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119th Column
Note: See 119th Pictures at the bottom of this page
This one is due on 1
Sep, but Judy & I will be heading west on 2
Sep (Portland or bust). Net result, it is
started uncharacteristically early.
Bad news first. In a PS to 118th (and of course by e-mail on the class net) it was
reported that Garth Payne died on 4 Jul. For the record Garth is in good company on that
date: both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on 4 Jul in the year 1826. A patriotic day for true patriots such as Garth,
Thomas and John. Rest in peace.
More sad news from our e-mail net: “With the heaviest of hearts I am letting
you know that my wife Mary passed away on 27
July at the age of 51 after an unbelievably courageous 10-month battle against cancer. Many of you may remember Mary from the 30th, 35th,
and 40th reunions as well as the Bar Harbor, Bangkok, Charleston, and Hershey minis.
“On Thursday, 3 August, Mary
(was) buried at Arlington National Cemetery. At 10:30am, cars for the procession to the
burial site should queue up on Arlington Memorial Drive right outside the Main Gate. Following the 11:00 graveside service, there (was)
a reception at the Fort Myer Officers Club (an aside: G-1 and other classmates and wives
turned out in large number along with Mary’s myriad friends from beyond the class). Grip Hands! Your
Classmate, Pete Trainor.”
The e-mail gang (about 370 or so)
also knows about our recent discoveries of former classmates and, sadly, our learning
about recent losses in those ranks. As many
know, since the 30th Reunion we (Lawton and Sibert) have been encouraging
classmates to locate and re-establish contact with former classmates, especially company
and roommates. Sadly, two were located about
the same time as they died in Jun and Jul.
Hugh Finley (C-1), a victim of Social Sciences
Cow year, was Jerry Mitchell’s roommate. Back in the aftermath of Hugh’s having been
found and through our graduation leave, the roommates stayed in touch. Then with PCS moves and time, contact was lost. Jerry recently began the search in earnest for his
roommate and found him too late.
Jerry’s e-mail tells the tale:
“We were saddened to hear about the recent death of our former classmate Hugh P. Finley Jr. Our best wishes go out to his wife Susan, daughter Ginger and son Hugh Preston Finley
III. Hugh, his wife Susan and their daughter
Ginger moved back to Hugh's hometown, the Williamsburg KY/Jellico TN area in 1994. Hugh was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in Nov
1999. He died on June 25 and was buried in
Williamsburg KY. Hugh's son from his first
marriage, Hugh Preston Finley III, who goes by Preston, was with Hugh along with the rest
of the family during the last week of Hugh's life.
“Hugh is a graduate of the
University of KY and his daughter Ginger will be entering UK this fall. Hugh's son Preston is a graduate of UCLA. He works in hospital administration in
California… Sadly, Jerry.”
Joe Hornyak (H-1), a prepster (in group photos
of USMAPS in “yellow pages” at the back of our 30th Reunion Book),
resigned in Feb of Yearling year. Hugh was
located by Ed Dodd. Ed’s e-mail: “I don't know if many of you
remember our former classmate Joe Hornyak. I
just received information that he died on 13 Jul 00.
I spoke to his wife Joanne in New
Kensington, PA and she said Joe's funeral was today, 17 Jul.” Hugh was buried in St Mary’s Cemetery in
Lower Burrell, PA. I think that someone other
than Ed told me (Scribe) that Joe was our Bn Cdr during Plebe Christmas, but my memory
cells are too weak to remember. I cannot even
remember who told me! Can anyone confirm this
information for your Scribe?
These two stories prompt the
question: do YOU know where YOUR roommates are? As
I wrote recently, we are in the primary zone for the final selection, therefore, get in
touch sooner rather than later. Sooner is far
better than too late as was the case for Hugh and Joe and the classmates who would have
enjoyed being in touch after 40+ years.
Some good news re former classmates. John
Bradley located Howard Donnelly (H-1). Howard was discharged in Dec of Yearling year for
a physical disability. I have no news of
Howard yet, but know that he hopes to hear from company and classmates who knew him in our
cadet days. John provided Howard’s
address to Lawton and class net and it made Lawton’s Class Roster Change #5-00 on 1
Aug. All current addresses will be on the
roster available in hard copy at the Portland mini. Howard’s
telephone in San Diego is 619-287-0669.
Jack Downing is another finder of lost persons. He located three H-2 former classmates: Bill Harrison, Ed Linkiewicz and Fred Ruffner, all cow year losses. These three are now on our e-mail net. Bill was another nailed by Social Sciences at
mid-year. He was appointed from the ARNG in
MD. With that clue, Jack was able to track
him down in Taneytown, MD. I called Bill to
explain that Garry Roosma and I have said for
years that we wanted to find him. We only
talked about it, but Jack actually did the electronic wizardry to make it happen. Thanks to Jack, Bill and his wife Carol are back in touch with company and
classmates. Their phone is 410-346-7898.
Ed Linkiewicz, a Jun 57 victim of Juice, was
located a bit differently. To quote Jack,
“Ed
has been going to the
Army-Navy games for the past 10-15 years, which is more than I have done. I want to bring him back into the fold and make
him welcome. By the way, I found him by
reading his eulogy on the Jack Madigan Personal
Home Page.”
Here is a portion of recent e-mail
from Ed Linkiewicz to Scribe: “Wow! It is 'almost' overwhelming. All of a sudden to be hearing from quite a few
people who were so important in my young life and whom I HAVE thought about in later. Thank you for letting me know and inviting me to
Portland. I must pass; it is a little late.
“It is Sat 5 Aug and I am staring at over 100 e-mail messages all with sender
listed as either West Point or a former classmate years (an aside: note the power of our
class e-mail net and personal e-mail for communicating).
I am looking at so many messages, that I have not had the opportunity to check my
e-mail from the hospital. I was interred on
Monday the 31st and released today after a slight bought with pneumonia. When they told me pneumonia I told them to
‘go to Hell, it's Jul, not Jan!’
“While I have not kept in
continuous contact with any of you over the 40 some
“Another way is that Marilyn and I usually attend two or three
football games each fall at West Point. This
year Memphis, Air Force and UAB (Scribe leaves it to our West Point home game classmates
to include Ed & Marilyn in various ’58 tailgates). I live in the Philadelphia area and get to THE
game every year, well at least the last 15 or so, even when it is in NJ. This year, however, I did not notice the closing
ticket date for Baltimore and did not get my application in on time.” IMPORTANT QUESTION: can anyone help Ed &
Marilyn Linkiewicz with Army-Navy tickets? If
so, please call Ed at 610-277-4840.
Fred Ruffner.
Denny Sharon has been in touch with Fred off and on over the years since he
resigned in Oct of Cow year, but Jack did the detective work to find him for real
recently. A quote from Fred’s e-mail to
your Scribe provides old news and a glimpse of his sense of humor, well known in the 54th
& 55th divisions day before yesterday: “George, I got tons of mail
after my name was put on line... (another aside: please note again the power of class
e-mail net and personal e-mail) what branch did you go in?
My service record is about as sorry as you can get.
After I left (the Corps), I joined the Air Force one day before I got my draft
notice. I went into flight training, but
flunked out because of my ears.
“I then went into USAF inactive reserves and was called up during the Cuban crisis. They didn't know where to assign me, so they made me an air policeman. This was a big joke because all I had were officer's uniforms. It turned out to be a ball. My roommate was the mess sergeant and always had midnight steaks for me, the captain, and the SAC crews assigned there. That was the fun part. When I worked on the front gate, I got to get them out of their car every night, shine my flashlight in their eyes, and make them show their IDs. We both knew each other, but I could still harass them. (an aside: this adds some confirmation to Scribe’s long-held view of MPs, APs and SPs re harassing junior officers).
“When we were discharged, my
colonel tried to get me re-enlist. When he
saw I was an airman basic, I didn't even have the first stripe, he asked me what I had
been court-martialed for. When I explained
that I never had been, he decided this basic airman didn't have a future in the AF. We
later heard that our flight was going to Viet Nam, but of course we didn't.” Scribe
sent 30th Reunion Books via snail mail to Bill, Ed and Fred. You can call Fred at 901-795-4947.
30th Reunion Books. I still have a number. Any classmates or former classmates who need a
copy, let me know so I can mail you one. The
price is right—free for this collector’s item now 12 years old.
Dick Warner. This is for the benefit of those not on our class
e-mail net. Joe Shea, the larger and one of our Yearling year
gifts to ’59, located Dick and worked miracles to get him into the Wilkes-Barre VA
hospital. Joe also alerted us to Dick’s
condition (Parkinson’s). As a result of
those messages, a number of classmates have been to visit Dick in the hospital. The following covers such a visit by Jack & Margie Downing: “Dick is well known and well liked in the
hospital. When we entered and asked about
him, the woman at the entrance desk immediately looked up and, without reference to any
database, told me where was and commented on how likeable he is. The nurse on his fourth floor nursing home station
also commented about his likeability and sent us up to the 10th floor where he was with a
group.
“We had a good visit. Margie found out that he was from Berwick, PA,
which used to play football against her hometown of Mt. Carmel. The two must have been in the same stadium more
than once. Dick is very cheerful and was
delighted to see us. He has difficulty
speaking and controlling his right hand. But
he walks fast and steady and takes an interest in everything.
“Palmer, would you please pass
this to Joe Shea. I give him much credit for
Lost rings prompted a letter from Bill Clary. He
wants all to know that Balfour will refurbish old rings (not lost). His ring was in such poor condition that Balfour
re-cast it for the mere sum of $24. If
interested and in need for further info, contact Bill at (H) 770-786-5230 or (O)
678-365-2700. Oh by the way, both Bill and Wally Ward ran the Peachtree along with 55,000
others on 4 July. Bill says the logistics
associated with the ever-growing race may make this his last one.
Speaking of logistics, the ever-growing e-mail list highlights the talent and
dedication of our miracle-working Moderator, Dick
Buckalew. On a few days in May he added
the following 13 (number published to show that your Scribe is not superstitious): 11 May Bob Puff; 10 May Bill Buchly, Frank Crowley, and Max Young; 6 May John Andrusko, Pete Byrne, Don DeJardin, Joe DiTommaso, Jack Larson, Charlotte Mason Kitchell and Sally Timberlake; 4 May Dick Manning and John Raymond.
And he continues to add more and more. Thanks
also to Dave Turner for helping find classmates
with e-mail addresses not on the class net. If
you, dear reader, have an e-mail address and are not on the net, contact Dick or Dave
before you do anything else! We need you on
the net and you need the net be stay wired to ’58 news.
Running our of room, therefore, on to photos (sprinkled throughout the column). C-1 lunch in Richmond on 20 May was followed by Tony Nadal’s summer camp in Williamsburg on
21 May. Another shot of the Booze Cruise, oops, wine cruise from Jim Castle. Jim reports: “The trip was really
great and our four organizers Phil & Lynn Pryor
and Jerry & Maria Mitchell did a wonderful
job… we had five 42d anniversaries celebrated that week.” Also had a group photo taken inside 75’ lock
on Rhone River, fortunately, not filled with wine or water, but too small to see the
faces.
Chuck Toftoy is the senior one-mile race
walking champion for Virginia and will be going to Nationals in Jul 01 at LSU. For a little perspective, Chuck race walks a mile
in about 9 minutes while your Scribe does one on his treadmill in 15 minutes. The patrol caught in the open is A-2 files Les Gibbings, Stan Toney, Don McCullough and Phil Raign doing a recon for 2002 mini in
Pensacola. Most of the group shots at dinner
are dark and may not work for magazine. Two
are offered to the editor. The last is our
gang at WPSDC Founder’s Day with a couple of ringers: Larry & Maureen Reback ‘88 and another ’88 file whose name is
lost. More difficult than one might think to find these younger faces in our group (not
really, but sounds great).
27 Aug.
Elected officials. This was not
launched to my editor because I could not hook up to my e-mail server for last two weeks. Fortunate circumstance because of voice mail
message from Ron Olson on my home phone. He
wants to correct the record: he was not the Mayor of Minot, ND as stated in 117th. Rather, he was the Mayor of Crosby, ND. He also ran unsuccessfully for state legislature. Ron explained that Crosby is noted for being the
hometown of Jack Bujalski. Jack & Rachel recently visited Ron & Sharon in Minot where he lives but was not
mayor. The Olsons attended late Jun reunion
of 2-503d Airborne in Springfield, VA. While
east they visited Sally & Garth Payne a
week before Garth’s fatal heart attack. Ron
said that Garth was “the picture of health and vitality,” therefore, his dying
the next week was a real shock. This story
highlights the importance of seeing classmates, company-mates at every opportunity. End of sermon.
End of column. Next time will have
news from Portland.
Elected officials, another correction. Heyward
Hutson was on the city council of Dorchester, SC (1988-92) before his election to
state legislature (1993-96).
28 Aug PS. Update on classmates
planning to attend the First Class Club turnover on 24 Aug: Andy
Andreson, Tony Bauer, Pete Brintnall, Will & Andrea Collett, Fred Goodenough, Brad Johnson, Bob Melott, Jerry
& Maria Mitchell, Butch Ordway, Walt & Susan Patterson, Bob Pointer & Marianne O'Callaghan, Bill & Helen Tuttle and Branch & Nancy Worsham. Thanks from all of us to the attendees for
representing ’58 at this annual affair. And,
thanks especially to the annual organizer, Bob Pointer!
Photos:
L-R: Bob Melott, Sandy Evans, Jerry
Mitchell, Al Chase and Mark Sigurski.
L-R: Billie Nadal, Andy Andreson, Bob
Moore, Sandy Evans and Tony Nadal.
L-R seated: Phil Pryor, Ann Shely
(partial), Lynn Pryor, Marti Sewall, Bill Shely, Bev Graves, Dick Groves; standing: Tom
& Barbara Sands, Annie Stanton, John Sewall, Dick Graves, Dottie Castle, Jae Stanton
and Marg Groves
Chuck Toftoy & Gold medal as VA
State Champ.
Combat patrol at Tiger Point Golf &
Country Club.
L-R: Steffie Raign, Chuck & Patsie
Densford, Don McCullough.
John & Jill Holecek.
WPSDC Founder’s Day. Can you spot the ’88 ringers?