MAY 2001
The great
good news for the class this time is that Army Secretary Louis Caldera (USMA
’78) approved, before he left office, a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor
for Rocky Versace. John
Gurr’s inspiring announcement of this event was e-mailed to the class on 17
Jan and published in the February newsletter of the WP Society of D.C. I’m sure that a feature article in this
magazine will include it.
There were 24 of us at the Class
Luncheon in Rosslyn on 13 Feb, and we were joined by Steve Versace, Rocky’s brother and several members of
the Friends of Rocky Versace, who have been so tirelessly instrumental in the
honors finally being bestowed on a true hero of our class. John
Gurr, who has done so much to ensure this result and has been so diligent
and eloquent in keeping us informed, was in South America for the event, but
his ears must have been burning. Pete Dawkins presided and lauded the
grass roots effort of these dedicated few.
Our appreciation and admiration is unbounded.
1959: Dawkins addressing
the Class Luncheon
Jim & Jynelle Miller retired last year and moved from their
home in Holland, MI, to a cottage they purchased in 1995 on the Great Sauble
River, just south of Manistee, MI (the postal address is Free Soil, MI, if that
helps). Jim is still a director and
consultant of the privately-held international trading company he’s been with
since 1984, but those activities are giving way to his renewed interest in
fishing (now fly fishing). He is making
his own spinners and has set up a lure business at www.spinnerman.com, to prove that old dogs can learn new tricks.
Jynelle has become proficient at bird call and
visual identification, and both she and Jim
are now avid wildlife watchers. Their
three boys live in reasonably neighboring communities, so their new location
may be ideal. If not, they like to
spend the cold times in Gulf Shores, AL.
Class Luncheon: Welch and Beard
Bill & Susan Breen have completed their year’s
peripatations, which began with Bill’s retirement in fall of 1999. They sold their home in Clarks Summit, PA,
and spent the year as homeless wanderers, says Susan, with visits and sojourns
with all of Bill’s I-2 classmates and a bunch of others to boot. The trip took them all over the U.S., up
into Canada and Alaska, and as far West as Hawaii. Now they’ve bought a golf condo in York, PA, and were planning to
take up residence in March, after a winter vacation in San Diego. They hope to be able to repay much of the
hospitality afforded them in their 15-month ramblings but, says Susan, if they
get into a rut they just might hit the road again. Their address book is full of possibilities.
Class Luncheon: Turpin and Gillette
Dennis & Helen
Morrissey are in
Northbrook, IL, where Dennis enjoys his job as service manager in a fork truck
battery business. It keeps him busy
five days a week, and the rest of his time he spends being a dad, grandpa,
husband, brother and uncle to a pretty extensive family in the Chicago
area. He sees Dave & Pat Tulp, who live in Glen Ellyn, and, once in a while, Joe Hurst, who lives near
Milwaukee. He talks with Bill Wheeler, a former Chicagoan, who
is now in Holmes Beach, FL.
Class Luncheon: Hutton and Novogratz
Jim Taylor writes that he and Marian left home in Monument, CO, last August for a western
vacation in California and Nevada. They
spent four lovely days in San Francisco taking in many of the sights and
enjoying wonderful food. As they were
about to board a plane for Reno, Jim had a small heart attack which extended
their stay in San Francisco for another six days, but in the intensive and
cardiac units at the hospital. Back
home in Colorado he underwent his second quadruple bypass surgery (the first
was 16 years ago) and he is now officially a member of the Zipper Club. His recovery has been good, and he was able
to attend an Army-Navy Game party hosted by Don & Joyce Smart,
whence the accompanying photo. We all
wish Jim a full and happy recovery!
Don & Joyce Smart, Marian
& Jim Taylor
Larry & Ann Minnich were married last March after seven and
four years, respectively, of widowhood, and Larry says he has had a
near-vertical learning curve in the way Ann has changed his life. She owns the Inn at Nesika Beach in Gold
Beach, OR, so Larry is now an innkeeper.
The Army, he says, made him an aviator, an artilleryman, and a nuclear
physicist; he retired and became a farmer, a fireman and a schoolteacher; and
now he’s an innkeeper. Life is dull
only if you let it happen to you that way, he says.
Larry is
I-1’s CQ and has kept in touch with his companymates, even though he has seen
no classmates since the 40th.
He’s working on a company newsletter that will have one edition each ten
years.
Class
Luncheon: McNerney and Meloy
Bill
& Norman Mullen are enjoying their home in beautiful Carmel, CA. Bill says he enjoys traveling, is trying to
learn how to play golf, and is working for TRW, Inc., as he works on Army
training. He has seen Bill &
Joyce Schwartz on their occasional visits to Carmel; Bill Benagh at various exhibitions and symposia; Marv Moss, Ed & Pat Robinson, Warren
& Kaye Smith, and Bill &
Bobbie Fitzgerald at Jerry &
Geri Hilmes’s home last May; Jack
& Nancy Neal and many other classmates at the Houston mini-reunion; and
Roger & Norma Donlon in San
Francisco last December. Roger Donlon
had been to a Special Forces Reunion.
His book was published recently.
Two former Middies, Roger Staubach and Ross Perot in Dallas gave our Pete Dawkins another honor since last issue, this time the Doak Walker Legends Award presented on 30 Jan. This annual award is presented to outstanding running backs from times past, and the proceeds from the banquet go to the SMU Scholarship Fund. The congratulations of the class go to Pete, its president.