Vietnam vets reunite 50 years after induction

RP Members great reunion story for Vietnam Veterans.

A long-delayed reunion rekindled memories of four La Crosse high school graduates about their bus ride to St. Paul, Minn., for their Army physicals and inductions on Dec. 9, 1965.

The four — Aquinas High School alums Pete Opitz and Jim Bantle, and Central High School grads George Bell and Bill McArthur, all 69 — gathered for breakfast at Fayze's in downtown La Crosse in mid-December, the first time they had been together since that 150-mile ride 50 years ago.

"It was a day almost like today," Bell said of the clear, crisp weather Wednesday as they gathered in Riverside Park after breakfast for a reunion photo around the cannon.