Romney and I continue to enjoy life in the Kingdom of Western North Carolina in the southern Appalachians. Romney travels the world as an accomplished Birder.

In August we ventured to Brazil for birding and jaguar spotting. (It would have been less expensive just to go to a dealership.) Romney and I have been privileged to have traveled extensively. Our travels are usually nature oriented. We have made many, many walks in Europe. Our trips to Antarctica will always be memorable for us. And why didn’t anybody tell us about New Zealand? I would have moved there fifty years ago. We recently moved out of a retirement community into a home off the sixteenth green of the Highlands Falls Country Club even though I am still not old enough to golf. Our health remains good. November marked my 17th year post-transplant (liver). The doctors are surprised and I am amazed. My interests in addition to travel are my work in the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program in our local hospital and my role as Commissioner of the Special Operations Adventure Race (www.soarhighlands.org) in support of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (www.specialops.org) I do wish classmates would complete their Memorial Articles. We certainly have been prompted and encouraged. Classmates are welcome to “The Little House on the Fairway”. Press on!

A late-October trip to Belgium and France continued our project with the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Our firm has been creating visitor brochures for the ABMC overseas military cemeteries. The contract has been extended to include brochures for most of the official World War I and World War II monuments overseas.

The recent eight-day recon began in Brussels and whizzed around the region before ending in Paris. The itinerary included visits to 12 monuments and six cemeteries. My focus was on listening to cemetery superintendents and associates to learn their thoughts and suggestions for the new brochures. Everyone provided interesting insights and often unexpected but quite valid ideas. As we all know, there is no substitute for seeing the terrain and listening to those posted there.

Once again I realized that our overseas military cemeteries are more than hallowed burial grounds. They are history books and biographies of our predecessors who gave their all.

During the visit to the Somme American Cemetery, I mentioned to one of the senior French staffers that I had seen many large stacks of potatoes along the roads. They were just harvested and ready for transport from fields to factories. She said, “Our soil is quite fertile. It has been enriched by the blood of thousands of your soldiers.” Powerful!

Extensive information about all the ABMC cemeteries and memorials can be found at the website. Here’s the link: www.abmc.gov.

Suggest including a visit one or more of them when you are in the region.

Not much is going on here in the land of gumbo and jambalaya – not much other than the usual fall enthusiasm about LSU's football team and the general euphoria accompanying the undefeated record. Pat's brother flew in all the way from California to go to the LSU-Auburn game. Pat and I have been lying low and trying to stay out of trouble because she won't let me remove the Florida Gators plates on both cars. It's a source of a lot of good-natured ribbing.

We had a brief visit with our daughter from Arkansas, and at her urging, Pat is now starting to think seriously about another move – this time to be near our daughter there in the Ozarks. I'm starting to feel as if I'm in the service again, with the moves just as frequent as they used to be. But then Pat is a healthy cancer survivor, and there is almost nothing I wouldn't do to make her happy.

Not of great note, but the biggest annual free fair in the U.S. was just held again in Franklinton, LA, where Pat grew up, and near Bogalusa, where I grew up. We went and had a blast; the fair had all the old-fashioned stuff like animals, homemade foods and other goods in competition, great performers on stage (all country, of course), a big midway, and great eating from local restaurants. This was the 100th anniversary of the fair, which is obviously one of the oldest, and we both have wonderful memories of going there every year as children. Hurricane Katrina's eye plowed right through Franklinton and tore up the fair grounds a couple of weeks before the scheduled fair a few years ago; but the local residents made a Herculean recovery and reconstruction, and the fair was held on schedule. 

We made another quick drive to New Orleans to enjoy the World War II museum and some of the local restaurant food. The museum has continuously been enlarged and is worth a visit by anyone interested in the history of the war. It's popular enough now that it receives national billing by big stars like Tom Hanks, who has been a participant in its growth. Strangely enough, it is only a few steps away from what had been called the Confederate Museum before the name was changed to protect the innocent; new name is the Civil War Museum.

Dion Johnson lost his wife, Jenny, of 56 years this past February. He finds bachelorhood to be very unsatisfactory. A wonderful woman has come into his life. He and Melinda Scott will marry on 21 April 2012 at her church in New Jersey. They will live in Dion's house (Ducks) in Accokeek, MD. He is happy as a kid with a new toy.

The Deer Won! There was snow on the ground for the last two days of my hunt in Vermont but there were very few deer making tracks and it was unseasonably warm. Saw a noisy herd of turkeys and had a bear walk up to my stand but no deer. Still, it was good to get out and move around in the woods. Oh well, maybe next year! Still managing and playing with the ukulele band. It's really rewarding to see the response of folks in the assisted living places where we perform. Plus it's a lot of fun. I'm lucky and thankful to be going strong at 80.

The late summer and fall have been a slow recovery for Andrea getting over her "Fosamax" femur fracture. It was quite a repair job, a long steel rod from hip to knee anchored with enough screws and bands to fill a small bag at Ace Hardware.

But progress is being made, and regular visits to the gym really help. She's a tough lady!

This past week we had a visit from Andrea's oldest sister, Maiya. She comes every November and together we take in the annual Arizona Classic Jazz Festival in Chandler, a suburban town SE of Phoenix. This year was a good one - top notch lineup.

We are now looking forward to the Christmas holidays featuring visits by all kids, spouses, and grandkids. That will add eight to the roster for a week. We will need to rent some overflow space at a nearby hotel.

When the holiday dust clears, we will start off the New Year with another Caribbean cruise, this time to the western end including Grand Cayman, Belize, and Honduras. It will be a round trip out of Ft. Lauderdale aboard Regent's Seven Seas Navigator.

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and we look forward to our next class gathering.

Our two issues are fine...Christopher is a Director with Credit Suisse in Zurich (3 kids) and Stefanie (2 kids) is a tenured Professor at Texas A&M. The 5 grand children are all "above average"!! Erna and I are coasting through retirement, traveling' and concentrating on house projects. Since we expect to be buried outta our house we decided to buck it up "spoony" and are contracting for new windows with Marvin and contracting for new stacked walls and landscaping the front 5,000 sq. ft. before the "market" turns further south and wipes out what Madoff (the SOB) left us. Living in the shadow of the Capitol (at Alexandria, Virginia) we are nightly entertained by the spectacle of "our" Congress' gaming whatever issue arises. (But also worried.) (Really worried!) From time-to-time, when bored for a challenge, I review Ovid W. Eschbach's tome and wonder how I made it through cow year. He's dense! (Anyone out there still have Eschbach on the shelf and remember who he was?)

My wife Gloria and I left NC to spend Thanksgiving with my three daughters and their families just north of Princeton, NJ in Skillman. We took my daughter and her husband to the Point for the day. Bill Ballinger, my son in law had never been. We therefore toured the whole place...much of which bears no resemblance to the Point as we knew it. Construction is still ongoing all over the place. We hit the Catholic Chapel. Still undergoing renovation, the Cadet Chapel (the Vassar Cells are in the same condition), the Cemetery to see my future home, and then the usual places like the AOG Offices, etc.

This time we didn't eat ice cream near the entrance to Flirty...too cold...but we did go there. We also went to the rear of the AOG building where I most reverently bent over and touched the brick with my name upon it. My heart soared like a hawk!!! I noted a number of classmates bricks but my arthritic hands were to stiff to write down all the names with gloves on. We hit the cadet store where I had the intention of replacing my cadet grey jacket which was retired a couple of years ago. Too Late. The grey was discarded six years ago with black ones. I didn't get a black one because I figured I'd be forever cleaning off the stuff a klutz like me gathers about him.

We'll probably go back up next year when my Woo Poo vehicle registration expires.

Rebecca and I spent most of September taking a motor coach tour of some of the northern countries in Europe. First, though, we flew to Copenhagen, stayed with relatives and attended a twenty fifth anniversary party for one of them (all of the McNairs in Denmark are my first cousins or their offspring).

We then flew to Paris, rented a car, and visited the Normandy beaches, the American Cemetery, Point du Hoc, Mt. Saint Michael, and the Bayeux Tapestry.

Returning to Copenhagen to start our tour, we visited Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Novgorod, Moscow, Minsk, Warsaw, Berlin and Potsdam.

The roads were good and the countryside was pretty everywhere except Russia itself, where the roads were bad and the landscape was dotted with wooden shacks that they called "Dachas". On the other hand, many of their churches, cathedrals, and palaces from the Tsarist era are beautifully preserved and restored.

Moscow is the largest non Asian city in the world and it is jammed with cars, mostly Mercedes. There we saw Red Square, portions of the Kremlin, and the Moscow subways.

There was little to see of the Ghetto in Warsaw. In Berlin, we visited the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, and remaining portions of the Berlin Wall.

The scars of war have completely disappeared in all of these cities, but it boggled our minds to be reminded how many millions of people died in these cities and countries during World War II.

We are planning to go to the Army - Air Force game. We have a grandson firstie at each academy so we can't loose. It would be nice to win one for a change though.

On Tuesday, 20 September 2011, a celebration and thanksgiving service for Anne Odom, Bill Odom’s widow, was conducted at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. Anne died 25 August at a hospital in Burlington, VT. from complications from injuries suffered 10 August when she was struck by a bus in Middlebury, VT. Their son, Colonel Mark Odom, gave a wonderful and moving remembrance of his mother and all that she had meant to him and the lessons she taught him on how to live. A granddaughter, Kate Odom, was an excellent reader during the service. Following the service there was a reception at the Hillwood Museum. Anne had served as the chief curator of Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, which houses the largest repository of Russian Imperial Art in the United States. An expert in the field of Russian art, Anne published and lectured extensively and led many study tours to Russia. Those attending the reception were able to tour the museum and view the beautiful art treasures. Attending from the class were: Bucky and Irma Harris, Ed Pawlowski, Nancy Skibbie, Bill and Lee Schulz, Bob Morris, Jack and Barbara Miller, Lou and Judy Wagner, Dale and Valerie Vesser, and Vic and Thuy Hugo.

On Wednesday, 21 September 2011, the Fall luncheon of the West Point Society of D.C. was held at the Fort Myer Officers Club. This was the largest-ever turn out for a society luncheon. The key speaker was the Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs, General Eric K. Shinseki, Class of 1965, who detailed the size of the veteran population served by the VA, the programs and services rendered, and the organizational and leadership problems attendant thereto. The excellent talk was somewhat offset by the pieces of dry chicken served as the entree; but it was a great assembly of grads, young and old. In attendance from the class were Clif Berry, Chuck and Betty Debelius, Bill Epling, Frank Hart, Jack Miller, Rose Mologne, Bob Morris and Dick Youngflesh.

I noted in the fall issue of the West Point magazine that classmate BG (Ret) Wendell H. Gilbert was honored with the inaugural Gilbert Award on February 1, 2011. After retirement, Wendell served as the Vice President for Development and University Relations for 17 years, 1991-1998. In 2002 he was appointed Deputy to the Governor of Tennessee for Homeland Security.

Several classmates attended the military funeral, with full military honors, of Bill Grace at Arlington on 12 October. In addition to the local class "stalwarts," Jack Miller and Bill Epling, other attendees included John Farrar. Victor Hugo, Wes Gheen, Jim Henry, Ron Salvador, Al Schalk, Ed Pawlowski and Robert (C-2) Morris.

Also the widow of B-2 classmate Tom Wachowski was on hand.

Attendees were treated by Gail Grace and family to a fine food and beverage reception at the Fort Myer Officers Cub after the funeral ceremony.

Granddaughter Emily visited us in El Paso at the end of August and then we flew to Europe with her to help her get settled for the second semester abroad at a university in Madrid. We stopped in Germany to visit Russ's Dutch cousin Thijs and his family in Butzbach (between Frankfurt & Giessen) for about 6 days. Made a visit to the Fulda gap and 'Point Alpha' where the 14th ACR reigned. Saw John Ballantyne's picture on the 'Wall of Commanders' and will send him some

photos of his old stamping ground.

Flew to Madrid and stayed there for about 10 days, sightseeing on our own, and having Emily show us some things she wanted us to see. Our hotel was very close to the Plaza Espana, and it ended up being our favorite place. We did get a chance to see the final stage of the 'Tour de Espana' bicycle race right next to the Prado. Interesting experience.

Then flew to Paris for a few days (and had the required crepes) before embarking on a Seine River cruise to the Normandy Beaches. Before we left, Russ toured the 'Sewers of Paris' with two great Canadian couples we met on the ship. There was an excellent 'Sewers of Paris' museum--amazing engineering associated with the water supply and sewage system from the early days of the city! No, Russ didn't have to wear rubber boots and wade in the water! Visited Van Gogh's cemetery, the house where he died, and the church and grain fields (with the blackbirds) that are subjects of some of his famous paintings (60 Minutes had an excellent segment on the village, etc on Sunday the 16th of October). Saw where Joan d'Arc was burned in Rouen and the modern church at that location. Visited Monet's house and famous gardens which he painted so often. Absolutely breath-taking. The Seine from Paris to Honfleur was beautiful and very peaceful and believe it or not, we traversed 6 locks. Visited some fabulous cathedrals, including St. Sulpice in Paris, which was in 'The DaVinci Code'. We had toured the Normandy area in '84 just before Russ retired (at the fortress in Cherbourg), also visiting Caen, Carentan, the Bayeux tapestry, Omaha beach, Utah beach and St Mere Eglise. This trip we were able to visit Point du Hoc and the American Cemetery on Omaha, which we missed in '84. There were an amazing number of museums and tourists at the beach areas which we did not see in '84. It was as emotional a visit as it was in '84. We had great weather throughout Europe and walked our shoes off! It was a great trip, but as always, good to be home. Beat Navy and Air Force.

Russ & Ann will celebrate Thanksgiving in IL with daughter Lisa, her two married daughters Kristina (Davenport, IA) and Ashley (Springfield, VA) and their husbands Jeremy and Josh, respectively, and granddaughter Katrina ( McAllen, TX). Then they will fly to McAllen with Katrina, visit some friends for a few days and drive back to El Paso with Katrina, who is moving back to El Paso, much to the delight of her grandparents!

Ed McNair and I had a chance meeting following the Air Force game this past weekend. We enjoyed remembering together a lot of things we had both forgotten for more than 57 years! Attached is a photo of the two of us standing by our respective autos with special West Point plates, mine from Oklahoma, Ed's from New Mexico.

Prosper Walker (prosperwalker54@gmail.com) reports:

With the Navy Game looming December 10, I thought it would be a good idea to present Tiny Tomsen’s “Go Army Beat Navy” picture for Spirit’s sake, and tell the story behind it.

It is my view that this magnificent picture should place Tiny in a West Point Class of 1954 “Claim to Fame” class second only to Bob Mischak’s tackle of “Red” Smith on the Army 7-yard line with three minutes to go which helped earn Army the 14-13 upset win over Duke University at the Polo Grounds on October 17, 1953.

As to the picture itself, on a Saturday afternoon in late November 1952 Tiny and I were developing pictures in the Camera Club darkroom in the sinks of the 42nd Division of New South Area when I spotted this one picture of “Go Army Beat Navy” on the side of the ship that he had just developed, and he made a 8x10 copy for me, and told me the story of how he took it. I felt at that time that it would be famous and the story would come out so that we could all be proud, so I carefully stuck it into my picture album and put it away.

I was elated to see an illustration of the painting on the ship in our ’54 Howitzer when it came out a year later, but the image was from a clean picture of the ship negative which had the words ”Go Army Beat Navy” clearly doctored onto the picture negative’s reverse before it was printed. I thought that very strange since I knew that there existed in my picture album a real, honest-to-goodness picture of the words as they had been painted on the ship itself!. But graduation was near, that was a busy time, and there were many other things to be concerned about.

After Tiny took the picture, he and Bob Muns were escorted to the ship executive officer who confiscated and destroyed the film in Tiny’s big Speed Graphic camera, but the XO was unaware of the small Leica camera in Tiny’s pocket with the same image on colored film. It was from that colored film image that Tiny printed for me the black and white 8x10 in the Camera Club darkroom on that November 1952 afternoon.

The 8x10 print languished in my West Point picture album until I prepared to attend the Andre Lucas Military Heritage Center Dedication Ceremony in 2006, when the thought came to me that it would be a neat idea to have the 8x10 photo enlarged to 18x24 and take a copy with me. This I did and, as I recall, it created quite a stir at the check-in table of the Hotel Thayer.

After that I saved it into my computer to use whenever the opportunity presented itself, and I had an 18x24 print framed and hung in my den at home here in Belton. For the Class 57th year reunion in San Antonio this last April I sent an 18x24 copy to the Reunion Committee beforehand, it was displayed in the Courtesy Room, and it was enjoyed by everyone who came through.

So, thanks Tiny, for this picture, and thank you, Bill McWilliams ’55, for A Return To Glory, that chronicles for all time the epochal events of 1950-1954 as the Class of 1954 made its way through West Point from Beast Barracks through the loss of much of the 1951 Corps Squad football team, the “Mutiny on the Wisconsin,” the tragic loss of our classmates in the C-47 crash, the Sesquicentennial Celebration, Stealing the Navy Goat, beating Navy 20-7 in 1953, and Graduation, thus signaling indeed, A Return to Glory.