When
Dale and Ina Thompson were in Europe recently, they were sitting in the
Hofbrau House in Munich where this “Two People, Two Beers” photo was taken “by
an Academy graduate who is still on active duty and happened to be TDY there
for one night,” wrote Ina. “He sat down at our table, not knowing if we even
spoke English, and went through the ‘are these seats taken’ routine with hand
gestures. Small world! And when we went to Paris, we went to the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach, and a young man came up to us, like he couldn’t believe
his eyes. He was an Academy Cadet on an exchange program with the French Air
Force. After we went home there was a message on my cell that he and the other
seven exchange students were going to be in Paris that weekend, and wanted to
meet us for dinner.”
Edward
John Haerter is a Brigadier General/Air National Guard, Silver Star
recipient, retired Airline Pilot/TWA, Husband, Father, and Grandfather. These
photos show Ed in several life-roles--with his lovely wife Nancy, and then
speaking at a 2009 Memorial Day ceremony. Ed said “the uniform, although very
outdated, still fits!”
In what might be labeled the
“Old and the New” of his family, Gordy Flygare sent this photo of Gordy
and Ann’s granddaughter, Maya, simply entitled: “My
Remarkably Talented Granddaughter;” and, for the “Old” part, it’s this
captivating photo where Gordy was named "Folsom Man of 2009" in May
‘09 at Folsom, NM, aside his R1150RT with 46,000 miles on the meter. “Folsom,
what ever it's attraction to the aboriginal spear-chuckers may have been, has
fallen on tough times and has a post office, but little else,” and Gordy says
the Folsom Hotel “is on the National Register of Places Awaiting Stimulus
Money."
JT and
Diane Smith just got back from Greece (photo), plus a few days in Istanbul. "In August I'm meeting my Motorcycle Safety Foundation buddies in Montrose
(CO) to ride the mountain passes, and riding up to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. In September, Diane and I have booked a visit to Bhutan and India.”
George
Luck called July 9th to tell me he had cancer of the kidney,
and one of his kidneys would be removed the following week. On Tuesday, July 14th,
Andi Biancur calls Karen (I was at a baseball game, naturally), and tells
her that George’s operation was a success. I then get a 07/17/09 e-mail from
Dennis O’Keefe, saying that “I went to visit George in the University
of Washington Medical Center this morning. George was feeling beat-up as a
result of losing his left kidney, and while not to minimize the impact of major
surgery, he is basically upbeat. George went in for a general evaluation
due to some pain in his midsection, and the ultra sound evaluation stumbled
across a possible problem with his kidney; some additional evaluations later,
he then went through the operation on Monday, July 13th. This
accidental diagnosis, and the immediate surgery, saved his life! It’s the sort
of thing that gives no indication until it’s too late.” In the afternoon of
Saturday, July 18th, Karen hands me the phone with this call from
George, who’s calling from the hospital—Nels Delisanti, Jim O’Rourke,
and Vic Yoakum are in the room with George’s wife Carolyn. George is
released the next day, and vows to be at Chuck and Edie Diver’s house on
Wednesday, July 22nd. I then get another photo, this of the “Northwest Passage
Men” at their annual gathering at the Diver’s home; in attendance
were Jim & Bev O'Rourke, George & Carolyn Luck, Charlie &
Edie Diver, Vic Yoakum & Suzanne Forselius, Dennis O'Keefe
& friend Sheila Jefferys, Roger Lent, and Nels Delisanti
(photo below: Back--Roger, George, Jim, Chuck; Front—Nels, Vic, Dennis.
Caption: “Photographer momentarily blinded by Diver's magnificent dome.”) The
group is practicing for their Second Annual Sailboat Ride (Regatta?) in August.
“Rosie,
I appreciate you including family members with the class of '60
email updates,” wrote Colonel Christopher Warack, Pat and
Chris’ son. “I thought I'd pass along a couple of tidbits relating to our
family. One of my father's grandnephews has graduated from USAFA
this summer. 2nd Lt Charles Bayne graduated on May 27th with
the Class of 2009, and is headed to Ellsworth AFB. He is the grandson of
my mother's twin sister, Mrs. Dorothy Gregory, who is an acquaintance of
several of my father's classmates. I am heading to Los Angeles AFB in a
couple weeks to command the GPS Space Group where I get to lead the
development, production and launch of all the GPS satellites. My younger
brother, Mark (USAFA '87), retired last summer as Lt Col after 20 years
service, and he is now working for Northrop-Grumman in
the Norfolk area.”
I called Bill Zersen “Hugo” on a recent e-mail
exchange, and he replied: “Hugo--that's what my dad wanted my first name to be;
when he passed away when I was 0 days old, Mom added his name (William) as my
first name,” which brings us to “William Frederick Hugo Zersen.” And,
you may recall how Jock Schwank legally added his first name, which
resulted in a total of four names: Jock Charles Henry Schwank. “Three-Christian-Namer”
George Joseph Charles Fries says that “My Dad had no middle names, so I
guess he was 'playing catch up’ with my brother---Theodore O.H---and then with
me. He and Mom were immigrants from Germany, and it was imperative to honor
as many relatives as possible: My ‘Onkle Georg,’ my dad Josef, my
Godfather ‘Onkle Karl’ (Charles). And in the months before Bill Ouellette
died, I called him frequently. He had a first name and two middle names,
but he had a 'screwed up' birth certificate, and said it wasn't worth the
effort to get it corrected once we started school. No wonder he made Brigadier
General--he learned early!”
Yes,
Bill Ouellette did have multiple Christian names—four, to be exact! When
I asked Bill’s wife, Marilyn, about this, she kindly responded: “It was very
common for French Catholics, especially from Canada; on Bill's ‘Certificate of
Birth’ it reads Joseph Harris William Rino Ouellette. The first two
names were dropped, and the Rino spelling went to Reno.” (So, Bill Ouellette
is our ONLY classmate who had FOUR Christian names!”)
If you
were to go back to the Fall 2002 CheckPoints’ Magazine (page 124), the opening
sentence of a rather long paragraph reads: “After having three sons, William
Harold and Ellen Leninger adopted two girls in Colorado Springs years
ago, and then helped them locate their birth mothers…” That’ll set the backdrop
for this paragraph which Bill sent 7/09/09: “Angelo arrived at 5:07 AM, July
1st weighing 7lb 14oz,” wrote Bill Leninger. “Mom (my daughter Dorene)
and son are doing fine (and, the father Marco's OK). I forgot how tiny babies
are.” Bill has only one biological granddaughter. “My son Bill also has
one adopted daughter, and they are trying to adopt a little girl. They have
spent $$$$$ fighting to adopt the girl. I have a grandson through my daughter Rene
(she is adopted). And now there is Angelo (his mother Dorene is adopted).
I also have a step-grandson via my son Tony. I guess that totals six. It goes
to show that adoption is good.”
“First off, let me thank all of you for your thoughts
and mostly your prayers. The prayers worked! I am finally back in my
house, having been released by the surgeon on Tuesday (July 14th).”
(Thus spake Tony Burshnick, who was operated on at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for his Spinal
Stenosis, with the procedure described as: "POSTERIOR SPINAL
FUSION T-10 TO ILIAC.”) Tony continued: “It
was just about a month in the hospital and the rehab center; however, I am far
from being healed. I need a walker to move even a short
distance. I have been warned that rehabilitation will take a very
long time. I am still in quite a bit of pain and depend on morphine
and Percocet to handle it (R: Tony—no vodka?). I start physical therapy on
Monday. I won't bore you with the details of the operation. Suffice
it to say it hurts a lot.”
Ralph Lalime writes: “We
had a fun luncheon at Tommy Burke's country club, and Tony made a
temporary escape from the rehab center with Kenny Alnwick at the wheel.
Laughter was the main course. For the first 20 minutes we discussed medical
ailments. George Fries is getting ready for a new shoulder from the Navy
Portsmouth hospital. Mike A. Clarke is soon to have both knees replaced,
one at a time, and after that he is also scheduled for a new shoulder.” (R: As
this issue was going onto the Web, on the evening of 7/23/09, Mike was taken to
Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, having developed a pulmonary embolism,
and his heart stopped four times during the night. He went into a coma. Wife Nancy said that “there are some positive signs. The doctors think they've dissolved the
clot, and although he's not responsive to voice commands yet, he's shown some
movement.”). Bob Fischer was not present
because he was having a stent put in where he
had a 90% blockage, not found until a recent regular physical. And, of
course, Tony was sitting there in pain with the two new titanium rods holding
up his back. Naturally, everyone was sympathetic and laughed to tears. Al Johnson
managed to spend the summer (both 4 & 5 July) at his new home in Camden, Maine, and he regaled us with DK Johnson-type jokes. Bob Badger and
Bill Hockenberry brought us up-to-date on law and conflict resolution.
Les Querry has set the 4th of October for the Falcon Roost at his
mountain top home.
All at the luncheon were initially spirited…
… but after lunch the old guys couldn’t hold their heads up
for a photo for Rosie…
...until the waitress said, “smile boys”.
“Each
year there’s a party in San Antonio, TX--car shows, music, street parades,
river parades, food from a dozen cultures and… beeeeer!
This year—April 17-26, 2009, Andi and Carole Biancur joined the revelry,
starting with the Sock Hop in Boerne, where ‘50s dancing, drinking and eating
reigns supreme. Rock and Roll Bands play good tunes and old folks try to
recapture their youth. After dancing all night they get up at O-Dark-Thirty to
orchestrate the Car Show in the Boerne Town Square. I (Les Hobgood)
deal with parking a herd of classic cars arriving for the event, while Andi and
Carole detail the 1960 Corvette Convertible and the 2007 Indy Pace Car to win
trophies. 300 vehicles of all makes and models were there from Texas, Colorado, Louisiana, Arkansas and one from Australia. On Sunday it’s the Hill
Country Run for 80 car show participants that follow a hundred mile route
through country roads to the LBJ State Park for a burger lunch and then to the
Willow City Loop through Fredericksburg and ending in Luckenbach, TX--it’s what Waylon and Willie were singing about. Monday night is the River Parade and
Tuesday starts a five day party called ‘A Night in Old San Antonio.’ More
heritage food: German, Mexican, French, Frontier, Alsatian and ‘stuff-on-a-stick’
downed with beer along with 10,000 of my very closest friends. By about this
time, the Biancur duo is dragging their lederhosen and dirndls (traditional
dress worn in Southern Germany) on the Texas asphalt. We had fun! Lots of
it.”
“Pulled
out of the driveway here in San Antonio, TX on June 18, 2009, and drove to
Chicago, IL where I departed from the ‘Begin Route 66’ sign in downtown
Chicago, Adams Street and Michigan Avenue at 0700 hours on Sunday, June
21st,” wrote Les Hobgood. “No traffic and I could stop
and take a photo of the ‘Vette under the sign. About 2,278 miles later, I
pulled into the Santa Monica Pier, CA at 1500 on Thursday, June 25th.
There’s a story for every mile, but you have to do it yourself. I met a
whole batch of entertaining and crazy people, saw too many old service stations
and pounded miles on the Original Route. The rest of the trip was visiting
classmates who were all roomies at one time or another. Stopped to see
Tony Long in Torrance, CA and then went on down to La Jolla where I saw
Pat and Earl Van Inwegen, with Phil Meinhardt visiting while I
was there. “Les stopped by to rest up after the termination of his ‘Route
66’ trip from Chicago to Santa Monica,” said Van. “Played a little golf, had a ‘few’
beers, ate some of Pat's good cookin' and told a bunch of lies. Phil
joined up, coming down from the Bay Area to pick up some household goods left
in storage.”
Moving
right along, Les said it was then “over to Scottsdale, AZ to spend time with
Dawn and Ted Hopkins (he showed me a new putting grip). Ended up
the visits with Laura and Dave Wiest in Silver City, NM, who by the way
are planning to do the Route in their motor home. Dave was my first roomie
at the Academy, and Van was the last one. Tony was one of the five Camelot guys
in New Jersey where we flew C-135s together. (Note: If Rosie chooses the right
picture, you will see that Ted also has a new ‘Vette). It was 5228 miles
in sixteen days door to door and a great adventure.” (R: Beware what you wish
for, guys—Les’ next report will chronicle the 2000+ mile round trip to Bowling
Green, KY in his 1960 ‘Vette in August/September.”)
“We
had a few libations and a wonderful dinner at the Flying Horse Club in Colorado Springs on Friday, July 17th (Ron and Connie Yates are members of the club),”
wrote Duck Waddle. “We had a great time catching up with what's
happening in our lives. Attending were Ron and Connie Yates, Wayne and
Barb Kendall, Dick Sexton, RG Head and companion Carole
Hoover, Duck and Mary Waddle.” RG and Carole were in COS to attend
the dedication of the Child Development Center for RG’s son Jim’s wife, Donna,
and then returned home to Coronado Island, CA (R: I was getting all this relayed
from the “Double-Tasking-Duck” while he and Mary were in Columbus, OH attending
the Gideon’s International Convention).
“I
had my cystoscopy in June and the results weren't great. My cancer is
becoming more ‘aggressive,’ and my urologist wants another series of infusions
into my bladder to ‘kill’ the cancer cells,” writes Gary Karschnick. “I am
one month into the program of supplements and detoxification from my
doctor in New York. But, I feel great! I am taking 174 pills a
day, and that seems to be working. I’ll have another bladder inspection in
September. The best news is that I have more energy than I have had for years
and my spirit is good.” Write Gary at: gkarschnick@cfl.rr.com.
