Pres: LCDR Dennis Sullivan, USN (Ret.)
Sec’y: CAPT Thomas G. Kiefaber, USN (Ret.)
11814 Triple Crown Road, Reston, VA 20191

   As I'm submitting this column, I don't have much more information about the Homecoming '55 Party at Alumni House following the Duke game. It will start about 5 p.m. and will be a cocktail buffet. When further information is available, a flyer will be sent out to "local" Classmates and I will put out the word to all I have an email address for. If this doesn't work for you and you are interested, contact Denny Sullivan at 703-683-0733). It should be a smashing weekend, what with all the Alumni Association events, including the All Classes Homecoming Party in Alumni Hall on Friday night. A San Diego '55 Social held in June, was reported on in the last column. Late arriving pics taken at that event are included herewith!

50 Year History Book Project

   Hartley Holte's update on the project follows:

   As many of you are now aware, we have sent out a questionnaire requesting feedback on the approach we are considering. To those of you who have already responded by letter or email, we are most grateful for your comments. We will continue to "listen" to anyone who would still like to respond. We are already beginning to contact some of you who have offered to help, and over the next few months, will contact others. We have also been in contact with Andrea Campbell of the Alumni Association Office who has offered considerable assistance in selected areas. One of our next actions will be to make a status presentation to DC area Classmates and Executive Committee. Will do our best to keep you all informed of our activities and schedules as well. 

   Paul Sutherland passes on an account of their latest cruise ship excursion:

   We're back from another cruise! It was a smaller group this time but nonetheless, a great time was enjoyed by all. The highlights of this cruise were the wedding anniversaries shared by all. We all celebrated our 47th…3 June—Jean and Darrel Westbrook, 4 June—Pat and Paul Sutherland, and 5 June—Sandy and Ted Hyman. No doubt about it, many years of wedded bliss for all of us. I have enclosed a picture of the group. It is certainly not a bad looking group considering our maturity level. The area that we visited was also a highlight. It was a Baltic cruise and we visited Copenhagen, Denmark; Helsinki, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia; Stockholm, Sweden; Wernamuende, Germany; Oslo, Norway, and London, England. We are all ready for the next cruise!

Heard it on The Grapevine ('55 Listserv)

   From Bart Fordham:

   Just wanted all of you, my Classmates for all these years, to know that on 7 June, I took on a new crewmember, Eugenia Mamczakova. Born in Siberia during World War II, she and her family moved to Czechoslavia, which in 1992 was split into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. She lives in Slovakia. From age 6 to age 18, Eugenia was on the Czech National Gymnast Team, then was given an opportunity by the Communist government to attend the university, where she studied Russian language and fine arts. She taught in Russia (St. Petersburg and Moscow) for two years, then taught for 34 more years before retiring several years ago…Her son (37) is a doctor in Bratislavia and owns a pharmaceutical company there. Her daughter (27) graduated from a high school here in Columbia, went to Columbia College and graduated with degrees in chemistry, math, and biochemistry. She works for the State as a chemist. Eugenia is a very accomplished linguist and speaks Russian, Polish, German, Czech, and Slovak…and English. I will be 70 on 19 June, so I am very fortunate to have signed on my new mate…Just wanted you all to share in my joy. The last two and a half years without my CO on board have been sheer hell. Things just have to get better! By the way, she is selling her apartment in another town in Slovakia and plans to buy one in her son's town, Bratislavia, so that we can use it when we come over…we plan to spend several months a year over there. Anyone of you wanting to use it while visiting Vienna, Prague or that part of the world will be welcome to do so for the cost of utilities, which isn't very much. Slovak brew is reputed to be the best in the world and at about forty cents per glass, a real bargain.    

   Charlie Plumly, our indomitable Appalachian Trail hiker, recently completed 96.3 miles on the southern trek between Front Royal and Waynesboro, VA. Bob Boyd submitted an interesting report re their "tangle" with the Arizona fires this summer.

   Our summer cabin is in the Mogollon Airpark subdivision 140 miles northeast of Phoenix on the east side of Overgaard, across highway 260 from a popular western subdivison "Bison Ranch." On Thursday, 20 June, we were invited out of Overgaard by the Sheriff due to the advancing Cediski forest fire. (Chediski means white rock in Apache). The fire was caused by Valinda Elliott and should be named for her, as she had been driving in a restricted area, ran out of gas, got lost hiking and set a "signal" fire to help in her rescue. A news channel helo rescued her on Thursday. This fire advanced directly to the Heber-Overgaard community and was a later fire than the Rodeo fire thought to be set by Apache Indians who knew they would have lots of work with overtime if they were hired to fight fires. (The fire started near the rodeo grounds in a small town of Cibique on the Apache Reservation). At this writing the two fires have joined and present a front 50 miles wide moving toward a 25,000 community of Show-Low and also Pinetop-Lakeside, about the same population. When we left Overgaard, JoAnn was driving our RV loaded with many things. I joined a wave of aircraft flying north to Holbrook in my GlaStar, but we found the visibility zero-zero there, so diverted to Winslow to the west. Both towns most of you have passed through on Highway 40 east of Flagstaff traveling cross country. On Friday morning, the smoke drifted to Winslow for zero visibility most of the morning, and the air tankers (P-2s, P-3s) were grounded. There has been a big air tanker operation in Winslow for years for the summer fire seasons. We drove to Scottsdale on Friday and have been glued to the TV ever since. Fortunately there is a video-cam mounted on a hangar on the north side of the airpark and it appears to be still working. www.AZ82.com is our web address for the airpark and views show very little damage. Two flights of neighbors flying above the restricted fire area peeked though the smoke Sunday to see that some homes were burned to the ground, others next door were okay. It appears that our cabin is okay as confirmed by our private security company and our "hex" hangar is okay. We had stored our PT cruiser in that hangar, as it is isolated from trees and probably wouldn't burn. In May I had a steel hangar erected on the north side of the airpark and it appears okay along with homes in that area. I was just finishing up the electrical inside when I had to leave. My pickup is in that hangar. This fire is truly out of control and the largest/worst wildfire in our nation's history, having burned over 380,000 acres and 68 homes in Overgaard so far. Mother nature is in control, and if winds stay down as they are on Monday, the fire crews may get a handle on some of this. Thank you for your prayers and concerns. We are anxiously waiting time to get back to the airpark to clean up.

   Bart Fordham sent in a fine letter regarding his appreciation for the work being done by Class officers and also he mentioned his pride in being part of the Class of '55. Additionally, he informed:

   In order to continue my long association with naval aviation, I have been serving as attorney for YORKTOWN (CV-10) Association for the past several years…another "freebie," but it keeps me active with something that I love. Moored across the river from Charleston, SC, at Patriot's point, in Mt. Pleasant, YORKTOWN remains a magnificent sight for all to see. If you have not been to visit her, make plans to come to Charleston and enjoy a truly wonderful time seeing some of the aircraft and other memorabilia on board. There is also a Medal of Honor Hall of Fame on board, where one can read the inscriptions of each of the Medal of Honor awardees. It is truly time well spent.

Binnacle List

   Don Alderson is in Walter Reed Army Hospital recovering from surgery for intestinal problems. He can be reached at: 2204 Windsor Rd., Alexandra, VA 22307. Don Conner is now in Summerford Place, a home on Riva Road near Annapolis. He expects to be there about six months recovering from a stroke. He can be reached at: 2744 Gingerview Lane, Annapolis, MD 21401.