From Gene Parker

My Rotary Club has been working in the Republic of Moldova since 2011 focusing on improving the health care system. Theirs is left over from the "workers' paradise" aka as the Soviet Union, so is 40-50 years behind us (particularly in regards to how women are employed). We are in the middle of a 3 year, $200,000 grant to implement a BS in nursing, followed by a MS in nursing while bringing up the skill level of the current "nurses"-high school grads with a year or so of training. "Nurses" in hospitals perform what we have aides do which is a gross underutilization of potential talent.

An additional grant that we have written this year is for a scholarship to bring a student from Moldova to the U.S. to get a Masters in Nutrition. Our student will be studying in Greensboro at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro this academic year. He will receive a Masters in Nutrition and then return to Moldova a continue as an assistant professor focusing on nutrition. While we in this country have a much better understanding of what we should eat, etc. our problem is not one of knowledge but compliance. Their need is on increasing understanding.

He is in his early 30's so is married and has a 3.5 year old daughter. See photo below with me and our club president of their induction.. They are a delightful family and my Rotary Club which consists of older folks like us have taken seriously our task of spoiling the daughter. She attends our weekly lunches with her parents, rings the bell to start and wrap up the meetings and is now leading us in singing our grace--the Johnny Appleseed song.

As a cultural event we took them to Chick fil A--we are well known there since we go every Thursday. They have a person working in the dining area who greets everyone with a hearty "Welcome to Chick fil A". The daughter, Leah, loved this and immediately picked up on it and became the focus of the dining area as she repeated the greeting. :) Their native language is Romanian although the parents also speak Russian and French.

One other point is that when the Soviet Union broke up, our State Dept. aligned each state with a country there with the hopes that on-going relationships would cause the eastern European countries to lean west rather that to Russia. Moldova was linked with NC. Our national guard has been active there for many years and there are many charities, churches, other communities of faith involved.

Sorry for the length of this but the good news is that I should not trigger any political responses. :) Hope everyone else is having a bright warm fall day! gene

Retired Gen. Eric Shinseki, the 34th Army Chief of Staff and former secretary of Veterans Affairs who fought and was wounded in Vietnam, and was the first Asian American to reach the rank of four-star general, is the 2023 recipient of the Association of the U.S. Army's highest award.

The George Catlett Marshall Medal, named for General of the Army George Marshall, the World War II leader who also served as secretary of staate, secretary of defense, president of the American Red Cross and special U.S. envoy to China, is presented annually at the conclusion of the AUSA Annual Meeting and exposition in Washington, D.C.

A native Hawaiian, Shinseki had a long career of service to the nation, rising to become a distinguished twice-wounded cavalry soldier who served as Army Chief of Staff from 1999 to 2003 and secretary of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2014. He currently seres as chairman of the board of the Army Historical Foundation.

Soldering is "an honorable profession," Shinseki said during his 2003 Army retirement ceremony. "I am privileged to have served every day for the past 38 years as a soldier."

Military service is filled with challenges, he said. "The Army must do two things well each and every day - train soldiers and grow them into leaders. Leaders who can unequivocally and without hesitation answer the critical question asked of any warfighter - can you fight?"

The Three Amigos +1 Ride Again
The 2023 Tennessee Adventure – October 2023

      Once again, the Three Amigos, Plebe Year roomies, Paul Singelyn, Ben Whitehouse, and Jay Vaughn, reconnected for another in a series of death-defying adventures. This one was hosted by Paul and included Lee Atchley for the most uncomfortable portion of the trip.

      Ben and Jay flew from NC and AZ to Paul and Nancy Singelyn's home on the banks of the Cumberland River in Hendersonville, TN. The next morning we drove to Chattanooga to pick up Lee and visit the Medal of Honor Heritage Museum and have a terrific (and life-saving) lunch at the home of Lee and Suzanne Atchley.

      Then came the scary part. The Battle of Chiggermauga. We visited Paul's “Glamping” (glamour camping) acerage near Tracy City, TN, where we “roughed it” overnight aging Ranger style.

      The area had everything an aging Ranger might wish for to remind him of the mountain phase of Ranger School, especially chiggers. There were cliffs for rappelling, logs across chasms for log-walking, wait-a-minute vines with needle-sharp thorns, dead-fall, and underbrush that would stop a tank.

      The evening was spent around the campfire telling tall tales to impress our fellow aging Rangers. Some differences from the original Ranger School experience were (a) the roaring campfire; (b) cots with air mattresses; (c) cooler of beer; (d) outhouse with soft 3-ply toilet paper; (e) netted sleeping area; (d) no King of the Pits contest; and (e) we destroyed noise discipline because we had to yell at each other due to aging Ranger deafness. Paul, our fearless leader, demonstrated the Ranger ethos by sacrificing himself for his pals and was the only one to be eaten alive by chiggers. This after his warning us ten times over to watch out for the little buggers.

      The next morning after a lovely aging Ranger breakfast of coffee, instant oatmeal and sausage, we broke camp and Lee headed home. He had had enough. The Three Amigos returned to Paul's home with a stop at the Lane Auto Museum where we were unsuccessful in finding a version of the three-cylinder French Panhard auto in which we toured Europe (sleeping in the car) during the summer of 1964. A minor setback.

      Our next destination was the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN. We were planning to visit Dollywood but decided it was not manly sounding enough for aging Rangers. Instead, we visited a death-defying coaster-like ride in Pigeon Forge where we were individually strapped in like on the big tower at Airborne School and then flung around like a sling shot in the David and Goliath story. Courageous Paul went first to show us the way and screamed like a little girl all the way down causing a slight ebb in the confidence of Ben and Jay. Of course they overcame/rose above their terror and followed him down. This ride was followed by some log walks and other obstacles that made our Ranger School log walk pale in comparison except for the netting that surrounded us.

      Following an intense night of amigo vs amigo vs amigo competition (cards and “shut the box”), the next day was a trip further into the Smokies, a short non-death-defying hike near Tremont, TN, and a return trip to Paul's home.

      Our final day included a vigorous morning hike and a leisurely boat ride on the Cumberland River. A good time was had by all who survived. Paul exceeded all (okay, most) expectations and earned the MVAR (Most Valuable Aging Ranger) award for the great job he did as host of this Three Amigo adventure.

      Stay tuned for the next Three Amigos adventure which we think will be a death-defying hot air balloon ride and visits to the Utah national parks.

This report is a compolation of informatin provided by both Walt Oehrlein and Mitch Bonnett

On Friday, October 27, 2023 the Michigan Military and Veterans Hall of Honor honored our own Robert "Bob" Arvin at their annual induction ceremony. This special occasion marks the official recognition of distinguished service in the United States Armed Forces for the six Military Category inductees, and the extraordinary civic and community service of the six Veteran Category inductees.

The event is nicely highlighted by visiting http://www.mimilitaryvethallofhonor.org. Please click on the 'Donate Now on Facebook' symbol (donations obviously optional) and scroll down to MMVHoH Induction 2023. Bob Arvin's segment is at the one hour and four minute mark(give or take). Photos are there as well. Scroll back up and you can see '65 Classmate Joe Anderson's outstanding remarks on the 'Induction 2022' video(about the 42 minute+ segment), it's there! It has been an honor to be associated with this organization that recognizes the most distinguished service members in Michigan. I attended the 2021 ceremony representing BGEN Peter M. Dawkins '59.

The first link (https://tinyurl.com/InducteeRobertArvin) is just the induction ceremony for our classmate, Bob Arvin, and is only a few minutes long. Walt did a really good job with his remarks recognizing the induction of our classmate to the Michigan Military and Veterans Hall of Honor. The second link (https://tinyurl.com/MIHallofHonor) is to the entire ceremony which lasted almost 2 hours.

Bob Frank, our Class Historian found this interesting article on the WPAOG website. He brings it to our attention because a number of our Classmates are mentioned in the piece. In addition, the work provides a bit of insight into how our 50th Reunion Class gift has been put to use. I hope you enjoy the spotlighting of our Classmates.

From the Central Virginia '65 Group’s first meeting for dinner in 2008, Jim and Margie Berry were regular attenders. Our group met in the Richmond, VA area, Fredericksburg (where Jim and Margie live), Chesapeake, Hanover, Charles City, and Williamsburg. As our numbers increased we changed to meeting for lunch, and by late 2015 we settled on Richmond as a central location.

Covid arrived in early 2020, and we suspended our lunches until late 2021. By then, Jim’s decreasing mobility and other health issues prevented his traveling to Richmond for group lunches. But Jim and Margie, Darlene and I decided that that shouldn’t stop us G-2 guys from getting together to rehash stories of old, solve the world’s problems, and swap updates on our kids and grandkids, so we’ve been getting together for lunch every few months at BJ’s Bar & Grill in Fredericksburg to do just that. Our latest get-together was Nov 1.

Folks,

Marilyn and I had a great weekend at West Point this past weekend visiting Chip at his on-post apartment and football festivities.

The first pic shows Marilyn and I sitting on a bench at Lusk Reservoir just outside the stadium. The next pic shows the Corps-West Point cadets. Next I got a nice pic of one of the cadet parachutes landing within the stadium before the game. (The Army football team lost to UMASS 21 to 14. They looked very disorganized). After the game we went to a tailgate just up from the stadium where we enjoyed the brilliant fall colors. The last picture shows the Superintendent, USMA talking to Marilyn and he was very interested in meeting an actual Ladycliff graduate and some Ladycliff history. Although it was beautiful with the fall colors and sunshine that day, we had constant rain Sunday and Monday on our flight back to Vegas.

Sincerely, Skip

All,

On Cathy and Denny Coll’s latest road trip, their 4th or 5th of the year, they stopped in Columbus GA where they shared dinner at Mabella’s restaurant with Alice and Pat Kenny.

From Denny:

Decided to call the "Old Man" to have dinner with he and Susan while we were in Memphis. Turns out he was in the hospital; will have a stent implanted Monday.

Intro from Boo
Every once in a while there is someone who has a special place in our class history who was not a classmate. Dan Pultz was one of those special guys. Abe speaks fondly of him, and those classmates from the Greensburg, PA, area remember Dan well from the many Army-Navy games they attended. Jay Stewart called today to see if I had heard ... I told him I had from Abe. He could not say enough about how close Dan was to a circle of classmates. So, so long Dan Pultz. You will be missed.

From Tom Abraham
By declaration of class president Clair Gill, my best friend who accompanied me to at least 20 Army Navy games was named an honorary classmate of the Class of 1965. Murph, as I knew him, passed away last night in his sleep. He and MG Butch Neal, were both Lieutenants and sole survivors of Getlins Corner, the most famous Marine battle in Vietnam. I tried to get Murph to talk about it but he wouldn’t.

A Vietnam war hero, my best friend since Kindergarten, Dan the Marine Pultz, passed away this morning. Distinguished Graduate of GHS ‘61, Distinguished grad of the Class of 1961, always a Marine, mentor of wounded warriors and at risk kids, friend to many. I had the chance to tell him I was glad he was in my life. I’m glad I did. He was 1 of 3 best men at my wedding and a best friend my whole life. A good man.

From Boo Buckosky

All,

After taking the role of Scribe, Jon Thompson sent me a copy of a book titled "Titanic." It turns out, back in the day, Jon boarded the Russian submarine, MIR II, as that U-Boat set out to explore the Titanic's ghost.

At the time of the Titanic adventure, Jon was living in Memphis and serving as the city's Director of Cultural Affairs which managed "Wonders" which engaged in special project endeavors. Under Jon's leadership, Wonders, engaged Lithograph Publishing Company to publish the Titanic's life from conception to its tragic sinking. The book has wonderful and numerous photographs to accompany a narrative that explains the loss of the largest ocean passenger liner of its time.

Not to be out done, in 2012, Jon set about on an ambitious campaign to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart, the famed aviatrix who disappeared while attempting a round-the-world flight in 1937. This time Jon would embark on a search for the remains of her plane on some uncharted islands and atolls in the South Pacific.

For those who remember faces, here is Jon way back in the day:

Hats off to Jon Thompson and thanks, Jon, for the book.

All,

Bob Wolf wrote, "Thought the class might be interested in a book to be published by the West Point Jewish Chapel Fund - it has memorial articles on Gary Kadetz and Mike Berdy." The name of the book is In Memoriam of West Point Jewish Graduates Who Died in a War Zone.

The graves in the West Point Cemetery are being decorated today. Here are two examples of how our fallen will be honored.

Army-Navy, 1963

Peter King - Football Morning in America

In the middle of a class at the U.S. Naval Academy on the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963, the professor got some news and addressed his students, including the captain of the Navy football team, Tom Lynch. “Gentlemen,” the professor said gravely, “the president has been assassinated. Class dismissed.”

Around that same time, 255 miles to the north, on the campus at West Point, cadet and football quarterback Rollie Stichweh was walking to class when another cadet, in a nearby dorm, flung open his window and yelled, “President Kennedy has been shot!”

What do men soon to be in service to the country do at a time like this, when their Commander-in-Chief, a Navy man, has been killed? At Navy, the football players straggled over to their locker room, figuring they wouldn’t be practicing that afternoon. They didn’t. The game of their lives—Army-Navy, in Philadelphia, with the winner advancing to the Cotton Bowl to play Texas for the national title—was supposed to be eight days away. “We didn’t know what to do,” Lynch, 81, said in November, 60 years later. “So we went to chapel and prayed.”

With the nation mourning, the game was cancelled the next day. No one complained. “Are you kidding?” Lynch said. “The president was assassinated. Camelot was down the drain. We weren’t upset about the game—we were concerned for our country.” But on Saturday, President Kennedy’s widow and the family sent word the game should be played (he loved football, loved the Naval Academy, and loved the Army-Navy game) and so it was rescheduled a week later—Dec. 7, 1963, in Philadelphia. Preparation for the game went on, in between some players going to Washington to march in the funeral procession and the mourning.

It’s a game with a shocking outcome that I’d always heard about, played at a time of enormous emotion in the country. As we approach the 60th anniversary of this extraordinary event (Thursday), I thought I’d tell the story of that day through the lenses of two vital players in the game: Stichweh, the junior quarterback of Army who went on to twice be decorated for valor in the Vietnam War, and Lynch, the captain of the team who played both ways—linebacker and center. He later commanded USS Truett at sea for three years, rose to the rank of admiral and served as the superintendent of the Naval Academy in the nineties. Stichweh and Lynch remain close to Roger Staubach, who won the Heisman Trophy four days after the assassination, to this day.

“College football was huge in those days,” Lynch said. “No Super Bowl. The NFL was not that big yet. In college football, you played for your school, you played for the alums. And at Navy and Army, the games were not just important for national recognition. They were huge for everyone in the Army and the Navy. I remembered we’d get telegrams from submarines like, We’re going down for 60 days, and when we come back up, we expect to hear about a Navy win. Beat Army!” Lynch said preparing for the game was fairly normal. He thinks because service members are taught to compartmentalize, they could prepare for the game normally.

Game day. “Biggest game of our lives, no question, with all of America watching,” Lynch said. Before the game, Navy coach Wayne Hardin told his team, “Let’s play a game worthy of a president.” Army coach Paul Dietzel told his team: “This game in not just important to Army and Navy. It’s important to our nation.” Some among the 102,000 who attended said being at the game was an eerie experience. The presidential box in the stadium, where John Kennedy would have watched the game, was adorned all in black. “Very somber at first, almost quiet,” Lynch said. “Like the crowd didn’t know how to act.” Texas coach Darrell Royal sat in the press box, scouting his next foe.

Navy built a 21-7 lead on three touchdown runs from fullback Pat Donnelly. Stichweh drove Army for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, and got the two-point conversion. Stichweh even recovered the onside kick that followed. The crowd, now into the game at full throat, watched what seemed to be the inevitability of Army, with all the momentum now, driving to win the game and knock Staubach’s Navy team out of a shot for the national title.

“Near the end of the game,” Stichweh told me, “something I’d never seen before happened. The crowd started spilling out of the stands to get to the sidelines and the edge of the end zone. The noise was like nothing we’d ever heard. It was a crazy, out-of-control situation. I’ve got 10 teammates to take care of. They’re saying things like, ‘This is crazy! What if we have to throw to the corner of the end zone? How can we do that?’”

Army at the Navy four-yard line. Third and goal. Final minute ticking down under a pitch-black sky. No timeouts left for Army. Deafening crowd. In 1963, no one ever heard of a thing called a silent snap count. Stichweh, under center, knew he couldn’t be heard. Gesturing to referee Barney Finn, Stichweh wanted the ref to stop the clock, hopefully to quiet the crowd. Finn waved his arms to stop play once. But Army huddled again, unaware that Finn had circled his arm, signaling for the clock to start again. In the huddle, as valuable seconds ticked away, it was so loud that Stichweh couldn’t hear those on the Army sidelines screaming the clock was running.

“When they got back to the line, you still couldn’t hear a thing,” Lynch said. “He [Stichweh] turned to the ref again, looking for another [stoppage]. The official just stared at him. No timeout.” Army ran a running play off-tackle and gained two yards. Big pileup near the goal line, Navy players in no rush to get up as Army frantically tried to get fourth down off. “I’m in the end zone,” Lynch said.

“I’m looking at the white numbers on the big clock in the stadium ticking down. They never got the snap off, and I just said, ‘That’s it boys, game over.’”

“We didn’t get set in time, and if we snap, we’re going to be offside,” Stichweh said over the weekend.

But here’s the great lesson of the day from Rollie Stichweh:

“I take responsibility for what happened. I’m the quarterback, and I’m in charge of what goes on on the field. We should not have gone back in the huddle, as it turns out. Early in our time at West Point, we’re taught there are three answers as young cadets: Yes sir, no sir, and no excuse, sir.

“You can imagine the devastation,” Stichweh said, the emotion in his voice still evident 60 years later. “The game ends, and we look around. Shock. Confusion. What just happened? Game’s over?! “Ever get sick to your stomach? Multiply that times 100 for our guys.”

Lynch said, “Army guys will go to their graves thinking, If we just got that one play off, we’d have won the game. We’ll go to our graves thinking, They wouldn’t have scored if they got three more plays off. Other than my marriage and the birth of my children and my command at sea, that’s the greatest moment of my life.”

I asked Lynch if he thought the game was a healing moment for the country, a way to get back to some sort of normal that might never feel normal again. “I didn’t at the time,” he said. “But I do now. It was a hell of a game, and then we got on with life.”

Postscripts:
I: Stichweh and Staubach were both juniors that day. Each came back for the 1964 game. Stichweh is hugely proud that Army won in ’64, 11-8. “We had a chance to come back from a devastating loss, and we did, which I think said a lot about our team,” he said.

II: After the ’63 game, in second semester, the arch-rivals on the field had friendly moments academically. Each year, cadets visit midshipmen for a three-day weekend, and midshipmen do the same with cadets. Staubach spent three days at West Point as Stichweh’s roommate. “He went to class with me,” Stichweh said. “I went to Catholic church with him one morning at 5:30—he was a devout Catholic boy. I really liked him. Just a nice guy. You know, things like that you might remember as just a nice experience, but nothing that big. But with Roger, something clicked. I returned the visit [to Annapolis]. We became good friends. It turned into a lifelong friendship. We just talked this week about our families.”

III: This year’s game is Saturday, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. The Patriots play Thursday night at Pittsburgh, so Bill Belichick, who grew up in Annapolis and whose dad coached at the Naval Academy, will be able to attend the game. Belichick is a disciple of Navy football, and Belichick, in fact, will host Stichweh and Lynch as his guests, among others, in a box at Saturday’s game.

Go Army, Beat Navy.

All,

My wife Renate and I were able to spend a week in Charleston and were fortunate to be able to have lunch with Sonny Ray. Before and after he graciously gave a great tour of this lovely town. Attached is a photo of two old warriors after an enjoyable lunch at the Glass Onion restaurant.

Roy Garms

The foursome met for lunch in Wayzata, outside of Minneapolis, welcomed by hosts Jim Stephenson and Jim McEliece, joined by Ken Yoshitani, a recent transplant from Chicago, and Denny Coll, a transient from Chicago whose better half was on baby-sitting TDY. We missed Kenny Hjelm, Marshall Schwarz, and possibly Pete Becker. Sorry Marshall and Pete for not communicating with you. As always, we had much to brag about and had a great time.

All,

There will be a Founders Day Celebration held at the Heritage Hunt clubhouse, located at 6901 Arthur Hills Drive, Gainesville, VA, on Sunday, March 10, 2024. A Benny Havens hour will begin at 5 p.m. followed by dinner at 6 p.m.

Mark your calendar now to reserve the evening for this gala event.

All USMA graduates, surviving spouses, parents and grandparents of graduates, and guests are welcomed.

Details as to meal choices, events, and price will be sent in early January.

A list of those being invited by e-mail is at this LINK. If you know of other graduates in the area who might like to receive an invitation, please reply to this e-mail with their name, class, e-mail address and mailing address (if known) as soon as possible. This event is about camaraderie, not speeches, so encourage classmates to come too!

If you have any questions, please call or email me.

Bernie Ziegler, ’65, 571-383-9395, blz007@aol.com

From Tommy Thompson

I ran into an old guy (like me) in the Foodland Princeville grocery store today. I had a West Point T-Shirt/Beat Navy on and he talked with me for a while, brought up Kala Kukea as a friend in Honolulu. . I told him I knew him well and told him about our ski trip to Mount Snow Vermont, along with Chuck Shaw-how all the girls in our co-ed lodge hovered around him, and I wondered how a guy from Hawai’i could be such a good skier.

That reminded me to recheck on him. I found a couple (of several) articles on the annual regatta held in Oahu in his honor, including the one in 2024: He was a pretty big hero here.

Kala #1: Kala Kukea;

Kala #2: 2024 Regatta Schedule see April 27th

WOW!!! What a game that seemed like it was never going to end. Asheville, NC had a watch party at a local restaurant/bar owned by a Naval Academy grad so it was great to have both sides present. We had three classmates attending including Don and Joy Erbes, Bud and Judy Fish and Gil and Virginia Curl.

There is a picture of the three guys.

After the game we gathered at Don and Joy's home for dessert and coffee around a warm cozy fire.

Don Erbes

All,

The Central Virginia group got together on December 4 at Tarrant's West in Richmond for our quarterly luncheon, thanks to Chuck Nichols' organizing efforts. Attached photo was taken as we were leaving.

Dave Hopkins

All,

A fine and fit looking group of “Octogenarians” from the West Point Class of 1965 met for lunch at “Earl’s New American Restaurant” in Peddler’s Village, Lahaska, PA, today for lunch – and a good time.

We get together periodically in some place between New Jersey and King of Prussia to celebrate the fact that we can still get together.

Earl’s did a great job serving us and letting us just sit, talk, and take pictures.

Joe Barkley