit of artifacts, films, photographs, and oral histories that document the Nazi genocide.
On Friday morning, members of the NTPA joined members of the 106th Infantry Division for a hot breakfast buffet and then qent into their Timberwolf Pups Meeting followed by their General Meeting. The group had a special guest speaker at their General Meeting – a holocaust survivor. The woman spoke about her experiences during World War II and liberation afterwards. A special connection to this group, as the 104th Infantry Timberwolves saw almost 200 days of fighting in northwestern Europe during WWII as they fought through France, Belgium, and western Germany – liberating many towns from the Nazi’s along the way.
That evening, the Timbewolves took a short drive to the Kennedy Center to see the entertaining, Shear Madness live theater performance. The hilarious, whodunit murder mystery show has been noted by DC critic Arch Campbell as, “the most fun he ever had at the Kennedy Center.”
Saturday morning members of the 106th Infantry and NTPA boarded buses to take in the sites of Washington on a Memorial Tour. Stops on the Memorial Tour included the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, U.S. Navy Memorial, and the World War II Memorial. On Saturday evening, the association held their annual Beer Bust in the Foxhole where attendees raffled on a magnitude of items donated to the association.
The reunion wrapped up on Sunday. The day began with a beautiful Memorial Service and concluded with a unforgettable banquet dinner. The association had the musical guest, Gary Ferris perform. Ferris performs over an hour long, WWII themed live radio show!
AFR has been planning the NTPA’s reunions since they became their own organization (the association is made up of the sons, daughters, families, and friends of the 104th Infantry Division) and we look forward to planning their 2017 Reunion!