The 501st Squad goes to the web…
With the influx of fans interested in joining TK210 and TK512, I moved the Geocities site from Detention Block 2551 to something that could represent a larger unit. Still nothing fancy, but it at least gave us the look of an organization ready to grow. Below is a snap-shot of our website in 1999.
April 30-May 2, 1999: Star Wars Celebration in Denver, Colorado
Marc Baier and Pascal Biondi of the Swiss Garrison at Celebration I 
The 501st Squad sign made it to Celebration!
It was the first ever all-Star Wars, fully-endorsed convention. They called it Celebration and held it at an air museum. Questions, concerns and problems arose from the first mass flight of troopers with replica weapons and boxes of armor crossing the country. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, but several Legion members were there and they made a big splash. One picture actually made it into Entertainment Weekly magazine, our first such appearance in a major magazine. Seen standing next to the boy are actually Swiss Garrison members Pascal Biondi and Marc Baier. I can’t remember who’s in the picture holding up the 501st sign, but that’s the actual sign I printed up and dragged to Dragoncon in 1998. I shipped it out there so we’d be properly represented. So like planting a flag in a new country, our boys and girls claimed their ground in the first ever Celebration!
Premiere of Episode I : The Phantom Menace
DragonCon 1999
By 1999 the mood had shifted slightly at DragonCon. Now there were Stormtroopers appearing from all over the Southeast and other parts of the country. One was even from Canada! Buzz over the new trilogy had Jedi coming out of the woodwork. And while we were still far from organized enough to stage a big group photo, there were many more like-minded Star Wars fans on hand that added to the feel of a community. Hamedl’s group from Florida was back, but had moved on to Starship Troopers. Jeff Allen’s group was back, and this time showing off their Tusken Raiders! It would be a trend played out year after year: some fans just want to do Star Wars as one of many brief fan experiences, others stick with it.
In 1999 we asked Dave Prowse, who played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, to act as the 501st Squad’s Honorary Leader. He accepted happily and, at Dragoncon 1999, shows me his appreciation…
Meanwhile, troopers around the country begin to build up their presence. Here, one makes the Chicago ComicCon publication.
Other milestones of 1999:
May 1999: 725th Strategic Insertion Company (Allen Turner in Utah?) co-exists with the 501st as small costuming groups begin to build an identity.
Official Roster of 501st Squad members 12/20/1999
By 1999, the 501st Squad had grown to 147 members, with many of the new ones coming from outside the U.S.: Switzerland, Germany, Canada, France, Japan, and the UK.
Imperial Stormtroopers: 118
TK007 Randolph Bond: Dallas, TX
TK008 Chris Albright: Tyler, TX
TK009 Kris Billow: Madison, WI
TK069 David Owens: Newport, TN
TK101 Cris Adrian: Denver, CO
TK102 Chris Toki: Hamilton, New Zealand
TK103 Cass Chin: Redondo Beach, CA
TK110 Calvin Lim: San Francisco, CA
TK116 Robert Steel: Augusta, GA
TK119 Jeff Young: Charlotte, NC
TK121 Rick DeWitt: Orlando, FL
TK122 Dann Brauckmann: Atlanta, GA
TK151 Samual Dix: Oceanside, CA
TK167 William Miyamoto: Los Angeles, CA
TK168 Ron Chang: Los Angeles, CA
TK170 Bryan Spangler: Mt. Home, ID
TK187 Scott Hawkins: Colorado Springs, CO
TK201 Scott Black: Morganton, NC
TK203 Erwin van Ooijen: The Netherlands
TK204 J.M. Shima: Dallas, TX
TK206 Shuji Hayashi: Maebashi, Japan
TK210 Albin Johnson: Columbia SC
TK216 Oscar Fardreamer: Stockholm, Sweden
TK217 Lance Galloway: Salt Lake City, UT
TK219 Tom Friedman: Southern California
TK223 Joe Barlow: Miami, FL
TK224 John Tomasek: Skokie, IL
TK242 Sean Patten: San Jose, CA
TK244 J.M. Shima: Dallas, TX
TK264 Marc Baier: Switzerland
TK265 Javier Esqueda: Joliet, IL
TK266 ??? Christie: Owensboro, KY
TK269 Pascal R. Biondi: Switzerland
TK280 Dan Powers: Lansing, IL
TK296 Thom F. Kueng: Wallisellen, Switzerland
TK303 Steve Carter: Hayes, Middlesex, UK
TK311 Jonas B. Simpson: Culpeper, VA
TK316 Frank Schroeder: Hamburg, Germany
TK324 Shannon Wendlick: Boca Raton, FL
TK326 Chris Lee: Nashville, TN
TK329 Jonathon Zeron: New York, NY
TK367 Daren Horley: London, England UK
TK371 Simon Prince: Brighton, England UK
TK374 Bob Crosby: Haddonfield, NJ
TK412 Arturo Delgado: Chicago, IL
TK414 Fred Modesta: Ossining, NY
TK418 Hillary Gillespie: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TK421 Matt Gauthier Hillsboro, OR
TK423 Joe Ryan: Cincinnati, OH
TK429 Thierry Blanc: Switzerland
TK502 Steve Squire: Portland, OR
TK512 Tom Crews: Columbia, SC
TK514 Joel S. Schindler: Pikesville, MD
TK515 Fabien Girardin: Switzerland
TK521 Robert Reeves: Australia
TK526 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
TK530 Philippe Udave: Toulouse, France
TK604 Luis Boileve: Chicago, IL
TK606 Guillaume Leroux: Sete, France
TK609 Chris Lovewell: Honolulu, Hawaii
TK610 Janice Breitkopf: Cambridge Ontario, Canada
TK621 Jason Thompson: Burlington, NC
TK625 John May: England UK
TK627 Dave Wilder: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
TK630 Aric Nelson: Tampa, FL
TK666 Robert Held: Bay Point, CA
TK669 Bruce Macnair: New York, NY
TK687 D. Wright: Minnesota
TK701 Carl Glanville: New York, NY
TK705 Ueli Minder: Switzerland
TK707 Steve Hamedl: Hollywood, FL
TK709 Charles Carlson: Kokomo, IN
TK710 Mathieu Beaulieu: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
TK711 Fabrice Pittet: Switzerland
TK714 Ron Conway: Fort Lauderdale, FL
TK716 Will Johnson: Alexandria, VA
TK719 Arnie DeHerrera: Oakland, CA
TK720 Edward Christian: Colorado Springs, CO
TK723 Matthew Hudson: ???
TK742 Oliver Guenther: Germany
TK749 Bruno Joanette: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
TK777 David St. Clair: Colorado Springs, CO
TK801 Marc Collins: Orlando, FL
TK807 Mike King: Wichita, KS
KT814 Scott McArthur: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
TK820 Alan Isom: Greenville, SC
TK823 Frank Usamont: Elmhurst, NY
TK827 Michael Van Zweiten: Orlando, FL
TK861 Jim Tapp: Pomona, CA
TK883 Roger Wilsdorf: Central IL
TK895 Mike Washko: Gurnee, IL
TK901 Mike Morris: San Mateo, CA
TK903 John Muenchrath: Coos Bay, OR
TK908 Mike Schiffbauer: Fremont, CA
TK909 Chip Ballard: Nashville, TN
TK917 Daniel Dimiero: Houston, TX
TK918 Aron P. Mueller: Berne, Switzerland
TK919 Daymeon Gartrell: Raleigh, NC
TK930 Mathew Clayson: Fremont, CA
TK1030 Sean Burgess: Leesburg, VA
TK1212 Otto F. Pfaeffle: Newark, CA
TK1214 Gordon Brinkman: Obernkirchen, Germany
TK1229 Kathie Patten: San Jose, CA
TK1272 Marco Buerli: Wettingen, Switzerland
TK1312 Alexander Koerver: Germany
TK1507 Graham Campbell: Ashington, England UK
TK1511 Martin ??? : Germany
TK2112 Ryan Miller: Surfside, SC
TK7001 Alan Trotta: Annapolis, MD
TK7002 Brian Hernishin: Annapolis, MD
TK7003 ??? Gizzi: Baltimore, MD
TK7004 John Trotta: Baltimore, MD
TK7006 Mark Howard: Baltimore, MD
TK7007 Roman Trotta: Baltimore, MD
TK7008 Sean Barlow: Baltimore, MD
TK7009 Matthew Mann: Baltimore, MD
TK7023 Joek Trotta: Baltimore, MD
TK7101 Robert Zimmerman: Switzerland
TK8356 Van Mattiza: Hawthorne, CA
Desert Troopers: 18
TD101 Cris Adrian: Denver, CO
TD204 Jim Shima: Superior, CO
TD206 Shuji Hayashi: Maebashi, Japan
TD373 Scott Holder: Belleville, IL
TD412 Arturo Delgado: Chicago, IL
TD416 Derek Smith: Atlanta, GA
TD421 Matt Gauthier: Hillsboro, OR
TD444 Keith Arbeeny: Brooklyn, NY
TD451 William Ramos: Rockford, IL
TD501 Doug Fesko: Detroit, MI
TD610 Janice Breitkopf: Cambridge Ontario, Canada
TK621 Jason Thompson: Burlington, NC
TK707 Steve Hamedl: Hollywood, FL
TD722 Ben Fletcher: Melbourne, Australia
TD741 Stephane Desrosiers: Ottawa, Ontario Canada
TD742 Oliver Guenther: Germany
TD911 Mike Glover: Pensacola, FL
TD1138 Michael Deemer: Wichita, KS
TIE Pilots: 16
TI007 Randolph Bond: Dallas, TX
TI088 Robert Mannion: Willets, CA
TI101 Cris Adrian: Denver, CO
TI168 Ron Chang: Los Angeles, CA
TI229 Jeff Mahoney: Las Vegas, NV
TI242 Sean Patten: San Jose, CA
TI373 Scott Holder: Belleville, IL
TI391 Shelby Rhodes: Marietta, OH
TI426 Edward Bernard: Houston, TX
TI501 Doug Fesko: Detroit, MI
TI707 Steve Hamedl: Hollywood, FL
TI819 Robin Yang: Santa Cruz, CA
TI908 Mike Schiffbauer: Fremont, CA
TI930 Mathew Clayson: Fremont, CA
TI1011 Lynn Barlow: Montrose, PA
TI1229 Kathie Patten: San Jose, CA
Biker Scouts: 15
TB007 Randolph Bond: Dallas, TX
TB101 Cris Adrian: Denver, CO
TB112 David Davinroy: Belleville, IL
TB119 Jeff Young: Charlotte, NC
TB168 Ron Chang: Los Angeles, CA
TB312 Joel McClure: N. Central, IL
TB403 Enrique Alvarez: San Francisco, CA
TB407 Victor Vescovo: Dallas, TX
TB669 Bruce Macnair: New York, NY
TB714 Ron Conway: Fort Lauderdale, FL
TB852 Matthew Sanders: Laguna Niguel, CA
TB883 Roger Wilsdorf: Central IL
TB905 Thomas Wells: Vinton, VA
TB911 Michael Glover: Pensacola, FL
TB7005 Allysha Nelson: Baltimore, MD
Snow Troopers: 6
TS305 Eric Moody: Hawyard, CA
TS366 Mike Jackiw: Chicago, IL
TS727 Tracy Newby: Hawyard, CA
TS808 Sean Lujan: Milpitas, CA
TS908 Mike Schiffbauer: Fremont, CA
TS930 Mathew Clayson: Fremont, CA
Royal Guards: 6
TR119 Jeff Young: Charlotte, NC
TR125 Tim Shilling: Evergreen, CO
TR168 Ron Chang: Los Angeles, CA
TR372 Debbie ???: Belleville, IL
TR812 Michele Ford: Dallas, TX
TR830 Evan Reynolds: Naples, FL
AT-AT Drivers: 4
TA101 Cris Adrian: Denver, CO
TA727 Tracy Newby: Hayward, CA
TA930 Mathew Clayson: Fremont, CA
TA1011 Lynn Barlow: Montrose, PA
