7/22/2008 9:12:42 AM

Hi Fritz,

I ran this piece in one of our company publications. Thought you might be interested. Best to you, your family and your company.

He's baaaaaaaaak!

An Icon of the industry has returned to active duty. I met Fritz Rench at a CRI conference in the mid '80s. In 1996 we had the opportunity to work together on the original CRI Seal of Approval program for Ron VanGelderen. Not long after that Fritz dropped off the radar and his brother Quin took the helm of Racine Industries.

Fritz sent me an e-mail in June that said he was back from a ten year hiatus and he wanted to see me. Within a week Fritz was in my office and we began the excursion of catching up on old times and even older acquaintances. An agenda of current events and the future of our industry turned what would have been a very short encounter into a day long event. After all this time that old war horse is still "Gung Ho" which probably doesn't mean what you think it means.

The first time I heard "Gung Ho" was on Tinian in 1945. This Chinese expression was often used by my Platoon Sergeant who had served in China in the '30s. Sgt. Charlie King had made it through the Guadalcanal, Pelelieu and Okinawa campaigns and was teaching a raw bunch of 18 year olds to be "Gung Ho" for our survival. "Gung Ho" simply means "Work together!"

"Gung Ho" Fritz!

Bill Bane