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Class of 1958 Executive Committee 1/16/00

Dear Classmates Family and Friends,

This the second of our twice yearly newsletters which was scheduled to come out in December 1999, but due to year-end excitement, the holidays and the advent of the new millennium it is delayed somewhat. Hopefully we will stay on schedule and the next newsletter will be out in July 2000.

IN BARRACKS MINI-REUNION REPORT

The major event for this year was the mini-reunion at West Point held in conjunction with the first Graduate Seminar for Graduates conducted by West Point. The Seminar included billeting in the barracks, briefings and exercises conducted by the Supe and his staff and a number of social events attended by attendees, cadets and West Point Staff Members. Thirty six classmates and 3 wives attended. The 1958 contingent was over half of the attendees. In fact if we had not attended, the Seminar would have been canceled. Most of us who attended were prepared to be unimpressed with the state of the Academy, and we left mostly highly impressed. We recommend attendance at any future Graduate Seminars although there will be none in 2000. In addition to those events scheduled by the Academy, we participated in the dedication of the George W. P. Walker Debate Council and Forum Room, conducted a memorial service in honor of fallen classmates at the West Point Cemetery, and participated in the funeral of Ted Burke(D-1) who was buried at West Point while we were there.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REORGANIZATION

The Class Executive Committee (Excom) meets a number of times a year to conduct class business. We are changing the process from the past and we want you to be aware of the changes. Instead of working all issues in the Excom as we have done for many years, we will be assigning areas of responsibilities to each member. Each Excom member will chair a committee and will discuss and resolve issues within the responsibility of the committee. The committees will report to the Excom which will primarily set policy and monitor committee actions. The committee assignments are:

OBITS

There have been 81 deaths in the class and there have been 53 memorial articles written. Six obits of classmates were published in 1999 and the obit for Luis Mirasol will be published in the March-April

"Assembly", and Ted Burke's memorial article will appear in the May-June issue. Others are in various stages of preparation. However, many deceased classmates have not yet received their due honor and some have little expectation. This is fair warning that there will be a general buck-up in this area during the next year. I urge authors, company CQs, and all classmates to rededicate yourselves to getting these articles finished.

Several classmates have written their own obits and filed them with the Association of Graduates (AOG). I would suggest that each of you make a stab at what you would like to see appear in your memory and file a copy with Jack Downing and Carol Malone, assistant "Assembly" editor for memorial articles. Her e-mail address isyc5852@exmail.usma.army.mil. . Please keep Jack Downing (71222.3245@compuserve.com), CINC Obit, informed though, so he can be sure to keep her replacement up to date whenever she moves on. On its home page, the AOG has a list of all deceased classmates and identifies those with published memorial articles. To get there, go to the AOG home page, http://.AOG.usma.edu and log in. You will need your Cullum number (graduation number in the Register) and a password (get from AOG) to read the grads-only section. From there a hyperlink will take you to the list of deceased classmates.

Those of you on e-mail know that there has been heated discussion on an AOG proposal to remove all obits from the "Assembly" and to publish them in the future only in the "Register" for reasons of space, cost and other considerations. The Excom has acted on 58's behalf to express displeasure with the proposal. We are watching this issue closely.

Since the last newsletter, the following class deaths have occurred: Edward J. Burke D-1, 31 May 1999; Peter J. Young L-1, 1 Sep. 1999; Jane Evans, wife of Roy T. Evans (Sandy) C-1, 9 Dec. 1999; David G. Coury A-2, 1 Jan. 2000; Edward J. Timberlake E-2, 9 Jan. 2000.

COMMUNICATIONS

Communications with its members and constituents are important to the Class of 1958, the Academy, the AOG, and your Excom. The means at are disposal are, e-mail, the Company CQ system using phone calls, periodic newsletters, and the "Assembly". By far the fastest, best, most efficient and cheapest is e-mail. If you are not on e-mail, this is a plea for you to join your 350 classmates, and get on e-mail. Try it and you will love it. The "Assembly" is published 6 times a year. The Class Columns and Obit sections are a valuable means to keep informed. The articles and columns in the "Assembly" are far superior to those of the past. Our class rather consistently runs about 60-66% subscribers--which means that 40-34% are not getting the magazine written by alumni of USMA, written for alumni of USMA, written about alumni and our alma mater. Mid-sixty percent of subscribers is not an acceptable level of support from '58, the class which leads the way in so many ways. Your Excom encourages you to grab your credit card, pick up the phone, dial 1-800-232-7821 and sign up for "Assembly"! We plan a major push in 2000 to improve communications with the class to include better use of the Company CQs.

We need to improve our communications through the Company CQs. CQs have the responsibility to get the word out quickly, particularly to their Company members not on e-mail. A first order of business for Company CQs this year is to get your guys on e-mail, and to get them to subscribe to "Assembly". CQs are responsible for encouraging their Company mates to attend reunions, to participate in class projects, to inform of deaths of Company mates and family members and to take care of flowers and other requirements for the Company. If you are a CQ and don't want to be, let us know. A list of current Company CQs follows:

EVENTS FOR THE YEAR 2000 AND BEYOND

The 1958 reunion and mini reunion schedule for the next few years is as follows:

We are also looking at the possibility of a Washington, DC, reunion in 2004 or 2005.

PORTLAND OREGON. The big mini reunion for 2000 is Portland Oregon. Plans are being solidified for the upcoming reunion in Portland, 7-10 September, 2000. We expect a great turnout and promise the best of weather. We are now at 129 classmates, 1 from the class of 1966, and 259 total and climbing.

The biggest day, insofar as scheduled events are concerned, will be Friday, September 9. During the day, a tour of the Columbia River Gorge will take us to Multnomah Falls, Bonneville Dam, the Columbia Gorge Hotel for lunch, then to Hood River, crossing the river there and returning, in part along the Washington side. The Reunion Committee members promise great scenery all along the way. That evening we will repair to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington Park for a memorial service. After the service, we will walk over to the Zoo for an informal dinner. (Relax all! We won't be eating with the animals.)

Saturday will be a free day for everyone to do their own things. We will provide information on several tours and will help with a wine tour of the Willamette Valley if there is enough interest. This will also be a good time for company get-togethers. That evening, we will have our formal dinner at the Marriott Hotel, so bring a suit and a tie. We plan to send out the formal registration letter in March. For those of you who have not pre-registered, don't feel left out. We'll welcome you with open arms, and we won't even charge a late fee. All kidding aside, we hope that as many of you that can make it will come. We look forward to a great reunion for the Great '58.

Dick Oberg is coordinating the cruise to Alaska which is being held in conjunction with the reunion. Over 50 have committed to the cruise. Dick is looking into the possibility of a cruise either before or after the reunion - and possibly both. The organizers for the Portland Mini, AKA "The Gang of Four", are: Paul Vanture(B-2) (503) 245-1511; Terry Connell(F-1) (503) 292-1911; Orlie Hill(D-1) (503) 635-5376; Bob Miller(L-1) (503) 371-4718.

OTHER EVENTS THIS YEAR. In addition to the many mini reunions and other events scheduled, many Companies have organized micro-reunions for their Company mates. We think it is a great idea and we encourage more of it, however we don't intend to publish those events in our newsletters. We prefer to leave those as Company matters rather than matters of interest to the class. We also have a number of subgroups that communicate primarily through e-mail and the internet. The Stock pickers and the Ski Group come to mind, and they are organized, have their own communications and we don1t plan to publish their information either, however, if you are interested, call any member of the Excom, and they will tell you how to get in touch with the group.

Two Rivers Cruise in France. Thirty six classmates, wives and friends will cruise the South of France on the MV Princesse de Provence on the Rhone and Saone Rivers from 3-10 June. The river cruise will be preceded by 2 nights in Paris and various post cruise tours. Phil Pryor and Jerry Mitchell are the organizers of the cruise along with IMS Travel of Vienna VA. The cruise is fully booked, but vacancies might occur. For additional information contact Phil or Jerry.

The Annual Memorial Service for our 13 classmates killed in VN will be held on Sunday, 21 May at 1030 at the VN memorial in Washington. The service will be followed by a brunch at the Army Navy Country Club. This year the wreath will be placed below Larry Malone1s name (panel 33E line 71). This event usually is attended by classmates from the DC area, but all are encouraged to come and join us and share memories of Larry Malone and our other fallen classmates listed below by date of death:

Army Navy Football game 2000 will be held at PSI NET stadium in Baltimore, MD, on 2 Dec. 2000. Baltimore is Navy Territory and all loyal Army fans need to turn out. Ed Weckel, Glenn Brown and some of the Washington area class of 1958 contingent will be planning activities for the game. Glenn and Kit Brown intend to host a cocktail party in their home in Bel Aire, MD (30 minutes North of PSI Net Stadium) the night before the game, and Glenn will block out hotel rooms in Bel Aire for those that wish to stay in Bel Aire. Also there are tentative plans for a rally/party in Northern VA hosted by Alan and Florence Salisbury the night before the game. Glen Brown and Ed Weckel along with John Nun's Social committee are investigating the possibility of a tailgate party in a large heated tent in the stadium parking lot for pre-game and post-game activities. They are looking into doing this with the West Point Society of DC or another class, or going it alone. More information will be provided later. Mark your calendar now and BEAT NAVY!"

USMA CLASS OF 1958 PERPETUAL ENDOWMENT

The second fund drive of the Class Perpetual Endowment closed on 15 December. To date, 279 classmates have donated to the Endowment. This figure includes 21 donations by spouses and relatives of deceased classmates as well as classmates making donations in memory of a former roommate or close friend. Our funds have grown to $111,923 during the 14 months that the Endowment has existed.

As you probably know, we are attempting to do something different for the Academy - - to establish a fund which will outlive our class. We plan to do this by letting our money grow tax free over time. Recall, if a 20 year old invests $2k annually in the market @ around 9 percent, he will have a million at age 65. We hope to use the same technique, and we are off to a good start. The Endowment will make a gift to the Academy at our 50th, and NOT make any additional gifts until our 100th. After that, the Endowment provides 25 percent to the Academy every ten years. Over time, the amount donated can be truly staggering!

After we of "58" are gone, the fund is to be managed by our descendants, who have links to the Academy or the military services. We have established detailed procedures as to how this is to be accomplished in our Bylaws. Seven graduates currently manage the Endowment - - four elected members of the class(Church Hutton, Pete Brintnall, Lee Miller and Ed Weckel, Chairman), Meg Roosma '85 (Garry's daughter, also elected), Fred Rice '88 (a Tac at USMA) and Pat Connelly (First Captain from the Class of 98). Fred and Pat were chosen by the board.

The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund has recognized the uniqueness of what we are attempting to achieve, and included an article about our Endowment in its annual report. Further information on the Endowment can be obtained at the class web site http://www.West-Point.org/class/usma1958 or by contacting any of the Board members identified above.

Congratulations and thanks to Ed Weckel who conceived this great effort and to the current managers who have us off to such a great start.

HEALTH CARE INITIATIVE

The Class Initiatives Committee is chaired by Pete Brintnall. For now it is concentrating on the Military Health Care problem , and is responsible for developing a strategy for class activities aimed at improving military health care and restoring health care for medicare-eligible retirees. The Health Care committee includes Pete, George Lawton, Art Mace and Paul Vanture. It was charged with determining a way to become proactive rather than reactive, ensuring a coherent program involving all interested classmates.

An article on health care signed by the Excom was published in the Jan/Feb issue of "Assembly"; a talker was sent to our three and four star classmates to use with senior military and civilian leaders; and we are attempting to get AUSA to take a strong stand on the issue. The talker was also sent to all classmates on e-mail. These efforts are being coordinated with both The Retired Officers Association(TROA) and the National Association For the Uniformed Services(NAUS). We are also working with the McCain campaign committee and we will attempt to get the Bush campaign committee to support it. If anyone is working with either the Gore or Bradley campaigns, please let us know. It is important that all the candidates support this issue. NAUS supports us fully in these efforts and is more than willing to work directly with the campaign committees of both parties. Our grass roots efforts can make a difference as evidenced by the fact that H.R. 2966 picked up 201 co-sponsors in just 2 months. We have gotten off to a fast start thanks above all to Pete Brintnall and his Committee.

CLASS HISTORY PROJECT

The Class History Project convened a group of classmates and wives in December to review the plans for the project. The primary deliverable will be a 50th reunion book (including a multimedia insert), which the group felt ought to be sent out a few months after the actual reunion in order that it can include pictures and other material from the reunion. A tentative outline of the book was agreed upon so that it can serve as a guide to collecting material for inclusion. Inputs will be solicited from each member of the class based on an outline and a survey to be distributed, with a goal of 100% participation. Special attention is also being paid to collecting "war stories" and anecdotes from cadet days, military service, and civilian life, along with well-captioned "great pictures" of classmates in action over the years. An "oral" history component is also in the works. More details will be made available on the class home page shortly. In the meantime, volunteers who would like to work on the project are asked to contact Alan and Florence Salisbury, via e-mail to USMA58History@aol.com, or call 703-319-2187 days or 703-242-8648 eves.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Class Ring Meltdown Project. Ron Turner (K-1) came up with the idea of what has become known as the class ring meltdown project. The idea is that class rings donated to the project by members of the Long Gray line will be melted down to become part of the raw material for new class rings for new members of the Long Gray Line. This becomes a reality for the class rings for the class of 2002. If class members would like to participate in the program they should so indicate in their will. This project is being conducted through the AOG. The point of contact at the AOG is Anthony P. Ferraiuolo, Director Class Support Programs for the AOG. His e-mail is <ya8199@usma.edu>. His phone number is (914) 446-1563.

Class of 1983. Our class has long been recognized as a leader and activist in West Point Class affairs. The class of 1983, 25 years our junior, has asked if they might associate themselves with us for guidance and suggestions on how to conduct their class affairs and to participate with us on selected social events. The Excom saw no downside to this and has accepted.

Increased classmates widow participation. We have been looking for ways to include and increase widows of deceased classmates participation in class activities and social events. We are considering including a widow on the Excom with the purpose of increasing their participation. The Excom would like to hear from the class if there are any thoughts on how to improve participation.

Class of 1958 Athletic Team Captains Plaque. The plaque has hung for a number of years on the indoor track, better known as the obstacle course track, in Arvin Gym. Arvin Gym is being rebuilt and the plaque has been removed by the PE Dept. for safe keeping. There had been a lot of traffic on the e-mail system regarding where and how the plaque should be displayed. The Master of the Sword has stated they will re-hang the plaque when rebuilding is complete. For the present we have decided to leave the plaque in the hands of the PE Dept., final disposition to be decided later.

Gerald C. Mitchell
Chairman Communications Committee
Excom