March 2009 Newsletter
Bob Ellis (rellis@usma1954.org)
reports:
It is rare for me
to lead off my newsletter, but so be it. We
are finally settled in our new home in
Loudon, TN. It took some doing, but it is
now in the past. We are still unpacking and
reorganizing. This place (Tellico Village)
is the most amazing place you could
imagine. I will be assuming my new duties as
Class Scribe with the next issue of Assembly
and will try to uphold the high standards
set by Chet over the years. My email address
is above, my snail mail is: 177 Depew Drive,
Loudon, TN 37774, phone: 865-657-9828. Keep
in touch.
Bob
Harry Emrick (hwemricks@aol.com)
reports:
Attached is a picture
from Harry and Barb Emrick (F-2) at the 2009
Sedona Marathon in February. Harry placed
1st in the 5K over 70 category. They own 3
weeks at the HYATT Pinon Point in Sedona, AZ
and enjoy it there as well as golf,
exercise and retirement living in Sun City
Summerlin Las Vegas. Mayor Rob Adams
presented the Medal. They are ready for the
55th!
Cheers, Harry
Bill Epling (bill@eplingwy.com)
reports:
Classmates,
widows, and friends of ‘54
The ’54 website (http://www.usma1954.org/)
has much of interest for all. If after
opening the ’54 website you right click in
any open space you can create a shortcut on
the desktop of your computer. This makes it
easy to return regularly. Full details for
the upcoming reunion are in the “55th
Reunion” pages – included are those who have
registered to attend (http://www.usma1954.org/Reunion/ReunionAttendees.htm).
Bill
Bob Fromm
(BobF2101@aol.com)reports:
Just a short
note: Nancy and I attended the Las Vegas
Society Founder's Day Dinner, yesterday. No
other members of the Class were present. The
oldest grad present was from the Class of
'37! At 96 years young, he is surprisingly
"up to speed" and gave some excellent
thoughts on "Duty, Honor, Country" as they
apply to day to day living.
Nancy and I are
looking for a summer home in
Washington. This is turning out to be a real
effort to find exactly what we want. Not too
many places with views of both the sea and
mountains. Unfortunately, Nancy managed to
break a bone in her foot, so she is in a
"boot" and will have to wear that device to
our 55th reunion.
Bob Fromm
Jack Galvin (johngalvin@comcast.net)
reports:
Ginny and I are
completely retired as of this year, and we
are close to the center of gravity of the
family. We gather every Sunday (feed them
and they will come), and we have a backyard
dock on a little lake in a pine woods, with
a pontoon boat, a canoe, and a paddle boat,
along with other lures to keep the young
ones coming, such as a basketball hoop in
the driveway and a ping pong room under the
back porch. For dessert we feature
badminton, fishing, and water gun fights.
Most of what we do is just hanging out and
talking.
All best, Jack
Bucky Harris (CruzBlanca@aol.com)
reports:
Here it is 2 Mar
09 in Alexandria, Virginia, and 5" of snow
overnight. Got out of the shower, looked out
the window and saw that Erna had already
shoveled the sidewalk and cleared off a
car. Takes "ironclad discipline" to train 'em
right!
Daughter Stefanie
and family (2 boys) are now at Texas
A&M...she's a professor in German studies
and Apostolos is in the English and
Philosophy Departments. After teaching at
Northwestern it was a cultural shock
measured on the Richter Scale to go from
Chicago to College Station. Erna and I flew
down for Thanksgiving but because of
experience with airport security lines,
canceled flights, being herded like cattle
etc., we drove down for Christmas.
Son Christopher
is now a Director with Credit Suisse in
Zurich. His children, girl 11, boy 8, and
girl 6, started ski school at age 3, and go
one week every year, and now all three go up
the adult lifts! (Do any of you guys
remember the "rope tow" out at the golf
course? Primitive! The only instruction
given was "Mister, aim downhill and if'n
you're going too fast...SIT DOWN".)
Erna fell and
broke her ankle in September...two metal
plates inserted ...one side with 6 screws
and the other side with 4 screws. I cooked
all meals for 8!!! weeks.....and very well
too.
Looking forward
to the 55th in April.
Bucky
Harris, G-2
Jim Hays (JamesEHays@aol.com)
reports:
2008 was a
memorable year for the Hays family. In
celebration of Lee's and our children's
Italian heritage, and my 80th birthday, we
met all of our children and grandchildren in
Rome the end of June for a two week cruise
around Italy, with wonderful ports of
call. We then spent four great but warm days
in Rome. We found out after we got back that
although twenty of us started the trip,
twenty-one returned! Granddaughter Sarah,
she and recently returned from Iraq Army
husband Mike are expecting their first child
in April. Our first great-grandchild!
For all of us it was the trip of a
lifetime. For many, it was a first trip to
Europe and exposure to historic cities and
sights. Since our family is spread from
Virginia to Michigan to Nevada to
California, it was the first time we have
seen all of our expanding family in one
place at one time. And for several of the
younger ones, it was the first time they got
to meet and know each other.
In September, we attended grandson Jon’s
marriage to Jennifer. It was a beautifully
planned wedding, held on a hilltop in one of
Malibu, California's canyons, overlooking
the Pacific Ocean. On the way back, we
visited with Kathy and Todd in Nevada for a
few days.
We are now in Florida, fortunate to be in
warmer weather and escape the cold winter in
Michigan. We are looking forward to seeing
many friends at our reunion in April.
Dick Hobbs (ColDoc@worldnet.att.net)
reports:
The main news on my
front is my new book - WORLD WAR IV AND
BEYOND Islam fascism, the Third Jihad, and
other threats to the USA. (ISBN
978-0-9647788-5-6, 7 x 10 x 1+, 476 pages
[125 pages of
Notes], index, softcover, $29.95) [The Cold
War was World War III.]
The cover, Contents,
Preface, About the Author, and two News
Releases plus Chapter 1 and some comments on
the book can be seen on my web site.
I am using Print
on Demand with Create Space, an Amazon.com
company, and it is available from me at
ColDoc Publishing. The book is also
available on amazon.com. It is a Wake Up
Call for America for the serious threats to
our future.
Jack Logan is the
President of the Westmoreland Chapter of the
Association of the US Army here and doing a
great job. We have one other classmate here,
Elliott Gritton, and we get together at the
AUSA dinners and the Founder’s Day Dinner.
We are limping along but still here!
All the best. Dick
Frank Hart (FrankHart9@aol.com)
reports:
For the
fourth year, Betty and I have been wintering
at our second home in San Antonio, Texas,
and will return to Arlington, Virginia, at
the end of March so that we can make the
drive to West Point for the 55th
Reunion. Life in San Antonio has been fun. I
golf regularly with Craig Spence and John
Gilboux. Betty enjoys the '54 Wives support
group. They have lunches on a monthly basis
and provide support to each other. Our
youngest son David, USMA '90, returned from
Iraq 18 months ago to the Joint Staff in the
Pentagon and has just learned he will have
another year there. That makes us very happy
since he lives only five minutes from
us. John, our oldest son, an executive with
Marriott, lives ten minutes away. Hence,
it's quite a family gathering when we return
to Virginia.
Best
wishes, Frank
Bob Ironside (rironside@sbcglobal.net)
reports:
I dropped Chet a
short note saying that each time I read his
column my mind would drift back to Saigon
where he and his firmly grasped swagger
stick would attend Sunday Mass with General
Abrams, me, and a couple of hundred of other
uniform clad people. It's strange as you age
what may trigger things of the past. We'll
see what you trigger after a couple of
issues.
Best wishes and
Grip Hands. Bob I.
Dion Johnson
(dion.johnson1@comcast.net ) reports:
Life charges
ahead. Jenny had a five week Fulbright
contract to Turkey last Spring to help them
advance their very successful educational
technology/distance education program. I
went along to change money and carry
suitcases. It was really nice being on the
friendly side of the Turks. They are a super
people. I am busy trying to become the
accountant for a very small construction
company. Anybody out there making sense out
of QuickBooks? I have gained great respect
for accountants. Hopefully, one of these
days, we will get to build something bigger
than an outhouse.
Regards to all,
Dion Johnson
Jack Krause (jkrause54@msn.com)
reports:
The following article should be of interest
to all of us. Check out the following web
site:
http://forwhattheygaveonsaturdayafternoon.com/wp-teams/football/1953-football
Jack Porter (jporter@usma1954.org
) reports:
Memorial Articles
(MAs) have been completed or are nearing
completion for approximately 130 of our 224
deceased classmates. Company losses range
from 5 to 14, while company completed MAs
vary from 1 to 14. Although several
companies have done very well, a few have
not made much progress. Classmates for whom
MAs are yet needed are listed at:
http://www.usma1954.org/Memorial/MAsNeeded.htm.
Less than 20% of
those of us who might yet assemble our own
MA data and forward it to the AOG for
inclusion in our Cullum file have done so.
Simplified guidelines for that easy activity
are at:
http://www.usma1954.org/Memorial/SimplifiedGuideForRecordingMAData070208.pdf.
There is time yet
to make further progress prior to our
upcoming Reunion. Please contact me with
your questions.
Jack Porter
jporter@usma1954.org
Jack Sulik (jsulik2000@yahoo.com)
reports:
My two top retirement
activities, golf and gambling, have merged
in a unique way. My home casino, the
Mohegan Sun in Montville, CT has purchased a
golf course! Now Dotty and I enjoy
complementary golf all summer.
If any classmate is
passing through eastern Connecticut, please
give me a call and I would be pleased to
treat you to a meal at either the Mohegan
Sun or Foxwoods casinos. Phone
781-279-1432
Jack Sulik
Tiny Tomsen (tinytomsen@sbcglobal.net
) reports:
Erik Tomsen (see
picture below) will graduate from West Point
in May and be commissioned a Second
Lieutenant in the US Army Corps of
Engineers. A few items of interest about
Erik:
His academic class
standing is #25 in a class of 1003.
• Captain of the
West Point Cross Country Ski Team. The team
will be competing against the Air Force
Academy and several other college teams at
Winter Park, Colorado, the first week of
May.
• Erik is also a
marathon runner, most recently he ran the
Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC.
(October)
• His avocations
include stamp collecting (while in HS he was
the Vice Pres of the US National Junior
Philatelic Society), hunting and fishing,
backpacking, and other outdoor activities.
He has hunted and taken several large game
animals including a Grizzly.
• Erik was
selected by Rotary International to receive
one of their prestigious scholarships. He
will attend the National University of New
Zealand in Auckland where he will study for
a Master's Degree in Geographic Information
Systems.
• He is 6' 4"
and weighs 210 lbs
Erik's father, my son
Chris Tomsen, attended West Point during the
period I was the DDE at the Tulsa District
(1973-76). Chris graduated from West in 1977
and served his military career in the US
Army Signal Corps. Upon retirement the
family made their home in Eagle River,
Alaska which is near Anchorage. Erik
attended nearby Chugiak, Alaska high school
before attending West Point. Erik has an
older sister, Jan, who obtained her BS from
Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, and will
complete her Master's Degree in Education
this summer.
Erik has a proud Granddad who is delighted
his grandson has elected to be commissioned
in the Corps of Engineers.
As part of our
55th Reunion, we will celebrate Hannibal's
Fifth Birthday at the site of the monument
directly across from the Visitor's Center
starting at about 1330 hours on Sat, 25
April. Mayor Joe D'Onofrio of Highland Falls
and community historian Stella Bailey have
been working hard and long getting all in
readiness. We hope to have Hannibal all
cleaned, polished, and ready to be honored
on this occasion. Everyone from the Class of
1954 is invited and welcome. We expect our
two surviving Mule Riders, Jan LeCroy and
George Perrin, will both be there and give
us a demonstration of adept "mulemanship"
aboard one of the current Army Mules. Steve
Townes, Mule Rider from Class of '75, owner
of Ranger Aerospace and a major donor to the
Academy will be in attendance; also we hope
to have COL (Ret) Walter Price, Class of
'49, the Mule Rider who trained Hannibal, to
be there. It will be a Grand Event, don't
miss it! Mule Cookies and Mule Punch will be
served!
WC "Tiny" Tomsen
Buck Weafer (Weafers@AOL.COM) reports:
For those of you
who labored through CGSC at Fort Leavenworth
in your younger days, you might be
interested to know that Bell Hall is now a
pile of rubble. Its replacement, the new
Lewis and Clark Center, called the finest
learning center in the country, has 96
identical, interchangeable, and fully
integrated classrooms, complete with
videoconferencing capabilities and large
plasma screens. Each room has its own
thermostat (unlike Bell Hall) and each desk
has a pop-up computer screen. Marshall (the
small sleeping room) and Eisenhower
auditoriums are larger and well equipped.
Each seat in Marshall has its own
microphone. Eisenhower can now handle a
Broadway production.
In the middle of
all this sits "young" son, Colonel Tom,
firmly ensconced in an elegant suite of
offices, as the Assistant Deputy Commandant,
now in his 32 year of service. He'll retire
in September but the pay scale for retirees
now goes out to 40 years.
Marie and I are
both well here in Leavenworth and looking
forward to seeing all at the reunion.
Buck
