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Classmates—
I will get this one started and try to send it in before I hit the road
to Michigan on 30 May or shortly after I arrive on 31 May. I
recently returned to the Class Forum
usma1958-forum@west-point.org and have a great deal of
traffic to mention. I will skip the political emails, but the
others provide information which is useful for these notes.
PROP BLASTS. Not sure who started this subject, but many
responded. This one is from Bob D’Amore C1, who
described a British Dining-In (akin to a prop blast): “The 8th Inf Div
apparently did not do "prop blasts" for those of us in the airborne
element. Anyone been to a British "Dining-In"? They brag
that officers have actually died during that hallowed tradition.
Basically, the one I attended with the British Army on the Rhine had
several elements: 1. Dress Blues or Reds as the case may be. Get drunk.
2. Humiliate various officers by making them drink until they wet their
pants at the table. 3. Eat a sumptuous 5 course meal. Get drunker.
4. Brandy and cigars - get really intoxicated - those who seem to be
holding back will be forced to catch up. 5. Junior officers who
have grudges with senior officers may challenge them in friendly games
of violence. The C.O. generally makes matchups if some are reticent. The
"tunnel" game seems to be the highlight of the evening causing
the longest hospital stays and heaviest collateral damage to the
Officers Club. 6. Try and send the Colonel to the hospital (we did
– he was knocked unconscious by an errant cue ball during billiards. The
huge slate table fell onto a Major's foot breaking his ankle - two for
the price of one). 7. Wreck the officers club (we did - closed for
3 weeks following the dinner). 8. Duty call early next morning.
Batman served a marvelous tea based concoction that almost immediately
cured hangovers. All the best, Bob D'Amore.”
Scribe served with Bob in the 8th Inf Div, but
missed this Dining-In and did not attend a Prop Blast in a year of
airborne duty as an aide to two division CGs. I did, however, make
five jumps in one day with then-MG Goodpaster, CG 8th Inf
Div, when he went through jump school at Finthen Army Airfield. As
I recall, Garry Roosma H2 was the pilot in the U-2 Otter
from which we jumped. The Otter was a big step up from the L-20
Beaver in which your Scribe was qualified.
Hugh Fisher E2
replied about an RAF Dining-In he attended:
“Bob D'Amore asked if anyone had attended a British Dining-In and went
on to describe the events of the evening. Having attended an RAF
Dining-In in the mid 70's, I can attest that his description was quite
accurate. The RAF did not do the "Tunnel Game"(that I recall) -
Bob, how is that done? The RAF guys did do a lot of drinking/darts
(in Brit speak, "Arrows") and bar stool pyramids, to see how high they
could pile them up, while climbing to the top - resulted in many falls
with poor PLF's. When they had tired of these games, a Flight
Lieutenant suggested we adjourn to his quarters where his wife would
prepare "eggybakes" for all. This announcement was greeted with
great enthusiasm and the crowd piled into cars to make the trip to said
quarters. Upon arrival, the Lieutenant entered the house and spoke
briefly to his wife. Whereupon she roughly shoved him out the
front door, loudly declaring ‘go back to your Mess and take your drunken
friends with you!’ Upon hearing this, one of the other Brits
sorrowfully asked of no one in particular ‘Does that mean we get no
eggybakes?’ Yes, we did not get any ‘eggybakes’ that night, and I
have ever since wondered: what are ‘eggybakes’ really like?”
Hugh
also described a couple of Prop Blasts he was involved in:
“I
became "That Blasted Fisher" in 1966 with Ist Bn 501st which was the
last ‘no holds barred’ prop blast ever held. I also was Jump
Master for the first prop blast held under the strict rules set by the
Army later that year or the next year. The rules allowed only a
specific amount of alcohol per blastee so we made the concoction as
bilious as possible and very cold, so that it was difficult to chug down
in one gulp as required by the ceremony. We also were prop
blasting the 1st Brigade CO, so were decidedly under the gun to get it
right. Of course, the PB was immediately followed by a Dining In,
at which wine and other libations flowed liberally, so I'm sure we went
over the intended limit of alcohol by the time the evening was over.”
Hugh continued: “The 501st was the unit in the Airborne which initiated
the first Prop Blast in Airborne history and we had the original "Prop
Blast Mug" with a written description of the initial ceremony. It was
indeed more solemn and simple than the train wreck that Prop
Blasts evolved into, one of which caused the death of at least one young
officer, who was taken back to his BOQ and left unattended.”
Somewhere along the line, Dick Schonberger B2 asked
how many “Master Blasters” we have in the class. No clue about the
number of master parachutists in the class, but Dick’s email served to
keep this subject alive. Alex Johnston I1 chimed in
“We probably didn’t have very many because the duties of officers in
airborne units don’t leave a lot of time for logging many jumps. I was
lucky to be in a job at APG where I jump tested a lot of equipment and
had over a hundred jumps before I was assigned to Ft Bragg. I got my
Master Wings but only wound up with (only) 123 jumps. “
To which, Dick replied: “Thanks, Alex, you
don't have to back down to anybody. Getting jump assignments always
required a certain amount of luck, and then the opportunity to make the
requisite numbers and types of jumps and stay healthy. After the first
tour with the 101st where I got my Senior Wings, later, while at the
Infantry School I was able to log Pathfinder School as Ray
Tomlinson E1 was checking out. My next tour was with the 1st
Bde, 101st in VN where we logged about 14 months of jump status and pay,
but only one jump. That was a practice jump for the entire brigade in
Dec 66, that we understood was for what was to become Operation Junction
City. We just knew if anyone jumped in VN it would be the 101st,
"Westmoreland's Own". As it turned out, one battalion of the 173rd
took what was to be our jump in Feb 67. The story we got is that
our incoming Brigade Cdr, a WWII 506 PIR Currahee, was briefed on the
operation and turned it down, comparing it to the hokey combat jumps the
187 was accused of making in Korea. We didn't get a vote.
“Assigned to Ft Bragg with the VN-era basic training center as Deputy G3
and then G3, but wearing the 3rd Army patch and not on jump status. Had
a job with the "Red Hats" in Viet Nam before getting a deferment where
my boss agreed to assigning me to G-3 XVIIIth Abn Corps where I was
supposed to be the ATC's rep in G3-Training, but instead wound up in G-3
Ops. When my year was up and departed back for VN, had about 53 jumps
and about 4+ years on jump status. I was convinced my jumping days were
over.
“After my 2d VN tour, wound up with DA orders assigning me directly to
G-3 (DCSO&T) 3rd Army where I found out I had been requested to fill the
Chief Ops billet in G3-Ops. I was a known quantity at 3rd Army,
having been G3 of the ATC and while in XVIII ABC, G-3 Ops. The biggest
surprise was that there was a jump slot waiting for me. As it
turned out, I was on jump status throughout my 3rd Army assignment, that
ended when we wound up converting what had been 3rd Army Hqs to FORSCOM
Hqs. While at 3rd Army, my jump slot was to serve as XVIII ABC
liaison in the event of their deployment. Most of my jumps were with
jump school highlighted when I made five jumps in one day, four with
jump school (C-119's again!) and one with pathfinder school that
evening. After all that, I was proud and happy to finally earn
Master Wings with 72 jumps including one malfunction.”
MASTER BLASTERS? Dick did ask a great question – how many Master
Blasters do we have in the class? Your friendly Scribe would love
to know and invites each (all) Master Parachutists in the class to send
me an email to let me know you are one.
An aside here: your Scribe was in the 1st Inf Div in VN and
was heavily involved in planning for Operation Junction City. This
is the operation when a battalion of the 173d made its combat jump.
It came about because, despite many helicopter units supporting the
division, we came up one infantry battalion short for the number to be
inserted during operation Junction City. That is when the G3 Plans
Officer, Jerrie Hutchinson ’56 (our 2d Regimental
Commander as a cadet) said “let’s drop one in” or words to that effect.
The generals were so briefed and loved it, especially then-BG John
Deane, commander of the 173d Airborne. I do not recall that the 1st
Div with 173d Airborne attached considered a brigade from the 101st
for Operation Junction City. Who knows? Sadly, I while
trying to call Jerrie to verify my memory, I learned that
he died on 23 Mar 17 in Port St Lucie, FL. His burial was on 26
May, at West Point I believe. It can certainly be said of
Jerrie, in the words from our Alma Mater, “Well done; Be thou at
peace.”
An email, I think on the class forum, courtesy of Palmer McGrew I2:
“I have just read Red Platoon written by the staff sergeant who
orchestrated most of the defensive actions on Combat Outpost Keating,
and was awarded a Medal of Honor. He seems to have something against
"ring knockers", preferring his platoon leader who told his sergeants ‘I
like coffee and I like to drink beer. Just keep me out of trouble.’
I (Palmer) found it wonderfully written by Clinton
Romesha, and, although no ghost writer or co-writer is named, if the
sergeant really wrote it, it's even more amazing. He always makes the
same grammatical error, ‘Me and Jones did such and such.’ It is so
prevalent that I think it is left that way to give the illusion that the
kid really wrote it because sometimes he gets it so wrong that you can't
imagine him writing it that way. Anyway: Do not let that deter you from
reading this book. The defense wins but just barely and the huge losses
and damage are not the fault of the defenders, but of those who placed
this fort in the worst place they could find. Check it out.”
No doubt Palmer would get a great grade (2.7 or so) for
this book report if he were still taking English at USMA.
There was an interesting discussion on the class forum about
President Trump’s release of classified information to the Russians, but
I will skip the details here. However, this might serve as an
enticement for more classmates to get on the class forum email list
usma1958-forum@west-point.org. I have no clue why this
did not turn the same darker blue as other email addresses and web sites
have. Perhaps it will when I send this email. Beats me.
Anyway, you can be lazy, skip the forum and wait for your Scribe to use
some of the information in our Class Notes without the politics.
Today is 21 May and we held our annual Class Memorial Service at
VN Memorial (the Wall) for our 13 classmates killed in Southeast Asia
during our war. And, this year we included two brothers of
classmates in our Memorial Service. I will name them here with
dates of death (on the service bulletin their positions on the Wall were
shown, but not truly relevant in our class notes): Richard T Lynch
I1 10 Sep 64, Richard S Johnson F1 17 Jan 65,
Gerald C Capelle K1 1 Apr 65, Charles S Moore L2
25 Apr 67, Merwin L Morrill G1 21 Aug 67, Lawrence M
Malone M2 7 Jan 68, Floyd B Spencer Jr B2 31 Jan
68, Ralph R Wensinger H1 21 Oct 68, Robert E Olson
D2 5 Feb 69, Lon A Spurlock II I1 28 Mar 69,
George E Hussey H2 4 May 70, Robert Degen D2 8
Jan 71, David F Nidever L2 30 Mar 71. And brothers
Rodney H Smith ’53 3 Jun 67 (brother of Tony I1)
and David A Bujalski ’64 15 Aug 67 (brother of Jack
G2). This was our Twenty-Eighth Annual Memorial Service,
held annually since May 1989. All far too young.
A little history of this annual class event: Mark Sigurski
C1 got the idea for this service from ’56 (who hold their annual
service on Veterans Day in November) and discussed it with your Scribe.
The deal was that Mark would host a lunch at ANCC
following the service if I would organize the service. We have
been doing this for 28 years. Since Mark moved to Albuquerque,
Andy Andreson G1 has provided the ANCC membership for our
brunch following the service. In recent years Jack Gordon A1,
our DC social chairman, has organized and collected the checks (payable
to Ronald K Andreson) for the brunch. Jerry Prochaska B2
provided the Scripture lesson and “sermon” or remarks at the ceremony as
he has for many years.
In the beginning, I made a modest Xerox printed service bulletin,
but our bona fide class printer Dan Brockwell G1 took over
this task and greatly improved this function for me. Now
Frank Waskowicz C2 provides the printed service bulletin.
For the past two years, Frank has included cadet photos of
the classmates in the bulletin. This year we included two brothers
of classmates KIA in VN with their photos as well. Jack
Bujalski G2 contacted me to suggest I say a prayer for his
brother David Bujalski ‘64. Great idea from Jack!
Even better, we included two brothers of classmates in the ceremony.
Scribe checked with the class via email and was reminded by Tony
about his brother Rod, with whom I served in the 1st
Inf Div in VN. Bottom line: we remembered them all, 13 classmates
and two brothers in the Memorial Service this year, complete with photos
in the service bulletin thanks to Frank. A moving
affair and tribute to these fifteen. Checking again, are there any
other brothers or close family members who should be included in the
future?
A class widow contacted me to ask what we do about other deceased
classmates who were not KIA in Vietnam? Her USAF husband died in
an aircraft accident while on active duty shortly after he returned from
VN. I told her that we include all deceased classmates at the
memorial service during class reunions. Here are our classmates
who died on active duty, but not while serving in VN (listed by cadet
company, which is how they appear in the service bulletin: Alfred
R Mason B1 (1 Jun 67), Joseph A Evans D1 (23 Jun
79), Charles A Normington D1 (18 Nov 66), Jerry L
Burton G1 (22 Jan 60), Sammy H Cardwell G1 (22 Feb
61), Stanley A Maxson Jr H1 (5 Jan 85), Hugh A Bauer
A2 (10 Jan 71), Dan A Brookhart B2 (12 Nov 63),
Joe M Davis B2 (4 Aug 63), Frederick J Schluter F2
(12 Jul 60), Wayne D Day G2 (11 Mar 66), William P
Marshall H2 (24 Apr 60), George W P Walker H2 (31
Jan 59), and Edward G Hale Jr L2 (8 Jun 66). Our
total who died on active duty is 27: 13 in Southeast Asia and 14 others,
including the first and second men in our class: George Walker
and Dan Brookhart. Again, all far too young.
The class reunion Roll Call includes all classmates, grads and former
cadets, and wives. And, of course, our Cadet Chaplain George
M Bean (31 Jan 04) and his wife Betty Lee (29 Aug
09). The names in the service bulletin are organized by cadet
companies and reflect their status at death: active duty or retired,
rank and service, date of death.
I was asked by a number at brunch today how many classmates have
died. We have 217 grads, another 25 former cadets and 90 wives who
have died. All are included on the Roll Call. Sadly, this
number will increase between now and our next Roll Call at the 60th
Reunion at West Point, 26-29 April 2018. We are NOT having a Mini
Reunion this year to focus maximum attendance at the 60th.
The numbers for grads and wives are correct (as of these notes),
however, the number of former cadets is more problematical. Your
Scribe needs help from CCQs on all these stats. And, YOU need to
attend the 60th Reunion! Details will be provided by
Garry Roosma in due course. Put the dates on your 2018
calendars NOW! 26-29 April 2018!
We do expect continuing to hold Mini Reunions after the 60th
based on the KISS principle. This is how the first few minis were
handled: the first Mini was our 31st Reunion in Palm Springs,
CA (Dick Groves K1), 32d Reunion in Bar Harbor, ME (Mark
Sigurski C1), 33d Reunion in South Padre Island, TX (Jack
Tierney C1) and 36th Reunion in Winter Park, CO (Jack
Crandall M2). These each had an arrival (Thursday night)
cocktail party and a dinner (Saturday night). Pretty sure they
were pay-as-go events. Of course, our fourth Mini, our 34th
Reunion, was in Thailand in 1992 (Pete Kullavanijaya B2).
This one was more involved and longer given the distance to travel, the
Queen of Thailand’s 60th birthday celebration and the many
events before and after the actual reunion: from visits to Hong Kong to
Singapore to Indonesia to mainland China, etc. I think a group
went to Australia, but my memory is faulty.
Meanwhile, having Mini Reunions after our 60th will
depend upon volunteers to host the said reunions. The idea for
post-60th Mini Reunions is that the only two organized events
will be an arrival cocktail party so attendees know who is there and a
Saturday night (final night) dinner. Both these events will be
pay-as-you-go to make it easier for the reunion organizer. Any
other events will be informal and organized by participants: golf,
tennis (anyone still playing?), company dinners, getting together with
friends, etc. The only collection up-front will be a nominal
registration fee ($25 dollars or so) for incidental expenses incurred by
the organizer -- with no refunds. This will be definitely easier
for the organizer. No shows will be able to count their unreturned
registration fees as a contribution to the class fund (checking
account). Contributions for no shows will be Tax Deductible
because the class is a 501C3 or whatever organization. Remember
the guiding principle: KISS. Keeping it simple should make it
easier to find volunteers to host a mini. Basically, the organizer
will only have to arrange for a hotel (attendees will make their own
reservations), the arrival night cocktail party with a pay-as-you-go bar
and final night dinner, again pay-as-you-go for dinner and drinks.
FIRST CLASS CLUB or FCC. Kudos to Tony Smith I1
for being our class honcho for this effort for many years with myriad
meetings with various Supes and USMA staff members. As I recall,
the idea for ’58 to refurbish and bring the FCC back into being
originated with Dale Hruby M2 and Butch Ordway G1.
They were the initial guys to make it happen with the help of fund
raisers and others. Jack Bradshaw M2 our Class
President made remarks at the turn-over ceremony during our 35th
Reunion and again recently at the re-opening of the FCC for Class of
2017. The fund raiser who stands out in my memory is the current
one: Tom Claffey K2. Dale, Butch,
Tony and Tom, and all other classmates and
donors who helped on the FCC – THANK YOU! This is a superb gift to
the Corps and the Cadets truly appreciate it.
No doubt there are many other classmates whose praises I should
be singing, but keep in mind that, along with Winnie the Pooh, I am a
bear of little brain and cannot remember everything. And, with
regards to my singing praises to anyone, I am reminded that Mr Mayer
said to me back in 1954 when I gave “Glory to God” my best shot trying
to make the choir: “Mr Sibert, your grandfather couldn’t sing; your
father couldn’t sing; and you can’t sing. Next!” However,
with our Choirmaster Mr Mayer, I fared better than some because I heard
him say to another classmate: “Mr, what chapel squad are you in?”
The reply was “Protestant, sir” to which Mr Mayer then said, “when you
come to Chapel, don’t sing.”
Widows are welcome at all class social activities and are
encouraged to attend such functions as DC area luncheons or Class
Reunions (West Point or Mini). I know that Audrey Webb I2
and Angela Ganey H1 came to the ANCC lunch after the 21
May Memorial Service at the VN Memorial Wall. Betsy Hall H2
is a frequent attender of DC class activities, but was AWOL on 21 May.
FYI. Audrey and Betsy are not technically on
the EC (no widows at this point), but are usually present at EC
meetings. The next DC lunch I know about is on Thursday 20 July at
Ramparts Restaurant in Alexandria. I plan to return from Michigan
in time to attend. And, the one after that is Thursday 21 Sep.
This will be followed by our annual lunch in Nov with USNA 1958 before
the Army-Navy game. BEAT NAVY! The DC gang will hear about
all three lunches via email from Jack Gordon A1. If
you are not on the DC email list and would like to be, contact
Dick Buckalew via email
buckalew@west-point.org or telephone 703-237-8263.
AGAIN, WIDOWS ARE WELCOME AND ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND. In
addition to class luncheons our 60th Class Reunion would be a
great event for widows to attend. It will be an opportunity to
return to West Point. The reunion dates are 26-29 April 2018 and
we have priority at the Thayer Hotel.
TEE SHIRTS. And from a recent (27 May 2017) email from Karl
Oelke: “I’ve had a couple of tee shirts for several years, ones I love
and have, frankly, worn out: one with the Class of ’58 crest above the
left breast, the other with “USMA” across the front. Recently our
local Kiwanis club had some tee shirts made and they turned out
exceptionally well: high quality fabric and fine printing. So, I
talked to the printing company about making some for us. They said
they could do it.
“Cost will depend on how many shirts we order. Including the
set-up fee, costs will be between $8.75 and $9/shirt (for 24-35 shirts),
and between $7.85 and $8.20 (for 36 to 71 shirts). Postage will add to
the cost. I can get up to three shirts in a $7.20 flat rate mailer. One
shirt will fit in a $6.65 flat rate mailer. Consider this a survey
of the Class to gauge interest. If enough people are interested, I’ll
order some. Pete Trainor has posted pictures of my old tee shirts on the
Class web site <http://www.west-point.org/class/usma1958/special/teeshirts.html>.
“Go there and you can see what they will look like. To order a
shirt (or two or more) email me <oelkes658@gmail.com>
identifying the shirt(s) you want to order. Let’s set a deadline
of 4 weeks to place your order and, if we have enough by 26 June I’ll
notify everyone who has placed an order, ask for payment, and have the
tee shirts made. Karl Oelke.” Your Scribe has already
ordered a tee shirt.”
Your Scribe departs for Epworth Heights in Ludington, Michigan
tomorrow (30 May), therefore, it is time to wrap up this edition of our
Class Notes and launch it. You can send photos or write me at my
normal address because the Post Office will forward my snail mail until
I return to Alexandria on/about 19 July. My planned return is in
time for the 20 July DC Class Luncheon at Ramparts Restaurant in
Alexandria. For details on this or future class luncheons please
contact Jack Gordon A1 at his home number 703-237-8263 or
via his email <hjg5041958@sbcglobal.net>.
Details on all the class luncheons will be forthcoming from Jack via
email.
OOPS.
Forgot to mention earlier the complete list of attendees at the 21 May
Memorial Ceremony at the Wall and ANCC brunch:
Tony Bauer,
Pete and Janice Brintnall, Andy
and Artie Andreson, Angela Ganey, Phil
and Rosa Gibbs, Jack Gordon, John
and Sally Herren, Joe and Peggy Luman
(plus other guests), George and Mary Jane Lawton,
Lee and Betty Miller, Munge
and Judy Moore, Tony and Gay Nadal
(from Williamsburg, VA), Jerry and Marjorie
Prochaska, Dick Reidy, Dave Swanson
(from Hawaii – the longest distance travelled), George Sibert,
Dick Schonberger, Bonnie and Tony
Smith, Audrey Webb, Frank Waskowicz,
Alan and Florence Salisbury, Jim
Corcoran (from Richmond). And, at the ceremony only but
not at bunch: Mimi Nun, Margie and
Jack Downing, Ceda and Palmer McGrew.
Thirty-seven classmates and wives – the largest turnout for this event
in years or ever! Frank is sending a video to the class covering
the ceremony at the Wall.
And, I was fortunate to have a great lunch with Tom Sands
K1 on 26 May. He and Barbara were in
Alexandria visiting their daughter and son-in-law. Among other
topics we talked about the WWII Museum in New Orleans. Tom and
Barbara visit it frequently and highly recommend it. I have
been a modest contributor to the museum’s fund-raising efforts and can
recommend that you support it as well should you be looking for a worthy
cause – along with the WPAOG which can always use your money even though
the class is no longer raising money for the FCC.
I am sending this today, Monday, Memorial Day so that I do not
have to do anything tomorrow except finish loading my car and departing.
The next version of these Class Notes should arrive around 4 July.
My email will work in Michigan and my phone number there is
231-845-1546. Please stay in touch and send news to share with the
class. Remember the class email lists, class web site and WPAOG
web site. I will try listing them here:
58usma@west-point.org
(restricted senders list, the one Jack Downing uses for
death notifications).
usma1958@west-point.org
(unrestricted senders list which we all can use for class information –
this is the one I used for the May and June and future class notes).
usma1958-forum@west-point.org (class forum we can all use for
virtually any email traffic, any subject to the classmates who are on
it).
www.west-point.org/class/usma1958 (class web site maintained by
Pete Trainor G1).
www.westpointaog.org (the web
site maintained by WPAOG) – you must register for this one.
“That’s all folks”, George
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