1.   Bill Barott was killed on November 4, 1966 in Vietnam.
2.   Harley Jeans died on July 20, 1977.
3.   Bob Jacobs died on February 25, 1998.
4.   Ozzie Osborn died on September 29, 1998.
5.   Charles Crowe died on May 19, 1999.
6.   Pat Pattillo died on August 16, 1999.
7.   Serafino A. Scalise died on June 6, 2006.
8.   Don Anker died on February 22, 2008
9.   Jerry Dickson died on October 19, 2010
10.  Myles Grant died on October 01, 2011
11.  Floy Ashley died on October 31, 2012
12.  Max Scheider died on January 31, 2014


        

You'll recognize them at the 65th, they look thusly now.

Bill Cuthbertson W Millett

Jerry Dickson nd W Janice

John Hook

Jim McDonald W Aline

Update on Bill ... Bill's last military assignment was to Headquarters, Tactical Air Warfare Center, Eglin AFB, Florida where he served until 1971 when he retired from the United States Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel. In 1985 Bill became a Real Estate Developer. Bill and his wife Millett make their home at Lake Concordia in Vidalia, Louisiana.

Update on Jerry ... In 1968 Jerry received orders to OJ3 Commander in Chief Pacific where he served until 1972. On return to stateside Jerry was assigned to the 2849th Air Base Group, Hill AFB, Utah where he served until he retired from the United States Air Force in 1979 as a Lieutenant Colonel. Jerry and his wife Janice made their home in Layton, Utah.

Update on John .... John Ferguson Hook was born in Union City, Indiana on 27 March 1929 and was appointed to West Point from an Honor Military School. His West Point classmates recall: "If you needed someone to give you the latest poop, or a good fast game of handball, John Hook was your man. Though by no means a `hive,' he always managed to outfox the Academic Department and to have a good time to boot. A good man, John helped us to enjoy our stay within the grey walls of West Point. No doubt he will do well in his chosen branch, the Infantry. Good luck, John." During his cadet days John was on the Chapel Choir yearling, cow and first class years; on the Duty Committee cow and first class years; and was a Cadet Sergeant his first class year. Upon graduation John went in the Infantry and after completing the Basic Infantry Course at Fort Benning, Georgia reported to the 101st Airborne Division where he served from 1951 to 1952. John's next assignment was to the 224th Infantry, 40th Division in Korea; served from 1952 to 1953 and was decorated with the Bronze Star Medal for distinguished heroism against an enemy and the Combat Infantryman Badge. From 1953 to 1955 John served with the 11th Airborne Division and in 1956 was assigned to Headquarters, United States Army School of the Americas from where he went with Military Assistance Advisory Group, Spain where he served until 1962. John's next assignment was to Headquarters, United States Military Academy where he served until 1964 and then earned a Masters degree in Spanish from Middlebury College in 1965. On completion he was assigned to he Foreign Language Department, United States Military Academy and served as an Instructor until 1968. From 1968 to 1969 John was assigned to Headquarters, Area Command, Republic of Vietnam and was awarded the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services. Returning to stateside John returned to the United States Military Academy as Associate Professor of Foreign Languages; served until 1972 and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for conspicuously meritorious performance of duty in a non-combat situation. From 1972 to 1975 John was assigned as Commandant of the Defense Language Institute, Monterey, California. In 1975 John earned a PhD degree from New York University. He was then appointed Defense Attache to Guatemala where he served until 1978. The writer just missed him as he was assigned to Guatemala as Science and Technology Advisor from 1979 to 1981. John's last military assignment was to the Military Review Board where he served from 1978 to 1979 when he retired from the United States Army as a Colonel. In 1981 John was appointed Director of the Gables Academy where he served as such until 1985 when he was appointed Superintendent of the Wentworth Military Academy. John and his wife Betty make their home in Lexington, Missouri.

Update on Jim ... Mac's last military assignment was to Headquarters, United States Army, Vietnam where he served until 1972. Jim was decorated with the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services; and retired on disability from the United States Army as a Lieutenant Colonel. Since retiring Mac obtained a Masters degree in Military History from Kansas State College at Pittsburg and served as Contract Administrator with the ARCO Pipe Line from 1980 to 1986. His wife Geraldine passed away in 1993. In 1995 he moved to Florida where he met Aline and they were married in Las Vegas in 1998. Mac and Aline reside in a retirement community in Spring Hill, Florida.

On Fri, 9/2/11, James McDonald wrote: "Greetings to all my great classmates. Another year has rolled around and fortunately I can still make Roll Call each morning. I will have to say that I’m a little slower in making it each year and the minute caller would have to start with a ten minutes warning. Aline and I are doing well here in Florida. We try and keep as active and busy as possible. Oh we both have our aches and pains but who does not have some at our age. We have given up some travel or I should say we limit travel and only make the easy trips. I still manage to play golf three times a week but I have to admit that either the courses have gotten much longer or my clubs are not responding and do not do what I think they should do. One thing for sure. age has not improved my handicap. Aline tries to get to the pool several times a week and participates in water aerobics. Some days she just goes to the pool and walks and then takes advantage of the hot tub. Aline still gets to play bridge as often as she can. Lately she has made some contacts and manages to play duplicate in several sanctioned games. The highlight of the year so far was attending our 60th reunion. I thought the reunion was great and being able to see many old friends. I was disappointed that I was not able to see my old roommates but Jerry has passed away and Max's health did not allow him to attend. I thoroughly enjoyed the tape that Ernie Peixotto made and I have enjoyed looking at it since the reunion. He did a great job making it up. We expect to have a quiet fall and expect that we will be having some work done around the house. I found out today that we have a sink hole so they will be coming in to repair it. Sink holes are not unusual and the neighbors all around me have them. In November we will be going on a cruise over Thanksgiving. Aline decided to take her children on the cruise. Then the kids decided to take some of their children. Counting all the children, grand children and great grand children there will be 21 of us making the cruise. We are looking forward to the cruise and visiting the eastern Caribbean. We have received some information about another cruise in February that we are interested in and have made reservation for that.It will be on the Royal Caribbean Line on one of their new large ships the 'Allure of the Seas’. Both cruises are sponsored by our travel club and we get picked up right in our development and transported to and from the dock. It makes it quite easy for us. Now that our 60th reunion has passed I guess we will have to look forward to our 65th. The great Long Grey Line must keep moving on. Grip hands." Jim


On September 2, 2012 Jim writes, "I woke this morning to find a bright sunny day. It is a good day for a birthday but I am alarmed to remember how many of them have past and how quick they seem to come around. I am a regular follower of the My Day reports from our classmates and certainly enjoy them. The other day I read Len Shapiro’s report and was pleased to note that Len still retains his sense of humor. As I read Len’s account it brought back memories of so many years ago. It was in 1952, at Fort Hood or was it still a camp then, and Len was the speaker (as the youngest graduate) at the Founders Day Dinner. Len gave an excellent presentation that was quite humorous and well received by all. I also particularly enjoyed Bill Richardson’s report on his visit to West Point and the authorities there. Certainly the pendulum has swung a long way over and much more liberal since our days. To me it seems time to move the pendulum back a little and restore some of the requirements and practices. Along with my wonderful wife, Aline, we are enjoying life here in Florida. We live along the Nature Coast (the Gulf Side) of Florida in a vey fine retirement development. They offer all the amenities that we could want or could use . Fortunately we both are enjoying good health, as least as good as we can expect for our age. Aline is a fairly regular participant in water aerobics, Tai Chi and duplicate bridge. The bridge takes priority over all of the others. As for me I have it easy here as all the work and nasty jobs are taken care of by others. I still play golf three times a week. Hurricane Isaac and tropical storm Betsy did cause me to miss two days due to rain outs. My handicap keeps increasing even faster than my age but so be it. Recently I have been playing one of our executive courses once a week but that has not helped my handicap. The only good feature is that the course is shorter, takes less time and decreases the hours of frustration that I have on a full sized course. Aline and I do not do much traveling anymore and what we do is limited to cruises. We both enjoy cruises and have been at several of the Ports of Call several times so quite often we stay aboard the ship. The Travel Club in our development plans the cruises, arranges travel to and from the ship right from here and makes it very easy for us. Last November, over Thanksgiving Aline took her family on a Cruise on the Freedom of the Seas. There were 19 of us and we all had a great time. Early this Year Aline and I took a cruise on the Allure of the Seas to find out what it was like to cruise on the biggest cruise ship. It was great. I particularly liked the Piper (in full Highland garb) who play about sunset each day. This past July we went on a cruise with my son James and his family and we enjoyed the time together. I had planned a cruise for my both boys and their families for this summer but the school schedules did not work out so we had to cancel for this year and will try again next year. Aline and I will be home for a while and have nothing planned right now until our next cruise in January. For many years I was reluctant to go on cruises because of some bad memories. My first ship and travel at sea was aboard one of His Majesties army transports. We slung our hammocks in the forward hold (below the waterline) and we lived ate and slept in that hold for the 14 day cruise to Europe in convoy. It is quite a contrast to cruising today. My both boys and their families are doing well. I have four grandchildren in college ( in three different colleges) and one grand daughter still in grade school. My oldest grand daughter is completing the work for her Master Degree this year. Both my boys enjoyed their visit to West Point for our 60th reunion so I will have to start looking forward to our 65th and having them come with me. All in all life is good. I am ever so thankful that I was privileged to be a part of the great Class of 51 and had the opportunity to associate with so many great classmates. Grip Hands." Jim


On 3-6-2013 Jim writes, "Andy. I truly enjoyed your e-mail cited above. I hope I will still be around to attend. But we have to be optimistic. It’s the only way to go.. Right now I am eagerly looking forward to the 65th. Recently I looked back over the photos of cadet life around 1937. It did not seem that much had changed from our days except for some uniform changes. Most notable were that boots, breeches and campaign hats had been abandoned and the changes for the uniforms in the MT&G drafting rooms. Bur we as cadets still lived the same semi monastic and somewhat spartan life. I can’t say that it was all bad and it did contribute to giving our class a great espirit de corps. Espitit de corps is something that has has to be grown, established, developed or nourished from the inside nad it cannot be dictated or developed by higher headquarters or other outside agencies. No one can order a unit to have a a great espirit de corps. With this in mind I might be tempted to use the “Old grad Statement” the Corps has. But I don.t know all the rational that went behind the changes to Cadet Life. I still believe the way we lived etc was not wrong at all. From time to time I have gone back to your other website with data about our classmates, our class, statistics and other bio data. It is great and we owe you a great deal of thanks for all your hard and time consuming work. I can really appreciate it as I have tried to do something similar for my WWII outfit. Thanks again for all your work Andy." Jim McDonald, (semi flankers in the runt Bn,)


On 9-2-2013 Jim writes, "Greetings to all my classmates from the great class 0f 51, U.S.M.A. Today it dawned bright and sunny and we looked forward to another good day in sunny Florida. They did not have to make my birthday a national holiday but it just happened that way. oday I reached the age of 88, an event that I never thought would happen. Of the number 88 all I could think of that very special gun that the German Army had in WWII. It was anti-aircraft, anti –tank, and just about anti-anything. As a squad leader the first man I had KIA was a victim of the 88. Aline and I are doing well here in Florida. We have limited our travel a great deal and usually limit our travels to cruises, airline flights of no more than an hours duration, and some short trips by auto. We have a good travel club here and they do make going on a cruise quite easy. We have been on a lot of cruises and visited most of the ports so sometimes we do not even get off the ships in some of the ports. We do find the cruises relaxing and a break from our normal routines. In January we were on a 10 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean with some friends from our development. This was followed by cataracts surgery for me and now it is a much brighter world. We planned to go to Atlanta for Mother’s Day so Aline could be with her family but had to cancel at the last minute as Aline got hit with a bad case of arthritis. } In August I took my kids and grand-kids on a cruise on the Allure of the Seas to the eastern Caribbean. It was great cruise and we enjoyed having the family together. Aboard the ship they are a captive audience and we do get to see more of them. Usually we have to be content with telephone visits. There were 11 of us on the cruise. Following the cruise, after playing golf, I had a plumbing problem but some out patient surgery last week took care of that. I have to take it easy for a week or so but I sure miss my schedule of golf three times a week. Our next trip will be the end of this month when we go to Atlanta for a belated Mother’s Day visit with Aline’s family. Our calendar is clear after that until thanksgiving when Aline will be taking her family, grandkids and great grandkids on a cruise aboard the Freedom of the Seas to the eastern Caribbean over the Thanksgiving holidays. All together there should be 21 of us. After that we will be home for awhile and there are no firm plans for any other travel until Xmas. Our families are all doing well. My oldest granddaughter just graduated college with her masters degree and is working. Three others, two granddaughters and one grandson, are in college and one granddaughter still in middle school. With the varied school schedules it is difficult to get them all together. Aline’s children are all doing fine and it is not as big a problem to get them all together as some of her grandchildren and great grandchildren are young and the school schedules are not as demanding. When we are here we try and keep as active as possible considering our age. I still play golf three times a week but my handicap is nothing to brag about. Aline still plays some bridge and when the time and schedule permits she does participate in water aerobics and Tai Chi. We have no major health problems but like others our age we can’t do all of the things that we would like to. I follow the activities of the class that comes up on the internet and it is disheartening to read about many of our class mates who have passed away or are in bad health. I do hope that there are enough of us around to make the 65th reunion which we are looking forward to. I have already alerted my sons that they might have to make the trip with me. Again my regards to all of our classmates. " Jim

Bob Prehn W Cathy

Carolyn Scheider W Max

Vete Vetort W Alice

Update on Bob ... After retirement Pete went into the performing arts industry and has appeared in several movies. Pete and his wife Cathy make their home in Wilmington, North Carolina. The January 1995 Assembly noted "that in September son Bob and wife presented grandchild #13, Harrison Payne Prehn. Pete says that he and Cathy are still struggling to be `found' in the film industry. He did several Matlock programs last summer and Pete has auditioned for speaking parts in 6 other films." On Sun, 31 Oct 2004 Pete reports as follows: Thank goodness for our listserver program and Dick Breakiron, and also for Larry's Mintz's "My Day" initiative. I don't say that gratuitously, as I frequently recall how bonded we were as cadets, yet after graduation we, naturally, drifted far and wide.Welost track of many friends from cadet days. I missed that connection...I know others did also. Sure, major reunions and the mini's helped, but they are brief and often don't allow time to visit with everyone. OK, enough on that.I feel the transition from cadet days really began at Branch Selection Night. Remember those emotions? Damn, there were still about seven slots left in the Airforce when my name was called. I was tempted, but went Infantry instead. After graduation many of us gathered at Benning for basic, then Airborne School, and after a brief 3 month tour at Ft Ord, the Korean experience came along, and I was reunitedin the 160th Regt,/40th Div. with Walt Steidl, George Orton and John Tatum. Then came Okinawa, where my first son was born...and a number of class-mates came down there from Korea. I can't name them all, but I saw a lot of Paul Coughlin, and thats where he and I started celebrating our mutual birthdays together. Paul and Sara had their first daughter there (Cindy), and we began plans for a wedding 20 years down the road between Cindy and my new son, Bob. Our planning failed, but they remain good friends. Paul replaced me as Aide de Camp to the CG upon my departure from Okinawa.Over the following years I had the normal duty tours, and I consider them all as positive...11th Airborne, The Third Infantry at Ft Myer and Mcnair,, C&GSC at Leavenworth (my hometown), AFSC at Norfolk, Vietnam (twice)...but I consider my battalion command in the 82nd as the best assignment. Along the way, I added a daughter, Winston, and another son, David to the household. Bob, the oldest, is CEO of a hospital in New Orleans, Winston and her husband own a restaurant in Banner Elk, NC, and David is an investigator for Met Life in Hattiesburg, Ms.The MBA I received from Syracuse led to my final assignment as Comptrol-ler, The Army Transportation Center at Ft Eustis, followed by my first civilian job as Dean, Finance and Administration, Rappahannock College, Va. During this period, I married Cathy, and shortly thereafter, we moved to her hometown, Wilmington, NC. I amdelighted that we have joined three other classmates and wives here, Thorsens, Matneys, Joe and Jean Rogers, plus Dick Breakiron in nearby Myr-tle Beach, SC.,and meet once a month on Sundays as the '51 Brunch Bunch. Life is good !I'm sure this is more information than you really needed, but thanks for listening.I love you guys !Pete On Thu, 7/23/09, Usma51pete@aol.com wrote: I'm turning 81 today, and I can feel the hinges starting to squeak a bit louder, I really can't complain how-ever... I have been blessed with good health, all things considered. Cathy and I are still in our home of 23 years, in Wilmington, NC. Cathy was born and raised here and I feel we made a good decision to retire here. Wil-mington has a lot to offer...its right on the ocean, it has a relatively large art community, especially film and community theater, the weather is normally pleasant year-round, except when the hurricanes decide to leave you Florida folks alone and come up here to harass us! Thankfully that hasn't happened in 4 or 5 years! Oh yes, Wilmington has tourist interest in a place called "Ft Fisher" which some historians say was the last battle of the civil war because at that time in the war, 1864 & 65, Wilmington was the only port still open, that the "blockade runners" could get supplies from Europe, etc in to the Confederates. The battle for Ft Fisher included the largest beach assault of the war. If you saw the movie "GLORY", the battle here was similar. My oldest son, Bob is CEO of a rehab hospital in LaFayette, LA. He and his wife have given us 4 grand-children. My daughter, Winston, and her husband own The Bayou Smokehouse restaurant in Banner Elk, N.C. They have two sons. David, my youngest, recently left the insurance business and now works with the Hattiesburg, MS. Hospital in their EMS program. He is studying to become an EMT on their Mercy Flight program. He and his wife have given us 4 grandchildren, one of whom is with NASA in their Space Station activity. When we add Cathy's son and daughter and their children , and grandchil-dren we have a lot of addresses to remember. Finally, a special highlight of being in Wilmington is that there are three other USMA Class of 1951 members here, Pete & Nancy Thorsen, Joe & Jean Rogers and Ed & Herma Matney (they have a home here and one in Southern Pines) AND they meet regularly for lunch or dinner.....great getting together to tell war stories! Life is good!

On July 24, 2011 Bob writes, " I'M ACTUALLY ONE DAY LATE, AS I WAITED FOR PAUL COUGHLIN TO GET HERE TO WILMINGTON, NC. AS SOME OF YOU KNOW, PAUL AND I HAVE BEEN CELEBRATING OUR BIRTHDAYS TOGETHER, WHEN POSSIBLE, SINCE OKINAWA, 1953. HIS IS 7/25 AND MINE IS 7/23. SINCE HE IS ARTILLERY AND I AM INFANTRY, WE WEREN'T ALWAYS CLOSE ENOUGH TO GET TOGETHER, BUT OF THE 58 YEARS WE'VE HAD TO WORK ON IT, WE FEEL WE'VE MADE ABOUT 29 OF THEM, PERHAPS A FEW MORE. ON SATURDAY NIGHT, THE 23RD, WE MET WITH CLASSMATES JOE & JEAN ROGERS, PETE & NANCY THORSEN AND THEIR SON, DAVID, PAUL COUGHLIN AND MY WIFE, CATHY AND I. THERE WAS A WONDERFUL DINNER AT A GREAT RESTAURANT, BUT MOSTLY THE EVENING CONSISTED OF AN EXCHANGE OF TALES OF CADET DAYS, PLUS EXPERIENCES OF DAYS IN THE SERVICE. IF ANY OF YOU HAD "BURNING EARS" SAT. NIGHT, CHANCES ARE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT YOU...BUT NICELY! TODAY, THE 24TH, PETE THORSEN GRACIOUSLY INVITED US TO USE THE SURF CLUB AT WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, AT WHICH HE'S A MEMBER, WHERE WE ENJOYED A BEAUTIFUL BRUNCH....AND, WE DISCOVERED WE HADN'T EXHAUSTED OUR BAG OF "TALES OF DAYS GONE BY" FROM LAST NIGHT. WE MISSED ED AND HERMA MATNEY, LOCAL RESIDENTS, BUT TEMPORARILY OUT OF TOWN...ED WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE SOME INTERESTING TALES. ALL IN ALL, IT WAS A GREAT GET-TOGETHER, AND PAUL AND I HAVE ENJOYED ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL BASH." PETE PREHN

Update on Max ... Upon retirement, Max accepted a position with the Ralph M. Parsons Company where he served as a Construction Manager and Project Manager from 1981 to 1991. During that time he worked on the improvement of AMTRAK's Northeast Corridor, the upgrading of air traffic facilities for the FAA, and the extension of Chicago's rapid transit system. When he retired for a second time in 1991, Max and his wife, Joyce, relocated to Austin, Texas, where Joyce passed away in 1995. He subsequently married Carolyn, and they continue to make their home in Austin where Max serves as a Mediator for the Austin Dispute Resolution Center.

Update on Vete ... Vete's last military assignment was as Deputy Project Manager of the XM1 Tank and he served as such from 1978 to 1981 when he retired from the United States Army as a Colonel. Vete and his wife Alice make their home at Grosse Point Woods, Michigan.