USMA Class of 1959
Minutes of Class Committee
21 April 2002
1. The Class Committee met in conjunction with a General Membership
Meeting following the Train Memorial at Fort Myer Officers Club on 21 April
2002. All present went through the Brunch Buffet, had their meal and then
a quick meeting was conducted from 1310 to 1345 hours. Present were Art
& Babs Bair, Lou Beard, Randy Bell, Frank Besson, Tom Boyle, Bill & Sue
Breen, Joe & Polly Coreth, Pete & Judi Dawkins, John & Pat Eberhard,
Ray Fisher, Bill & Barb Fitzgerald, Dave Gary, Art & Joyce Griffin, John
Gurr, John & Elaine Guthrie, Mike Gillette, Jerry Hilmes, Powell Hutton,
Nick Krawciw, Dick & Jeanne LeClere, Tom Leo & Sara Garrison, Mark &
Judy Magnussen, John MeLoy, Fred McConville, John & Karla Moellering, John
& Margaret McNerney, Al Phillips, Norm & Elva Rosner, Bob Riordan, Tom
& Marty Roberts, Ed Robinson, Tom & Ann Russell, Bill & Ann Turpin,
Joe & Bev Todaro, Jim & Phyllis Wal! sh, Don Williams, Bob Weekley,
Bruce Williams, Phil, Rosa, & Sabastian Gibbs. Guest were Bill
McNamara '60, Leslie Train, Bruce Train, Mary Beth Train, Bill Train & Tom
Davidson. Other classmates, Dave Fried for one, attended the Train Memorial but
did not attend the brunch and meeting.
2. Opening Remarks: Pete Dawkins called the meeting to order. The agenda
(Incl. 1) and a handout (Incl. 2) with future memorial services, calendar, and
45th reunion information had been handed out prior to the meeting. Pete
commented on the fine turnout for our first memorial service for Bill Train and
expressed concern that having one/year would mean we would not finish these
services until 2016 and that in addition to our becoming older, the family,
particularly parents of classmates, might have passed away or not be able to
travel. It was strongly recommended that the Class Committee review the
memorial schedule and attempt to shorten the total time span.
3. Approve Past Minutes: Minutes of the 16 January 2002 meeting which had been
sent to everyone on e-mail were approved.
4. Pete asked Jim Walsh to quickly go over his handout.
A. Future Memorial Services: As mentioned above the schedule for these is
now one/year and a short discussion indicated that we should shorten the time
span. One proposal was to have the memorial on the 40th anniversary of the
date of death on the individuals honored. That would mean our last service
would be in 2009 as opposed to 2016 as currently scheduled. The Class
Committee will review the schedule and try and come up with a shorter version.
B. Calendar: The calendar was reviewed and classmates encouraged to
attend future class functions.
C. 45th Reunion: A proposed draft schedule was handed out and some
task identified. Joe Todaro has already acquired a contract with the
hotel, and Frank Campbell and Art Griffin agreed to serve on the reunion
committee and perform the same functions as they did for the 40th Reunion.
D. Jim briefly mentioned the Ring Recovery Program (Incl. 3) which was
developed by Ted Colby, and commented on the excellent Bicentennial Weekend held
in New York and West Point on 15 & 16 March.
5. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. Treasurer's Report - Art Griffin presented the current report (Inclosure
4), which was approved.
B. Fund Raising - Jerry Hilmes had previously provided by e-mail two
reports on the status of our fund raising campaign, status by cadet Company
(Incl. 5) and individual status (Incl. 6). He commented that our overall
contribution rate of 70% was outstanding and the class was to be congratulated
on their effort.
6. Sue Breen was asked to say a few words about the new "Women of Class,
1959" list serve which she is moderating. It is now an active list
and the hope is it will continue to grow and become a good vehicle to keep the
women of the class informed and involved.
7. John Gurr quickly reviewed the class "Special Recognition
Policy," and handed out two resolutions to discuss. After a brief
discussion the awards of "Honorary Class Membership" for Michael J.
Faber (Incl. 7) and Duane E. Frederic (Incl. 8) were approved.
8. NEW BUSINESS
Pete closed the meeting with a brief mention that it was that time of year for
the class to consider nominations for awards. A brief discussion indicated
that Ed Burba should be considered for the Distinguished Graduate Award and it
was mentioned that Rudolph Guilianni might be a good candidate for the Thayer
Award. This topic will be pursued at out next Class Committee meeting.
6. Next Meeting: Pete announced that the next Class Committee
meeting would be held in conjunction with the ceremonies surrounding the
presentation of the Medal of Honor to our classmate Rocky Versace, sometime at
the beginning of July. (Note this was later confirmed to be at 1500 hours on
Saturday, 6 July).
JAMES E. WALSH, JR.
Secretary
8 Inclosures/AS
Inclosure 9 - Spring Class Letter 3/15/2002
Inclosure 10 - Comments by Bill Train and Bill Turpin at Train Memorial
4/21/2002