Ever had a seemingly unimportant event occur that seems to mushroom into something great? Kind of like planting a tiny rose bush and a couple of years later 'House and Garden' calls wanting to do a full spread article about your green thumb? Well, that's just the way the Foxy Ladies Society happened.

The event occured at the 2000 reunion of the USMC/Vietnam Helicopter Association held in San Diego, California. After registration the men drifted to their individual squadron welcome tables, dragging wives along. "Come on, honey you're going to have a good time!" Although many of us had heard the stories about the men our husbands introduced us to, this was the first time actually meeting them. After couple of hours "Good to meet you," our heads were so full of names, stories and more stories that, I'm sure, many of us went into the "I'll just smile and bob my head" mode. After all, what could we contribute to all this history?

After a long day of head bobbin' several of us women found ourselves sitting alone with each other. The only thing we had in common was being married to Marines, which limited the conversation a great
deal. We traded small talk about the reunion and how our middle aged men had seem to have transformed themselves back into young men that had worn the uniform of the USMC. Our guys,
content to sit in front of the television back home were now busy reminiscing and trading war stories
with one another. It is remarkable how young and handsome they appeared as they danced through memories. As for us women, they could have been speaking Klingon as we were not always able to keep up with the jargon. But the laughter, tears and 'OU Waa's' became infectious as we began to share our own memories of the war. One woman recalls a Marine car pulling up at her house only to learn that it was the wrong address, another recalled her husband trying to wear his USMC dress white uniform for a party and splitting the pants down the middle. Throughout the reunion stories were collected from the the ones left behind, us. Many of the women we met welcomed the opportunity to share. Some were surprised that anyone even cared enough to listen. All and all the loved ones of the Purple Foxes were a hardy, fun loving group of souls that wanted to be heard. At that moment in time, none of us had much in common except our indirect connection to the Marines, but knew in our hearts that even if we did not put on the uniform and fight, we still served in the USMC.

This seemingly unimportant event of strangers meeting at a USMC reunion blossomed into the Foxy Ladies Society. After our experience with the women at the event we thought we had plenty of stories to share and plenty of support we could give others that find themselves not wearing the uniform. The Foxy Ladies Society, a place where the men and women supporting the Purple Foxes can connect, share and remember.

Although the idea of the Foxy Ladies was inspired by all the men and women at the reunion that week. the four women at the table that fateful day decided to make it happen. They are Brenda Gruenewald, Jeannie Harrell, Gail Gulledge and Vicki Wages.

Brenda married USMC Sgt. John F. Gruenewald II in 1999. John served as crew chief of HMM-364 in Vietnam between April 1968 and November 1, 1969. Counting their son, John III, also a Marine, they have 6 children and 2 grandchildren - with 2 more on the way! Currently John and Brenda live in Statesboro, Ga and are avid Georgia Southern football fans. John is retired from Bell South and Brenda is retired from Georgia Southern University.

Gail married USMC Major Frank Gulledge in Hawaii in 1970 . Thier son, also a Marine, died in 1997, leaving them with a beautiful grandson. Currently they live in thier "retirement" home on a lake in Brandenburg, Ky. Frank served in Vietnam from '69-'70.

Vicki married her high school sweetheart, USMC Sgt. Kerry J. Wages, in 1968. In 1969, one day after giving birth to their daughter, Kerry was given orders to Vietnam. As a crewchief of HMM-364, he served in Vietnam, 69-70. Today they live in Texas and have two grown children and one grandchild.

Jeannie married USMC Sgt. Chuck Harrell in 1982. Chuck served in Vietnam '69-'70, HMM-364. When Jeannie announced to her father, an old Army salt, she was going to marry a Marine, he frowned and muttered "Oh, damn!" Today Jeannie and Chuck live in Tennesse. They have one child with three grand kids!

Stephanie Hanson was at the reunion that fateful year, however, she did not know what destiny had in store for her! Stephanie's dad was killed in Vietnam. After years of searching for information she learned about Pop A Smoke and the Purple Foxes. These men had known her dad and helped her trace her history back to that period. She joined our team in 2004 and works endlessly in helping other military men and women reconnect with loved ones.