Pete Parker

On August 26, 1996, during a telephone conversation with Gulf War Reporter and Ranger Rod Hafemeister Rod mentioned that there was a Ranger Sign in Page up somewhere on the net. Within seconds, Pete was scanning names. The rest of the night was spent writing emails to any and all addresses that looked like they could be from the 2nd Bn era of 1975-1980. Pete made contact with Willis "SGT Eli" Elias, of B-2/75 by morning. SGT Eli had a little band of nine or ten Rangers, and was communicating via cut and pasted emails. During the next several days as other Rangers responded to Pete's' e-mail inquiries, Pete and SGT Eli added them to the cut and paste list. By the weeks end, it was clear a better way was needed, and with SGT Eli's blessing, Pete hacked out some scripts on a Sunday night after dinner, attached em to an e-mail program on a spare computer, and the listserver was born on Sunday, September 1st, 1996, at about 2100 Hours. A glitch in the Linux SMTP e-mail machine prevented the messages from going out until the next morning, but the Listserver was born.

From those humble beginnings of SGT Eli's band of ten, we have grown to over 150 on the main list, split off the humor list, set up a whole bunch of websites, held the first Reno Ranger Reunion and are currently planning the next Reno Ranger Reunion II.

On November 30th, 1997, SGT Eli left this world forever, to escape pain we do not understand. He left a Wife, a Four year old daughter, and an unborn child behind. We do not know what the cause of his anguish was, nor is it likely we will ever know.

In order that no Ranger ever has to face a similar situation, this Ranger Support list has been created. If you are involved in a situation where you are feeling depressed, and do not know where to turn, or how to seek help, the people below have volunteered their time and efforts so that you do not have to face difficult situations alone.

For histories records, it is due to the inspiration of Willis Elias that this site came into being. If I am the father of the Ranger Listserver, and the http://www.airborne-ranger.com site, then SGT. Eli is the Grandfather. His loss took us all by surprise and shock, especially since we were all so close. How could it have been different if he had picked up a phone, and called someone, instead of choosing to end it his life this way.