Author: Bill Wilhelm

Here is the central brick from the West Point Pioneers in Space Memorial at the Space and Rocket Center. Stay tuned for more images of the memorial in the Apollo Courtyard.

Central Brick

Bricks at Davidson Center to remind others of academy's space role

The second man to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, is a West Point graduate.

So are astronauts Frank Borman, Ed White and about 15 other men who have flown in outer space. At least another 20 West Point graduates were involved in the Explorer I and Apollo projects.

Read more at the Huntsville Times.

I just wanted to pass on a few items of interest:

1st the February Society Luncheon date will be 12 February – a week earlier than normal.  This is an important meeting, since by our by-laws it is the annual business meeting, where nominations are received for the vacating positions.  The other major item of the meeting is to make the basic plans for the coming year, so if there is something you wish the Society to get involved with, this is your opportunity to bring the idea up, or if you have ideas for speakers at the luncheons, or lastly to make comments on what the Society is or is not doing.  Final item will be any loose ends of Founders Day or the Dedication of the Bricks.

At the meeting on Tuesday (which had an above average of turn-out – thank you) it was suggested that we invite the officers of WPAOG to attend the dedication and Founders Day.  I have sent invitations to Ted Stroup ’62, Chairman and Bob McClure ’76, President and CEO, with the note that if they can not attend, if possible could a Board Member and/or Senior Staff officer of the WPAOG be made available – especially for the dedication.  Both have responded positively in working to get a representative here.  (Ted is already committed to an AUSA event.)

It was also suggested we invite close by Societies.  I will be sending out to all Societies and Classes an invitation, but have been waiting until we have a better handle on the dedication.  I will be adding the attachment to this message with these invitations. (It was sent to both Ted and Bob,I think when you see it, makes what we are doing very impressive and inspiring).

Ok, now to the other items of interest:

As you may have seen in today paper the Veteran’s Memorial kick-off has begun.  Also in Madison City, Post 229 American Legion is in the process of raising money for a Memorial in their town.

Honor Flight has a big event planned for the 29th of January at Woody Anderson Ford from 5 – 7 pm.  They are trying to raise money for more Flights, their goal is to fly 500 WWII vets to DC this year.  The event itself is not a fund raiser, but to meet the veterans who have made the trip, meet those who are on the list, and to learn more about Honor Flight.  (They will accept donations however.)  The plan flights for this year are:  April 19th (this is funded), May 31, Sep 13, and Oct 18 (all unfunded).  Each flight will take 125 veterans.

The North Alabama Veterans and Fraternal Organizations Coalition will be holding its annual Awards and Recognition Program and Dinner on the 20th of February at the Veteran’s Memorial Museum at 6 pm.  The awards are to recognize organizations, business, and others who have been major supporters of Veteran activities over the past year.  This Coalition is an umbrella organization of all numerous organizations that involve or support veterans, the actual number I can’t remember, but when the list is printed out, it takes at least one page on an 8×11 sheet. The Coalition also is the primary organizer for making sure returning service members are greeted at the airport with flags and handshakes.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but it has been fun reading the old front pages of the Times about the Space Exploits of the past.  The other articles on the front page are just as interesting, putting the context of the Space program in perspective.  Like today, the Eagle Scout badge on the front page indicating three boys were receiving this award – when was the last time you recall something like that being on the front page of a paper.

Mike Lyman tells me that the website is set for receiving reservations for Founders Day.  Here is the site http://www.west-point.org/society/wps-tenn-valley/

One other apology- I misspelled Jeffrey Williams name in the invitation.

Art Meier ‘63

The monthly WPSTV meeting will be held on the 15th of January at 1130 hours in the Loft of the Redstone Officers and Civilian Club.

The main items of discussion will be surrounding Founders Day activities.  Several individuals have said they would help, but we need to make specific assignments.  Macy has volunteered to take care of publishing the program and Marty Eaton is going to take care of the escorting of the speaker.  None of the assignments take a lot of time, just that much of it can not be done until the last week or so, and then it requires a lot of coordination between individuals. .   (A lot of things for the dinner get done by individuals who have done it in the past, such as name tags by Mike Lyman, but they could use some assistance.)   The last week is when table assignments will be made, flowers ordered, name tags printed, meals ordered, an older and younger graduate identified (volunteered only) program finalized, final layout of floor plan, coordination of any videos with USSRC, as examples.  This is just for the Dinner part of the day.  We still have to resolve the dedication ceremony with the USSRC.  I have talked with Al Whitaker on the phone, so they are aware of our interests, but no plans have been made yet.  I am looking for someone who has time to work with me and the USSRC on setting up something to make this event very special.  This will require work on invitations, a program, and a lot of coordination.

I have talked with “The Times” and an article on the bricks is being written – not sure when it will be published – it may be part of the big splash on the 31st, or closer to the 7th of March.

There were two messages with the invitation to Founders Day sent out.  This was because the Lyris server was having problems last week, I was not sure if my first message got lost.  I am happy to report that we have had one couple who have sent in their reservations!  The cost of the dinner is based upon having at least 200 attendees.  One would not think this should be a problem, there are 335 email addresses to the message with the invitation and we are sending out another 125 invitations by mail to those who do not have email.  This represents the total number of graduates (and widows or ex-cadets) on the roster.  In addition the West Point Parents Club is sending out the invitation to their members.  Please do not wait till the last week to send in your reservation.  (I won’t have to send out so many reminders if the response is pretty positive and steady early on.)

The Society has changed the procedures for selecting the oldest and youngest graduate to speak at the dinner.  We will be asking for a volunteer from the classes before 1987 and one after 1987 to make the remarks.  The year 1987 is about the mid-point of graduates.  Solicitation for volunteers will take place a week before the dinner.  Do not use the fear of being told that your are the oldest or youngest graduate as an excuse to not coming to the dinner.  No one will be placed in that position if they do not want to.

At the February meeting the nomination of rotating officers and board members will take place. (The election is held at the Founders Day Dinner.)  The nominating committee consists of the outgoing officers and board members.  The positions being vacated are: Membership and Admissions Officer and two board positions.  If anyone is interested in these positions or would like more information on these positions please contact one of the members of the nominating committee.  They are: Membership, Valerie Coffey (Valerie.Coffey.CTR@mda.mil); Admissions, Richard Jackson (rkjackson61@bellsouth.net); Board Members; Jimmy Hill (jimmychill@bellsouth.net) and Ray Tomlinson (rfrt@tomlinsonline.com). There has been some positive response to some positions, but more interest is desired.

I am attaching the reservation form, just incase you have misplaced it.  If you want to help with some specific task for Founders Day or the Dedication, but can not make the meeting on Tuesday, please call me or send me an email or your interest.

Art Meier ‘63

The Society Members have been invited to two upcoming events.  Both invitations are attached.

The first is the All Service Academy Ball to be held on the 29th of December at the Heritage Club in Huntsville.  This event is being hosted by the West Point Parents Club of Alabama.  Amy and I are planning on attending, and we are hopeful others do as well.  The invitation has also been sent to the Navy and Air Force associations in town.  Use the information on the invitation to respond.

The second invitation is from the USSRC for the grand opening of the Davidson Center for Space Exploration on the 50th Anniversary of the launching of Explorer I by the US Army.  There was a note in the invitation that indicates that the Corporate response has been overwhelming and only a few individual seats are available.  The RSVP deadline is the 7th of December, but the seats will be on first come first serve basis.  The cost of an individual is $150.00 if anyone is interested please contact me quickly, so we can get the response in.  I will point out that we are planning on having the Founders Day in the same facility just one month later (35 days actually – 7 March) at a significantly lower cost. But I know that the thrill of being at opening night could be worth the price.  (Amy and I will be out of town.)  Just let me know. – Tuesday at the monthly luncheon would be good.

Art Meier ’63

From the Alabama West Point Parents Club:

The subject ball is open to all Service Academy graduates.

The AASAB is planned for December 29, 2007 at the following location:

Heritage Club
111 Washington Street
Huntsville, AL 35801
Time: 6:00pm to 7:00pm Social Hour with the flow of the evening to follow until midnight.

The cost will be $48 per person.  (thanks to a sponsorship by SAIC, cadets/midshipmen and dates will not be charged.)

When the actual invitations are ready, I will send out more information –

Art Meier

First there will be no comments on the Army – Air Force Game – except thanks to those who were at Buffalo Wild Wings on Saturday (luckily few Air Force fans showed up) – However, the Navy – Notre Dame was worthwhile watching.

The class of 96 is working the plans for the Army – Navy Game at Indigo Joe’s and we’ll be sending out more information later this month.

Remember that the Veteran’s Day Parade is Monday, 12 Nov at 11 am downtown. There is a Veterans Day Dinner on Saturday night, if anyone is interested in going contact Dave Carney at carney50@mchsi.com   

The Society Luncheon this month will be held on the 20th of November (two days before Thanksgiving).  Cadet Reed Alexander (USMA 2010, Bob Jones HS '06) will be present, so come and get a chance to learn what is going on at West Point from a yearling’s view. He will be here thanks to the CPRC program.  (We also may be honored to have a WWII vet there that day to share his experiences – just waiting for confirmation.)  The luncheon will be in the Loft of the ROCC, at 1130 hours.

I am sure your mail box is much like mine this time of the year – with numerous requests for donations.  If you are still looking for a Tax deduction this year, I remind you that any money donated to the purchase of the West Point Bricks is tax deductible.  Just go to the society website for information if using a credit card or you may send a check to me made out to WPSTV with a note that it is for the bricks.  If anyone desires a letter noting the deduction for tax purposes, please let me know and I will provide one. 

Your Executive Body has been agreed to several actions over the past month or so which will be effecting next years Founders Day which I am passing on to you.

A change has been made concerning the oldest and youngest grad speeches.  We no longer will pick the oldest or youngest grad that is present for their speeches.  What we will do is to canvas the oldest half and youngest half of the group, to see if anyone would volunteer to make an older grad or younger grad comment.  In other words, no one should not attend Founders Day because of concern about having to give the speech.

We are planning on holding a Dedication of the West Point Bricks on the day of Founders Day (7 March 08) at the USSRC.  The time of the event is still being discussed, because we are hoping that the Space Camp will have some campers present that we can invite as part of the event – even possibly inviting some school children. 

We are attempting to get one of the West Point Astronauts who flew on a Saturn V/Apollo mission to be the Founders Day Speaker and participate in the dedication of the bricks.

Finally, the dinner will be held in the new Davidson Center for Space Exploration.  The cost of the dinner will be a little higher than last year, but we’ll doing all we can to hold the cost down.  However, this will be a fantastic location for the dinner to recognize West Pointers for their contributions to Space Exploration, with dinner under the Saturn V.   Please mark your calendars for the 7th of March 08 and plan on having a wonderful evening.

Art Meier ‘63

Dear Members of the Long Gray Line,

I am writing to inform you that the 2007 Annual Meeting of the West Point Association of Graduates will take place on 17 October at 1700 hrs Eastern Time in the Alumni Center at West Point. The business of the meeting will be to elect a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, members of our Board of Directors, and members of our Advisory Council. I hope that a large number of graduates will attend, but if you cannot be on hand, please take the time to submit your proxy via the internet.

In order to do so, go to the West Point AOG home page (http://www.westpointaog.org/) and log in with your Cullum number and password.  Once you are logged in, a box will appear at the top center of the home page enclosing the words, “Vote in the WPAOG Election.”  Clicking on those words will bring up your proxy.

You may assign that proxy to John Calabro ’68, the Secretary of the Association, who will be present at the meeting to register your vote as you have specified it, or you can assign the proxy to another graduate.  One caution, however: if you choose to do the latter, be sure that this person will be attending the meeting, or your vote will not count. Last year, a significant number of votes went uncounted for just this reason; the proxy named a graduate who was not present at the meeting.

The on-line voting site provides you access to a capsule biography and photograph of each candidate by clicking on “BIOS” in the voting instructions or by clicking on any candidate’s name.  When it comes time to fill out the proxy, you may vote for as few or as many of the candidates as you wish.  In addition, with respect to the election of the Chairman and Vice Chairman, our Bylaws give you the option of proposing write-in candidates.  If you wish to do this, please be sure to include each write-in candidate’s first name, middle initial, last name, and class year.  If you wish simply to withhold your vote from the Nominating Committee’s candidate for either Chairman or Vice Chairman while not proposing any write-in alternate, click on the radio button in front of the write-in box, but enter no text in the box itself.

Again, I hope that you will be able to attend the Annual Meeting in person, but if not, I urge you to vote by proxy and participate in these WPAOG elections.

ROBERT L. McCLURE ‘76
Colonel, USA (Retired)
President and CEO

I saw in the paper this morning that the Space and Rocket Center changed the name to the Davidson  Center for Space Exploration.  This means our selection of the wording on the West Point Brick was fortuitous!  “West Point Pioneers of Space Exploration”

Just to give you an update on the brick project.  The total cost of the project now sets at $3250.00.  I do not anticipate it going higher, as I have not gotten any new messages from classes or individuals stating qualifications of individuals.  There are most likely additional West Pointers who could be honored, but they will remain in the shadows.  There are about 300 names on this email listing with WPAOG, so a minimal contribution from each would clearly more than pay the bill.  Any amount collected over the amounted needed will be contributed to the Saturn V project of USSRC.  This means any money spent on the brick project is tax deductible.  We have had contributions from the Class of 52 and from 5 individuals outside our society.  There are two ways to contribute:  Go to our website or you can send a check to me made out to WPSTV.   Either way should only take you a few minutes of your time and it is a great way to support honoring West Point – And it will be an honor that will last.

My Address:

Art Meier
776 Cornelia Dr. SE
Huntsville, AL 35802

There will be a society luncheon on next Tuesday at the ROCC.  I will send out a reminder over the weekend, but if you don’t want to spend the cost of a stamp, bring a check then.

BEAT NAVY!

We had a pretty good turnout last night at the Firehouse Pub.  I am sorry that the ROCC did not follow through on their end of the bargain (the missing hamburgers and hotdogs), but we had a good time any way.  For those of you who missed my short talk, here are some of my notes!

One of the big discussion points was the Admissions work being done by Dick Jackson ’61 and Josh Kennedy ’94 (he is our MALO).  Here is the upcoming schedule of meeting with High Schools so if you can help them out – please contact them.

10 Sep 07 (Mon)
Morning: Grissom HS.  0730 setup, 0810-1010 browse sessions.
Afternoon: Butler HS. 1300 setup, 1315-1500 browse sessions.
Evening: Hartselle HS. 1730 setup, 1800-2000 browse session

11 Sep 07 (Tues)
Morning: Lee HS. 0830 setup, 0900-1100 browse sessions
Afternoon: Johnson HS. 1245 setup, 1330-1500 browse sessions
Evening: System wide Parents Night @ Huntsville HS. 1700-1730 setup, 1800-1930 browse session

12 Sep 07 (Wed)
Morning: Huntsville HS. 0830 setup, 0900-1100 browse sessions
Afternoon: Columbia HS & New Century Tech HS. 1230 setup, 1300-1500 browse sessions
Evening: nada

13 Sep 07 (Thurs) @ UAH Fitness Center
Morning: Madison County high schools (Buckhorn HS, Madison County HS, Hazel Green HS, New Hope HS)
Afternoon: Private schools (Madison Academy, Catholic HS, etc)
Evening: Bob Jones HS, 1800-2000

14 Sep 07 (Fri)
Morning: Athens City and Limestone County @ Athens State University (Phys Ed Center)
* Schools attending are Athens Bible, East Limestone, Ardmore, Clements, Elkmont, Faith Christian Academy, Limestone Area Vocational, Tanner, and West Limestone)

And a reminder:  Major McBride (West Point Admissions Officer for the Southeast) will be here on 25 October.  More on this later.

I also thought I might mention (again) the Apollo Brick program:  As you know we are honoring the astronauts from West Point and also those West Pointers who were involved in the very early Space programs – up to the Apollo Program.  The complete is on our website. (You can also contribute to this effort at our website  http://www.west-point.org/society/wps-tenn-valley/  For the non-astronauts, here is some of what they did.

Holger N. Toftoy ‘26 supervisor of development for the stage 1 missile that launched the first satellite.

August Schomburg ‘31 CG MICOM  59 -62

John A. Barclay ‘31 DCG Army Ordnance Missile Command 60-61, Northrop Space Labs 62- 77

Francis J. McMorrow ‘33 DCG & CG Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC) 61-63

John G. Zierdt ‘37 Chief of Staff, ABMDA at the time of the Explorer I launching.

Edward P. Mohlere ‘36 Chief of Staff, MICOM 64-66, ATech Dir Marshall Space Flt Center 66-77.

John C. Nickerson ‘38 Explorer Program Office

Robert M. Pearce ‘44 Explorer Program Office

Rocco Petrone ‘46 Director of the NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center from 1973 to 1974. Before that he was Director of Launch Operations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center from July 1966 until September 1969 and then Apollo Program Director.

John P. Jones ‘53 Left the AF late 1963 to join IBM Federal Systems Division, Space Center for involvement with the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), NASA's Large Orbiting Research Laboratory (LORL), Medium Orbiting Research Laboratory (MORL), Gemini and Apollo Command Computers and the Saturn V Instrumentation Unit.

Jay W Gould  ‘54 Program Engineer in various capacities on the following Programs:

Martin Co:              Titan I, Titan II, Titan III and Gemini 1957-1963
Honeywell:              Apollo 1963-1966
3M       :              Apollo & Space Lab 1966-1980

Edward Olivares ‘57 worked on the Hughes Aircraft Company's Surveyor unmanned Lunar Lander that preceded the Apollo to scout out the potential landing sites (and determine whether there would be fifty feet or more of dust that Apollo's lander would sink into). As well, I worked on the Apollo Program for North American Aviation-Rockwell's S&ID Division, developing the Apollo Command Module.

George Kannapel ‘56 A design engineer on what were Black projects called the Bear Projects. For Momma and Pappa Bear I was first a Project Engineer and later a site Project Engineer.  The Program was under the Secret activities of the Air Force and Air Products used the company name of APIX Fertilizer to help conceal the real purpose of the plant directly across from Pratt & Whitney's plant in West Palm.  The secret was coded under the name of SF-1  (Secret Fuel One) which we designers knew had to be Liquid Hydrogen because we were designing heat exzcangers for use down to -430 degrees F (liquid hydrogen temps.)  Only H and He are liquid at those temps.  We got involved in a big way with the new space programs from Mercury and Gemini to really invloved with Von Braun and Dr. Tessman in the early vehicle fuels programs and eventually Apollo program and Saturn support.

Jim Castle ‘58 In 1961 I was an Engineer responsible for various Telemetry Systems for the Army's ADVENT Communications Satellite. I was employed by GE's Spacecraft Dept at the time.
2. From 1962 through 1964 I was an Engineer/Systems Engineer/and Project Leader on the SAMOS Satellite System. I was employed by GE's Advanced Space Projects Dept at the time.
3. From 1964 through 1968 I was a Supervising Engineer and Manager-System Software Development for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory. I was employed by GE's MOL Dept at the time.
4. From 1978 through 1980 I was General Manager of the Apollo Support Dept located in Daytona Beach Fla. I was responsible for all Dept activities.

BEAT AKRON!
BEAT NAVY!