USMA Class of 1959
Minutes of Class Committee
16 November 1999
1. The Class Standing Committee met at the Institute for Defense Analyses
(IDA), on Tuesday, 16 November 1999 from 7:00 PM to 9:35 PM. Present were
Pete Dawkins, Nick Krawciw, Tom Boyle, Frank Campbell, Joe Coreth, George
Day, Bill Fitzgerald, Art Griffin, Bob Riordan, Tom Russell, Skip Schow, &
Jim Walsh.
2. Opening Remarks: Pete Dawkins called the meeting to order. The first
order of business was to go through the buffet line and get dinner. This was
a working dinner meeting.
3. 11 September Minutes: Minutes of the 11 September meeting had been sent
to everyone on e-mail and were approved.
4. Treasurer's Report: Art Griffin presented the current report (Enclosure
1), which was approved.
5. VERSACE COMMEMORATIONS: Pete gave a quick report and echoed our (The
Class) disappointment over the failure to get The Cameron Station Elementary
School named for Rocky Versace. He requested that Jim Walsh contact John
Gurr and get an update on the status of the Friends of Rocky Versace and
determine what, if any, future action on this effort will be made. It was
mentioned that the Medal of Honor recommendation for Rocky was still
proceeding. It was requested that John Gurr be contacted and invited to
attend our next meeting and a motion was made and approved that the class
express some type appreciation to John for his efforts in this endeavor.
6. USMA DGA: Pete reported that the Nomination of Fred Franks to receive the
USMA Distinguished Graduate Award with statements from senior U.S. government
officials and others had been submitted to the AOG. If approved, the award
will be presented to Fred during graduation this May at West Point.
(Enclosure 2)
7. AOG TRUSTEES: We, the class, also nominated Pete Dawkins to be a Trustee
at Large for the Association of Graduates. A motion was made and approved
that the class approved this nomination. As a point of interest, if
approved, we the Class of 1959 will have a total of 5 Trustees on the AOG
Board, the most of any class.
8. AOG UPDATES: Pete quickly reported on the recent AOG Bylaw amendments in
which three of the four proposals were approved. (Enclosure 3)
9. ACTIVE-DUTY SUPPORT PROGRAM: Pete also gave a quick summary and voiced
class support for the AOG having a program of support and services for grads
who are still on active duty. (Enclosure 4)
10. MEMORIAL ARTICLES: Pete provided a copy of an e-mail to Seth Hudgins
expressing the class concern on discontinuing the publication of Memorial
Articles in ASSEMBLY. (Enclosure 5)
11. RECENT DEATHS: In was noted with some sadness the death of three of our
classmates since our last meeting. It was stated that the notification and
attendance at the funerals of our classmates seemed to be working well.
There was a discussion of having some type final remembrance for our deceased
classmates and Bill Fitzgerald agreed to look into and report on that at a
future meeting.
12. FUNDRAISING: Roger Ware used a telephonic conference call to update us
on the status of the fundraising effort. The Class will be receiving a letter
and video on our fundraising effort in the next two weeks. It will discuss
the importance of the Class of 1959 - O'Meara, Malek, Dawkins - Strength
Development Center and that we are looking for maximum participation. The
Strength Center will be dedicated to our Classmates Killed in Service and you
will be asked via e-mail who exactly should be listed. It has been proposed
that a plaque with a list of ALL the class of 1959 be provided and you will
also be asked who should be on that list. Messages on both of these
questions will follow.
13. VIDEO: We then previewed the 9 minute Video on the Class Fundraising
Effort, which will be distributed as part of the mailing, going out next
week, to all classmates.
14. OLD BUSINESS: In the interest of time it was recommended that the Class
Goals and Objectives and other old business, 50th Year Book, Mini Reunions be
again delayed until our next meeting.
15. REGIONAL ORGANIZATION: Frank Campbell and Nick Krawciw will look into a
minor realignment of our regional organization to have the regions align with
state boundaries.
16. CLASS RING MEMORIAL PROGRAM: AOG has asked the class to publicize this
new program and a message on it will be sent to the class in the near future.
(Enclosure 6)
17. HEALTH CARE: The class of 1958 has sought our support on having the AOG
become more active in getting senior uniformed leaders to push for approval
of the fully paid lifetime health care for military career retirees. A
message on this topic will be sent to the class in the near future.
(Enclosure 7)
18. CADET CREDIT FOR SOCIAL SECURITY: Quite a few classmates have asked for
information on getting credit for cadet time when computing social security
benefits. A message on this will also be sent to the class in the near
future. (Enclosure 8)
NEXT MEETING: Tom Boyle volunteered to look into the availability of
Tivoli's Restaurant in Rosslyn for our annual DC area Business Luncheon. If
available it will be held Wednesday, February 16, 1200 - 1400 hours. More
information on this: menu, cost, RSVP, etc. will be e-mailed when developed.
JAMES E. WALSH, JR.
Secretary
8 Enclosures/AS
15 October letter from AOG (Enclosure 9)