August 2000; Page 4

like the 50 cal. machine gun and the 25mm canon. In the final exercise he killed two tanks and one Bradley. He is very proud to have earned the Recondo award. He is eagerly anticipating the start of the new school year and getting his plebe. Matt really wants to help his plebe.

MARC JASON: No news received.

KEVIN MANLEY: Kevin has learned a lot during his summer at Camp Buckner. His parents were fortunate enough to be able to make the trip up and spend four days with him during the 4th of July holidays. Kevin enjoyed the tank experiences at Ft. Knox. He also had friends visit him and they spent some time in Louisville. Most recently Kevin earned his Recondo badge and is proud of that, as are his parents. He is looking forward to the run back from Camp Buckner to meet the plebes. This meeting should be much less stressful than it was last year!

CLASS OF 2004

JENNIFER BARROW: Jennifer likes P.T. the best. Her small frame gives her an edge when it comes to pushups and sit-ups. Conversely, long road marches and runs are tough on her, especially when she carries half of her own weight in equipment. She proudly announced that she “didn’t even throw up” during gas training, and recently qualified with the M-16. She still sounds very upbeat, even after a disastrous field exercise in the pouring rain.

GEOFFERY GRAHAM: No news received.

MICAH GREEN: His parents have talked to Micah four times while he has been at Beast. Most of the conversations have centered around what he had to eat, or the lack thereof. He really enjoyed the M-16 and hand grenades. He was allowed to watch others from the tower as they threw grenades and “blew stuff up.” He sounds really good, and is anxiously awaiting A-Day, to join the Corps, eat pizza and see his family.

JOE KIDDER: Joe is doing well at Beast. His visit to his sponsor’s house was a high point, as he got to call and catch up on some sleeping. Unfortunately, his parents did not make it back from the Mom & Pop luncheon and missed the call, but they did get another call later. He is looking forward to visiting some of his family from Mass. when they travel to

Middletown for a wedding--they will be stopping by West Point to see the march back from Lake Frederick.

CHRIS LOSSING: Chris has endured and seems to have had a lot of challenging and fun stuff to do. Main problem was the lack of food, but this was sorted out after the first couple of weeks, and he is salivating at the thought of that first McDonalds in Highland Falls! Excited about getting out in the field and completing Beast. His parents are not going up for Acceptance Day, but will be thinking of all of the New Cadets slogging it back to West Point.

TOMMY LOUX: One of Tommy’s highlights was a game of Ultimate Frisbee against his Cadre. He scored many of the points and they actually won the game. He loved the mountaineering and did so well others thought he was prior service. The laser gear was not as high-tech as he imagined, but he liked the grenades. He qualified as a sharp shooter and thinks his M-16 is “Cool.” Sometimes he eats the variety of food out of necessity (hunger) but he has learned to like many new foods. After mandatory voice tryouts, he learned he was a tenor, so he joined the Choir and enjoys chapel. He is excited about a retreat coming up at the end of August. He is proud that he hasn’t lost much weight...since he is building lots of new muscles. He can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and can’t wait to start the academic year. He’s excited that he will be taking a Junior level history course, and is considering using his four years of Spanish towards a minor. Tommy has a funny bone and has a hard time stopping once he gets going. He had everyone laughing (including himself) as he worked his way through 75 pushups due to his laughing!

RYAN NUGENT (E-3): Ryan can’t believe Beast is almost over--time has flown by! He will be in 3rd Regiment, Echo Company. He lost some weight earlier, but is putting it back on now. Second cadre is great. He seems very upbeat and enjoying the experience. Said thanks for the cookies, Mom!

AARON POE: Aaron has had his “ups” and “downs”, but the former far outweigh the latter. Highlights, not necessarily in order of importance or occurrence have been: “I really miss you guys and I am a little homesick”; NBC training--and incredible experience; did 2 ½ mile regimental run and had a ton of food waiting for us; the four on my AP

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