May, 2002; Page 5

(2004 Continued)

Matt Raskie: Matt has been on a roller coaster this semester, and we’re still not sure of the outcome. He was chosen as one of two Cadets to spend next semester in France, but higher officials changed the arrangements, so it looks like the program might be cancelled. Matt is not absolutely certain yet, but he made other plans for his summer in case the France program is out. He will stay at West Point after graduation to do a detail, and then come home later in June. After that he goes to Jump School in Georgia (he’s really looking forward to that!) We are proud of Matt for the way he has handled his disappointment about France/ that was something he worked very hard for, and he is handling the news better than we are!

Jennifer Barrow: Jennifer enjoyed the Volunteer Awards Ceremony with the Superintendent again this year. She was also chosen as one of the lunch guests and special hosts for the controversial ethicist Dr. Peter Singer, who gave a lecture at West Point . Dr. Singer apparently survived Jen's interrogation. Jennifer will spend an upcoming weekend at Lake Frederick , assisting with first aid training for a Girl Scout/Boy Scout camporee. We hope she will not need the skills she acquired as a certified emergency First Responder. She also enjoys shows at Eisenhower, since she is an asst. house manager for the ushers. During spring break she was able to meet up with her roommate at Disney World.

Jacquie Jones: Jacquie is having her best academic semester yet! She's really excited about that. She and two of her cadet friends had a wonderful Spring Break in Nueva Vallarta , Mexico . I breathed a sigh of relief knowing the worst that happened was bad sun burns.....I always worry! She's focused on finishing up her Yuk year, taking part in graduation and coming home for her 20th birthday in June. She'll only be here about a week and a half before returning to be a platoon sergeant for the first 1/2 of Buckner. After that she's heading home for another brief respite before I drive her up to Ft. Benning for her MIAD....Airborne school. Yikes! More for me to worry about! It's been a good year for her....but, she can't wait to be a "COW"! Not too many daughters wish for that!

Aaron Poe: As I am sure all cadets are feeling along about now, Aaron can't wait until this semester is over! He is eagerly looking forward to his time at Fort Riley , followed by Airborne School . Classes seem to be going along "fine", as he puts it when queried. He says the weather is really strange with 90's followed by a freeze warning and possible snow a few days later. Apparently they are in the midst of an International Week with Commanders from foreign service acadamies present at West Point . He said it was interesting to see Jordan and Israeli representatives standing next to each other and wondered what , if anything, they had to say to each other. The cadets are getting to experience food from the various representative nations and meet and talk to them. Based on their area of interest or study, (in Aaron's case, Chinese), they get to sit and chat with some of the representatives. He had a great D.C. trip the week; following Spring break and as a bonus, even got to spend time with his Aunt who was there at the same time.

Micah Green: We enjoyed having Micah home for spring break. We have one of those good news/bad news situations to report. Micah has been a Corvette fanatic since he was little. His first English professor at USMA told us he now knows more than he ever wanted to about Corvettes because every time they could chose their subject Micah wrote in detail about Corvettes. On Micah’s 17th birthday we bought him a beautiful, all original, 1980 Corvette. The bad news is when he was home for spring break, and 87-year-old lady, not wearing her glasses, turned in front of him and totaled his car. The good news is that he was not hurt nor was she and she had good insurance. So, now he spends any free time on the Internet looking for Corvettes he might buy with next years Cow loan. In the mean time this solves the problem of how we would get it to Fort Campbell this summer because he wanted it up there where he will be doing CTLT the first half of the summer. After CTLT, he will go to Buckner to be part of the Cadre. Every time we think we have learned all the initials there are more to learn so I am not able to tell you what he will

be doing at Buckner. He won’t have any time to come home this summer so we are going to see him. We are going over Mother’s day weekend and are working on plans to go to Fort Campbell since we have family nearby. Micah is looking forward to home cooking from his grandmother while he is at Fort Campbell.

CLASS OF 2005

“KEEPING FREEDOM ALIVE”

Charn McAllister: Charn is very glad that the end of the school year is fast approaching. He has been doing well and really enjoying a few of his classes this semester. His favorites have been psychology and especially English where they have spent a great deal of time studying the Odyssey. Charn and a few other cadets had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Robert Fagles, who completed a translation of the Odyssey. The question and answer session was a great addition to the class work. An important accomplishment for him this semester was when he tabbed the Indoor Obstacle Course Test – he still gets a smile on his face when he talks about that. His mom got to visit West Point on the weekend of April 27th. It was a very busy weekend as Sandhurst was taking place. However, she did get to see him on Friday evening and then on Saturday evening they went to the city for an Overnight visit and enjoyed every moment. Everyone is looking forward to June and a longer stay at home.

Tania Miami: We had an E-Mail from granddaughter Tania on April 20, math grades are improving, good chance for an “A”. So it was a good week but she is looking forward to the term being over. Last weekend she was in a dance program for the Minority Heritage Program, it went well and she had a good time with it.

Tye Reedy: Tye has had a very good semester academically. He attributes it to a lot of hard work, successfully getting the hang of the Thayer Method, and learning Speed Reading techniques form the Center of Enhanced performance. Having never really experienced more than word processing, database, spreadsheet, e-mail, instant messaging and the Internet; he was pleasantly surprised at his success, thus far, in his Computer Science class earning A’s on all assignments. Maybe he’s “unleashed a new talent within?” His shoulder surgery rehabilitation has recently taken a big step forward. His doctor has released him to get back to running and some upper body weight lifting. However, he hasn’t been released to do push-ups. He tells us that having to miss out on the wrestling season was a “bitter sweet” experience. Bitter, because he had to sit by all season and be an out of shape spectator, which was very hard to swallow for a highly competitive and, use to be, physically fit young man. Sweet, because he had time to learn the Thayer Method and adjust and develop his study habits accordingly, which has paid off. Tye is looking forward to getting back in shape, getting back on the wrestling mat, getting his three week summer leave, and going to CFT at Buckner and Fort Knox. When he reflects back on all his West Point experiences to date, he and his parents can’t believe how fast the time has gone by.

Greg Van Bemden: Greg is doing well and was happy to report that he went off the ten-meter board in swimming; he said that his boots really get heavy when they are wet but he swam almost to the end anyway. In his Chemistry lab they made Plexiglas and nylon rope so it was pretty interesting; too bad the exams aren’t so great. But he is hanging in there and doing fine. Greg learned that his next academic company will be C3 the “Cocks” and that he will return to the original barracks he was in during Beast at Eisenhower barracks on the plain. Greg is really looking forward to Fort Knox (where his grandpa trained before leaving for Korea) and CFT at Buckner he can’t wait to blow things up. We are all excited about having him home for a little while too.

Nathan Brown: Nathan Brown is doing well. He really enjoyed intramural rugby this semester. Academically he reports having a relatively easy semester, although math does push him a little. He had a great spring break. His two older brothers joined us for a few days of skiing in Colorado. Before heading back to West Point he managed to get in an accident (minor fender bender, no injuries AND not his fault) in his Dad’s car. He continues to enjoy the West Point experience and is looking forward to Buckner and Knox this summer. Home