March, 2003; Page 4
(Class of 2005 Cont.)
Greg Van Bemden: Greg had quite an adventure trying to get home for Christmas break. His flights were so late his connection was missed and the airline was less than helpful. Finally after hours, Delta admitted that they would not get him home that night or possibly within the next two days. Luckily Greg was stuck in Atlanta where two other cadets were facing the same battle with the airlines. So one of the cadets and Greg rented a car and drove home. The other cadet turned out to be Mark Swanson. Our cadets are so self assured I know they can handle anything but still I was never so happy to see two guys in my life when they arrived in Tampa. We had a great holiday once Greg finally did make it home. It always amazes me to see how much he can fit into his schedule when he comes home. He is with his girlfriend constantly and yet he managed to spend lots of time with the family and even got in some rounds of golf while he was home. Greg was very happy to get the summer assignments that he had hoped for. He will have DCLT at Fort Benning, Ga., then Air Assault 3 at Camp Smith, NY. He continues to do well academically.
Greg’s girlfriend, Katie, and two of their friends from high school traveled to West Point for the Yearling Winter Weekend. The Florida girls were happy to get to see snow. Greg and the cadet escorts he had set up for the girls were just happy to see the ladies. From what little I hear they all had a great time at the dance and had a lot of fun touring West Point and the Palisades mall. There was even mention of a big snowball battle among the old classmates and their new friends.
Charn McAllister: It was great to see Charn over the Christmas holidays. The time is always too short and we wish for a longer visit! He had a lot of fun when his little brother, Cass, took him to his second grade as his "Show and Tell" project just before Christmas. Charn got all decked out in his uniform and was answering a myriad of questions from the 7 yr. olds. The children wanted to know if he used rocket launchers when his bazookas ran out of ammunition! Charn said that he felt like a superhero right out of a comic strip. Needless to say the break went downhill from there. How can you possibly top being the object of awe in a classroom full of little boys and girls?
Second semester is underway, as
challenging as ever, however; Charn said that all of his professors are
incredible. Charn was elected the honor representative for his company
and will be fitting in those duties along
with the other cadet
responsibilities. He is busy on
the cycling team working out everyday preparing for the first race in
March. A couple of
the races will cut his March break
down
so that we
will only get to
see him
for about 5 days. His birthday in January found him being awakened in the late evening, taped at his hands and feet and put into the shower for a "plebe party". He said that it was a lot of fun even with all the ketchup and other condiments being splashed on him. Charn said the plebes even used warm water instead of cold when they turned the shower on - he was bracing for the worst! Yearling weekend was fun, with a friend from Sarasota joining him for the dance and a weekend in the city. Summer plans were all laid out, then changed, then reinstated and then changed again -we no longer discuss a possible summer schedule. Charn's attitude is one of acceptance and understanding and a "we'll see" type of approach with all the changes that have gone on. I guess that is all a part of the army indoctrination. We are looking forward to seeing him in mid March for however long we get him!
Nathan Brown: A lot has happened since the last newsletter. We traveled up to New York for the Army-Navy game last December. We were able to spend the weekend with Nathan, picking him up at West Point on Friday afternoon and taking him back on Sunday afternoon. Though the game wasn’t much fun, score or temperature, it was a nice family weekend with plenty of time to sightsee and eat in Manhattan.
Nathan was home for the holidays and enjoyed spending time with his girlfriend and his two brothers. Family outings included the Lord of the Rings Twin Towers movie at the IMAX Theater and dinner & dessert at Bern’s. Nathan spoke about life as a Yearling at our club’s annual Holiday Reception for prospective cadets. After the reception we drove to Orlando to attend the All Academies Ball. Nathan’s girlfriend joined us this year and a good time was had by all.
Nathan made the Dean’s List again last semester with a 3.33 GPA. He got an A in Military Intercession upon his return and is enjoying the current academic semester so far. His girlfriend traveled to West Point for Yearling Winter Weekend. Nathan rented a car form the Stewart Airport and she stayed at a local B & B. They had a great time. Nathan is participating in Sandhurst this spring. He is glad the Indoor Obstacle Course is over and that he passed.
With the colder than usual winter the country has been experiencing, our boys voted for our family Spring Break trip to be a cruise instead of our normal ski trip. So Nathan is looking forward to the four-night cruise we will take to the Bahamas when he is home in March. For this summer, Nathan will be attending Airborne School June 12 – July 3 and then going to Fort Hood for CTLT July 7 – August 8.