April 24, 2008
I mentioned that I'll soon be changing the primary email address of the web page and that time is here. I'm spending more time filtering through everything and that takes away from what I need to do on the page. For the oldtimers you remember I had ncoic and for the past few years the familiar apo09843 address. Now I have to come up with a new one and that's where you come in.

This time I want to ask you for your ideas to fill in the question marks and give me a new email address, ??????@kagnewstation.com. Please email me your ideas, and TRY to keep it clean. Save yourself the trouble, rbt@kagnewstation.com won't do it! Help me out and see if we can come up with something unique. If it's good and I use it, I'll mail you a crisp, new Eritrean Nakfa.

April 24, 2008
I've finally got the new computer in place and the majority of the software working. That means I've gotten back to working on the backlog of emails, which is huge. It will take some time but I'll get to yours that you've sent in the past couple of months. A big thank you "again" to the sponsors for helping me get updated. The difference is unbelievable.

Also, Ralph Reinhold bought a large cache of government pictures from Kagnew in the mid 60s and I have them scanned. They are amazing photos so keep watching this page for the announcement when I have them online.

March 16, 2008
I've been working on a redo of the home page, putting a different menu system on the left side. It will consist of buttons for different sections like the roster, with dropdowns for pages within those categories. The goal is to make is easier and quicker to get to web pages and group pages that are similar.

While I'm doing this, I will be reviewing and updating pages so they are more consistent across the board. This in turn will make my maintenance and updating easier. This work will cause me to put some of the normal updates aside, but I plan to keep up with roster updates etc. as time permits.

Several people have already seen a preview with no problems, so I have put up a test page with this menu for you to try out. Remember this is an early test and may be incomplete. The current home page as you've always seen has not changed. Once you're on the test menu, you can get to the original page by clicking on the Home button. You can get to the test page by clicking on the following link.

March 8, 2008
Due to the increasing spam and receiving the same jokes 4 or 5 times every day, I will soon be changing email addresses for the Kagnew page. I will be setting up two email addresses, one for web page business only and another personal one so you can contact me directly. By being on all these mailing lists going all over, it was just a matter of time before it hit the spam lists. The apo..... address was unique and I hate to get rid of it, but it's time to move on.

I won't be pulling it over night, but will be phasing a new one in over the next couple of months. When I do pull the plug, I will be setting up an automatic responder to let you know the change has been made if you try to use it. As a last resort, you will always be able to go to the home page and use the link there to contact me.

For those of you that have been getting emails kicked back to you recently, that's the beginning of trying to filter out some of this. I sometimes get single emails that are 10 megs in size so you can see the problem when I get a large number of them in a day, some duplicates. It tends to make some long downloads when just checking email.

I will keep you up to date on that change here on the Hot News page, so check it if you have a problem contacting me.

February 2, 2008 (Groundhog's Day)
On a lighter side, for those of you who haven't seen snow in a while and miss it, or have never seen it (is that possible?), here is what we woke up to Friday morning.

January 16, 2008
I have finished the latest Kagnew 2008 Update page which is linked to on the home page or click here to get to it.

January 4, 2008
Welcome to 2008!
First, I've received a few reunion notices so check that page out as soon as possible and contact these people if you have any interest in attending. Having helped on 3 myself, I know they need to know approximately how many will attend as soon as possible to make the reservations needed to have a good reunion. If you're not sure, contact them anyway and tell them you might be interested, just so they'll get a better handle on the numbers.

The page and roster keep growing and I've set my sights on getting more done on the Kagnew map. I've already had some help from Dave Handlin and a few others in identifying buildings and that will be very important as the progresses. Dave had a great idea to include personal stories about the buildings where we worked so I plan to solicit that from everyone and include it in the building bios. Stay tuned to the page for that.

Finally, I wish everyone an outstanding and healthy 2008.

August 26, 2007
After passing my 10 year anniversary of doing this page, there is another milestone. Just before 5:00 pm today, the ticker broke the 400,000 mark.

Thanks to everyone for making it possible. 400,000 visitors in 10 years! Think we can all make to the million mark?
Thanks for everything,
Rick

*** IMPORTANT - August 20, 2007
In case you haven't noticed, I've gotten back to working on the Kagnew map and added 8 locations today. This map is where you will see an architect's drawing of Kagnew with hotspots you can click and see pictures and information about that building. This has been quite a project over the past few years and there is still a lot of work ahead so I hope you like it.

Now the important part: I NEED YOUR HELP! If you have "ANY" pictures of Kagnew buildings inside and out, I need them for this map. And I also need your knowledge about the buildings. If you were involved with a building on the map and I don't have information about it yet, let me know. There are some buildings I was never in which would apply to most of us, but with everyone's help, we should be able to identify every building and it's use.

I also know over the years that some buildings changed purpose, most likely in barracks assignments, so any help you can give me will be useful. So....if you have any information or pictures that you'd like to share with everyone about Kagnew, email me. Nothing is trivial, everything is important. Get involved and be part of this project.
Thanks, Rick

August 1, 2007
It seems like just yesterday I contacted John Harris about "helping him" with the Kagnew page. It is now my 10th anniversary of doing the page "after John!" It's been quite a 10 years, meeting new friends, finding old friends, three reunions and watching the page grow and grow. Thanks to you, the number of visitors is just about to pass the 400,000 mark.


I don't know how much longer I can last but I'll keep working to keep this thing going and have a place for everyone to meet. It's been a pleasure bringing it to you, hope you've enjoyed it.
Rick

August 1, 2007
Recently I asked everyone to email me with your request to access the message boards because of spammers. I've tried to make it a little easier by providing a registration form on the Message Board page. If you haven't yet signed up for the Message Boards, just fill out the form with your information and I'll get on the way to getting in. Thanks for your patience with this little bit of extra effort, it pays off keeping the boards clean.

June 23, 2007
I have completed scanning an original copy of "A History of Kagnew Station and American Forces in Eritrea" by John Rasmuson and posted it on the History page. I have created a new history page that has a link to the web pages I created years ago from a copy and another link to the scanned copy of the original book. Hope you enjoy seeing the book in it's original form.

I have added a new page that doesn't have anything to do with Kagnew Station. It contains answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) you might have about the Kagnew Home Page.

This will be a dynamic page where I will add new questions as they come in. Hopefully this will help you find out information about the page without waiting for me to reply. If you have a question that you think would be appropiate for this page, and I'll take a look.

The new page is linked at the bottom, left of the Kagnew home page, listed as "FAQ." Or you can go directly there by clicking this link: FAQ page.

September 13, 2006

Another milestone.

Thanks to everyone who made this possible.

I recently received a roster submission and at the time I believe we had set the record for the oldest, living ex-Kagnewite. With regret, I have learned that BG Orman Goodyear Charles passed away at a young 98 years of age.

His daughter said he was not really familiar with computers, but was learning and was able to view some of the information here on the web site! She also told me he was the Commanding Officer at Kagnew from 1954 until 1957, which would have been the earliest days of Kagnew's existence.

I will be posting his obituary as a tribute on the Memorial Wall page very soon. BG Charles is a man that was a huge part of Kagnew Station history. Our condolences to the family.

"Now and then" an idea comes along from one of you and that has happened again. Kagnewite Kyle Goodnight had an idea to post pictures of ourselves from "then and now" so I have started a new page. It is simply called "Kagnewite Photos - Then and Now" and it is online. If you want to contribute your pictures, contact Kyle via the roster pages. Just do a name search for him.

Kagnewite Paul Betit has written a book call "Kagnew Station" and would like everyone to know it is available for sale. Information can be found on the new Classifieds For Sale page. If you haven't been on this page, there is also information about a book Ed White has written about his experiences at Kagnew during his tour and when he returned. Give these guys a shot and check out their books.

I was able to purchase a Kagnew Gazelle from the day after the Kagnew dedication ceremony in 1953 and it is now online on the Gazelles page.

Don't miss this special Gazelle!!

It's looks like the Kagnew page is noting two significant items. First, I have just passed my 9th anniversary of doing this page. It seems like just yesterday that I contacted John Harris about it and then Dennis Horner came along and we teamed up to grow the page. And now, the visit total will break 300,000 since taking over. I think that's amazing considering the page probably hasn't scratched the surface of finding all those out there that served at Kagnew. The numbers keep going up and the page keeps going, so it looks as if I'll start thinking about that 10th anniversary next summer and trying to do something special. In the meantime, thanks to everyone for their continued support, emails, letters, stories, pictures etc. I could never dream of doing something like this without the input from all of you. Give yourselves a pat on the back.

Update August 22, 2005
Thanks to everyone for stopping by and setting another milestone --

Another big milestone for the Kagnew Home Page. Ronnie Ruffner, an ASA type today became the 2000th person registered on the Kagnew roster. Ronnie was an 058 and 76Y at Kagnew during 1960-63 while working at Tract C. He tells me he moved to supply at HQ after he married a local girl. Welcome to the page Ronnie and congratulations on being # 2000!

I've posted a communications map showing Kagnew's circuits on the Maps page. It is incomplete but I will be updating it as more information comes in. Check it out!

August 6, 2004
The following image says it all!

Since I began counting visits to the Kagnew page sometime in 1998, the page has gone over the quarter million mark! I think that's quite a milestone. The page continues to grow and the July numbers alone show nearly 10,000 visitors! Back in the early days a few hundred a month was good.

The page is about to break another milestone and that is 2,000 people listed on the roster. I have an early roster page printed out from mid-1997 and there were 46 names on it. Just think what it would be like if we'd had the internet capability we have now 20 or 30 years ago!

Thanks to all of you for making this possible.

I have been in contact with Hans van der Splinter in the Netherlands and he is sending me a map of Asmara which I plan to post as soon as it arrives. Hans also tells me that he has a terrific web site with pictures and narration from his trips to Eritrea so you absolutely need to check this page out! It is called Eritrea.be and you can find it at:

http://www.eritrea.be/.

You can also check out his other great site at: http://www.asmera.nl/asmara.htm

For those of you who served at Kagnew from late 1967 and after, Bill Cloud has sent in an article from the November 10, 1967 Kagnew Gazelle. The article, entitled "Massawa R&R Center Has Gala VIP Opening" tells us about the grand opening of the new hotel. And something I didn't know and no one has filled me on was the name chosen. We always called it TTU and I was never aware it had a name! Check out this great article on the Kagnew Station Gazelle Page.

A new page on the Kagnew Home Page, which will advertise the products and services of Kagnew veteran's companies. You can also buy or sell Kagnew, Eritrean and Ethiopian items. Only requirements are you were in the military and served in Ethiopia (now Eritrea), and buy/sell items must be related to that area. Check it out at Kagnew Station Classifieds.

Thanks to Bruce Riccitelli Co. A, 05K, Tract C 1968-70 we now have a new Kagnew Gazelle from 10 October 1969. He sent it in because there's an article about his band "The Blues Expression" (see Entertainment page) but there's also a great article about the water shortage most of us experienced. Along with other sports articles etc. Check it out at Kagnew Station Gazelles Page.

The new Kagnew Entertainment Page is beginning to take shape. I've added several pictures and writeups provided by those people involved and I think it's going to be a great addition to the Kagnew page. I've also added a 10-minute audio clip with a radio promo in English and I believe Tigrinya and a live performance of Max Bugsby! I plan to have more to add in the near future so keep checking in with this new page.

If you worked at AFRTS TV/Radio or belonged to a band please email me with the scoop, and if you have pictures that's even better. I have even gotten tips that there are actual movies out there of some performances. I'm not sure how I could make that available, but if I can get my hands on them I will try.

Don't miss this page for a flashback to the "good times" at Kagnew!

I recently created a new "Audio" page and posted a 10-minute audio clip of AFRTS trailers and a long set of the Max Bugsby band. After some thought and discussion with a few people, I've decided to expand that page and rename it the "Entertainment" page. The page will be devoted to AFRTS, KANU-TV and the bands that played at Kagnew. They were a huge part of everyday life at Kagnew so it's only appropriate that a page be devoted them.

If you were specifically involved with any of these groups, please email me with your stories, pictures and hopefully some audio or video clips that I can post on this page. Even if you weren't directly involved and have information that will help with this page you are also welcome to contribute. Maybe you have your own pictures of a band playing, or knew some of the people that brought us that entertainment. Simply, if you have something useful to contribute to this page, please email me.

The link is now on the home page called Entertainment so check it out. If you would like to listen to the audio clip, download it using the instructions on that page and play it from your hard drive. It is 10megs in size so give it some time if you are on a dialup. Those on broadband should be able to download it in no time.

Hope you enjoy this new addition to the Kagnew page!

After a recent phone conversation with Zazz (George Zasadil ASA), he enlightened me about what "ditty-boppers" did while at Kagnew. So I thought it would be cool to put together a page that would translate English into Morse code.

Only after I got it finished and working did Zazz tell me there was once a web site that did that and also produced the sound. After a little searching on the web, I found a great site, so here is the link to check that out:

http://www.omnicron.com/~ford/java/NMorse.html

I will also be placing this on the "Links" page, so if anyone has a problem getting to it, let me know so I don't keep a bad link on the page.

Thanks to the sponsors and the new web site, I have completed the posting of pictures from Lee Ruebush's 2000 trip to Eritrea. At last count I have 138 pictures and the wait was worth it. There are some terrific pictures so don't overlook them. Warning though! Because I now have plenty of disk space for new pictures I have not reduced these in size too much. Most of them are in the 800 to 1000 pixel wide size, which means you will have to bump up your computer resolution or scroll to the right to see the entire picture. I am set at 1024 by 768 resolution and it's perfect. You'll see what I mean when you look at them. The impact of the larger pictures is definitely worth the time to download them. Kind of like the difference between watching a movie on TV or at the theater.

If you want to view them again and again, it would save you time to simply download them to your hard drive and save them.

Please follow the link to check this out, there are some great pictures.

If you were sent to Asmara around 1950, you would have been stationed at Radio Marina and been issued a copy of the "Handbook of Eritrea." Jerry Pry has provided the Kagnew Home Page with a copy of the handbook and you can now see all of it on the Documents Page. It is a great book to learn about Eritrea and Radio Marina at the time so don't miss stopping by that page and reading it.

Lee Ruebush has returned from a great journey to Asmara and has sent us a letter describing his trip. Don't miss reading this to get an update on life in Asmara 2000.