'55 SHIPMATE COLUMN – July/August '00

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55 SHIPMATE CLASS COLUMN – July/August '00

A '55 Joint Washington DC - Tidewater - Mid-Virginia Chapter Luncheon was held at a neutral site in April. We met mid-week in Tappahannock VA and had a wonderful time.  The meeting place was a new golf course clubhouse that did a fine job taking care of us.  After lunch, we all retreated to Betsey & Bob Fountain's impressive manor nearby on the backwaters of the Potomac River - what a beautiful setting & house!  It was somewhat embarrassing to discover that participants from Tidewater and Mid-Virginia vastly outnumbered us-guys from DC, the largest grouping of our class in the land!  I guess that just goes to show that more of us in the Washington area are still busily engaged and can't get away during the workweek.  Right?  Attending were: Jerry Nay, Gwen & Frank Farino, Marlene & Al Dawson, Betty & Tony Hastoglis, Betty & Ross Olson, Lauren Johnson, Sarah & Larry Frost, Betsey & Bob Fountain, Sybil Plumly, Sheila & Cal Weaver, Denny Sullivan, Bob Miller, Ann & Ted Parker, Tom Kiefaber, Jack Baldwin, Pat & Paul Southerland, Dorothy & Brent Streit, Karen & Pat Taylor, Lyn & Dan Shields, Pat & Bob Englert, and Betty & Clif Shumaker. (PHOTO #1, "Brent Streit with Lyn & Dan Shields, Pat & Paul Sutherland and Karen & Pat Taylor"; PHOTO #2, "Cal Weaver, Bob Miller and Jerry Nay"; PHOTO #3, "Ann & Ted Parker, Jack Baldwin and Denny Sullivan"; PHOTO #4, "Sarah & Larry Frost with Betsey & Bob Fountain"; PHOTO #5, "The Fountains in front of their manor house")

45th REUNION.  All hands should have received the Final 45th Reunion Package by now.  Please note that the Reunion Response Form should be filled out and returned to Cal Weaver by September 1.  This is to accommodate our "providers" - accurate numbers for planning purposes.  If for some reason you have not received the package and need to respond on time, call Cal at (703) 566-1909 or Tom Kiefaber at (703) 758-1077.

An impressive ground breaking ceremony was held on 10 May at Dewey Field to dedicate the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.  One of the facility's principal sponsors, Bill Anders, played a major role in the ceremony - wielding a shovel and making remarks. His story about how he chose soccer instead of lacrosse during plebe summer was a hoot. Bill's fellow '55 soccer players, Joe Armstrong, Tom Stallman, and Wes Saunders were on hand to assist in honoring Glenn Warner's great accomplishments and service to the Naval Academy. (PHOTO #6, "At soccer facility dedication")

Paul Steffenhagen has written in about a thrilling experience.

I always look forward to receiving SHIPMATE and especially enjoy info on '55 classmates.  I hope to be there for the 45th Reunion and will look to seeing some I haven't seen for quite a few years, like John Thune.  We were roommates in first class year and I haven't seen him for about 30 years, but talked to him by phone a couple of weeks ago.

I'm enclosing a snapshot taken on 5 March of this year at Moss Pt. MS.  I wanted to wait until I hit 70 to make my first jump and that's what this was. (PHOTO #7, "Steffenhagen soaring")  I did the AFF, Accelerated Free Fall, jumping at 14,000 ft and opened my chute at 4,500 ft.  The instructor in yellow had about 2,000 jumps, the one in black had 5,200.  The picture shows me right after jumping, heading down at around 120 MPH.  This was a tremendous thrill, not quite as much as my first night carrier landing, but almost.

My last flight was about 37 years ago.  On one drill weekend, I flew 5 flights with over 8 hours of flight time at NAS New Orleans.  About 6 hours after that weekend drill, I had a 55 minute grand mal epileptic seizure, the first of many before I had 10 and ½ hours of brain surgery, done while I was 100% conscious, in Montreal, Canada.  The full movie of that surgery was condensed into a 30 min. movie shown every half hour in the building called "Man and Life" in the Expo '67 in Montreal.  While wide-awake during that entire surgery, I gave them "a piece of my mind" which was one half of my left temporal lobe.  I have now gone 30 years with no seizures, and have been totally off of seizure control medication for 24 years.  The results have been outstanding and I have much to be thankful for.  After our class reunion, I will be entering the hospital in Montreal for my eighth 20 hr. IQ test since the surgery. Hope to see you in October.

Some photos of recent events, i.e. '55 Award giving and DC get-togethers, are included with this column. (PHOTO #8, "Plumly presenting '55 JO Leadership Award"; PHOTO #9, "John Adams with Nancy & Bob Hinton"; PHOTO #10, "The Brackens and the Plumlys"; PHOTO #11, "Hartley Holte & Bill Kennington")  Also, a shot of Hugh Webster and Al "King" Kozischek at the football players' luncheon held semi-annually in San Diego. (PHOTO #12, "Webbie & Koz")  And from a dusty bin of football memorabilia is drawn a line-up of '55 gridiron legends taken at the 35th: Webster, Phil Monahan, Alex Aronis, Joe Gattuso, "Ace" Davis, John Weaver, and Kozischek. (PHOTO #13, "'55 Gridiron Legends")

'55 RULES. The Class had a strong representation and involvement at the May meeting of the Naval Academy Board of Trustees.  John Haynes is a member of the Board, serving as the former President of the Sacramento Chapter.  Big Don Rohr was in attendance as the President of the Albuquerque Chapter, as was Ace Davis representing the Williamsburg Chapter.  Denny Sullivan, as Class President, also attended.  In addition, Otto Zipf attended a grand reception the evening before the meeting, where all got acquainted with the new Alumni Association President, George Watt '73.  The Class has other close involvement in the affairs and governance of the Association.  Tony Hastoglis is President of the newly formed Central Virginia Chapter with focus in the Charlottesville area, and Jim Conway has a lifetime lock on President of the Newport RI Chapter.  What this all means is, '55 is a force in the Alumni association and a strong participant in the alumni life of the Academy. (PHOTO #14, "Don Rohr, Denny Sullivan & John Haynes")

POTPOURRI.  Larry Wigley is currently living outside of Boston and doing some consultant work during the week as a department manager for Ontario Power Generation in Toronto to return four nuclear plants back to service.  Bill Anders reports that he has taken another step towards getting back on board with the Navy Team.  "I'm pleased to report that this USAF-type has been made a member of the Tailhook Association.  VADM Mike Bowman (AIR PAC) included me in his new "Tailhook Legacy" Program (similar to the USAF "Heritage Flight" where we'll be flying USN vintage Warbirds (e.g. Bill's F8F-2 "Wampus Cat") in formation with the F-18 Demonstration pilot at West Coast air shows.  Practice cat shots and traps next?  A recent overnight cruise with Valerie on the Abraham Lincoln convinced me that you real tailhooks have guts!"  Also, Bill sent along a picture of him and his #3 son, Gregory (Maj USAF, USAFA '83) in formation. (PHOTO #15, "Changing of the Guard")  Paul Sutherland sent in a picture and short report from the Outer Banks.  "Here is a picture of none other than Sandy & Ted Hyman in the usual Outer Banks sofa pose at our house. (PHOTO #16, "Sandy & Ted Hyman")  They were down to send off a cruise that they had arranged for the Southern Shores Boat Club.  It was a group of 34 so it was a good opportunity for them to visit for a few days and soak up the Outer Banks as they provided on-site ticket delivery and briefing for the group.  Look at the look of contentment on both of their faces!  It only took a day and I think they might be sold on changing their zip code to 27949!  Translated that means they even looked at some houses and property while they were here.  Pat & I are still loving every minute of every day here and only will leave for any length of time to go cruising."  Skipper Charley Plumly has been working for a shipyard in Texas on an Army contract for tug delivery and training.  Recently he delivered a tug from Texas to Baltimore MD. (PHOTO #17, "Plums on the wing of the bridge")

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