September 2008 Newsletter
Jim Allison reports:
It was a pleasure to connect with Bob and
Kay Keener during the past few weeks. To the
best of my knowledge, we are the only
members of our class in the Columbia, SC
area. They very graciously invited a friend
and me to attend their annual
Labor Day
picnic at their beautiful island home in
Lake Murray near
Gilbert, SC. Bob and Kay know how to
entertain a crowd. They have a host of very
friendly friends. At the start of the
picnic, I only knew Bob and Kay. The entire
group went out of their way to make us feel
comfortable. There were no strangers after a
few moments.
Bob Lyken's daughter called me August 23 and
informed me of Bob's August 22 death. Bob
and Ronnie Button were my roommates for the
last two years at
West Point. I was unable to go to the
August 30 memorial
service. (The truth is my daughter
raised heck with me when I planned to drive
to Knoxville for the memorial service.)
Bob Morris (C-2) and I have maintained
communications over the last few years as
members of the West
Point Society of Tallahassee. He is
great about keeping up with our mutual
friends. He called me after I notified him
of Bob Lyken's death. We must have spent an
hour on the phone reminiscing about days
gone by.
This new life style of mine (living among
senior citizens,
most of them are widows) takes some sort of
adjusting. I am busy with The Gideons, my
church and a couple of other
activities. However, mainly, I simply get up
in the morning, look down, see grass and
give thanks for life.
Jim Allison
Roger Browne reports:
In August, I with my daughter, Suzanne, took
No 1 grand-daughter, Jessi, to
Baker University,
a small liberal
arts college in
Baldwin City, KS,
just south of KU in Lawrence. She was
awarded a 4-year full tuition scholarship to
attend, and with strong guidance and
encouragement from her Mother and Dad, took
it to study to be a teacher. A wonderful and
smart kid, sez doting grandfather.
In August, Bob Badger stopped by for a
mooch/visit. Ginger set up a quick reunion
at a local bistro for a few classmates. To
meet and greet Bob, Leo and Karen Hobbs, Gus
Freyer, Spike and Marge Briggs, Bud
Eberhart, and Don and Marie Panzer traveled
great distances at great expense to eat,
drink and generally welcome Bob from his
Indiana homestead. All had the proverbial
good time.
We see Bill and Sally Friar often, can't
miss them since they live across the street.
All is well with them. They do much
traveling through the contiguous US of A,
visiting various sons who are still in the
will and happen to have grand children,
probably the main draw if experience tells
us truthfully.
Wayne Cantrell reports:
We have had no success in selling our house
in Florida. After
some extremely costly and frustrating
setbacks on the house we are building in
Baton Rouge,
we finally have a very good builder who is
finishing the construction, hopefully by
yearend. We hope by that time to have found
a buyer for our Florida house. Otherwise, we
still go to all the Florida Gator home
games, and we try to exercise at the local
club regularly (Pat is regular; I'm not so
much). We are still active in church and
local community, and are still coming up
with new recipes that we hope to incorporate
into a second cookbook to be published some
time next year. Since our church minister
found I can speak 5 languages pretty well
(six including Cajun) he has been dreaming
up things for me to do in various
languages. So far I've given some short
Biblical scriptures in Russian, Italian, and
German to spice up some of the services.
Unfortunately I haven't seen many new
members signing up as a result of my
efforts. We still plan to make it to the
55th, God willing.
Wayne and Pat Cantrell
Jay Edwards reports:
I have recently joined the
USMA Field
Force Team that is part of there recruiting
and interviewing organization to attract and
evaluate potential candidates for the
Academy. I think many of you would enjoy
being a part of this program. Goggle "USMA
Field Force team" to find a contact in your
area. There are lots of good and capable
students interested in
West Point.
They
will give you a lift to visit with them.
Just don't talk about Army football.
Jay
Bob Ellis reports:
I have recently sold my home in Acton, MA
where I had lived for close to 50 years. I
am currently in the final stages of moving
to Tenn. In early Sept., I played on the
E-Mass 75+ all-star softball team in the
Cape Cod Classic tournament. We played 6
games in three days, and at our age, that’s
a challenge in itself. We won the
tournament. Nancy and I spent two weeks on
the Cape and after the tournament and the
moving preparations, we enjoyed the time
doing practically nothing. In early October,
we will drive to Tennessee to do some final
house hunting.
Gus Freyer reports:
In May I attended an Asia-Pacific technical
meeting in
Singapore. My Oklahoma State
University colleague and I presented a
half-day Workshop on facilities for testing
electronic systems. After the meeting June
and our son David who lives in
Chiang Mai,
Thailand joined me. We visited
many interesting sights in Singapore
including the
Singapore Flyer – 165 meter high “observation
wheel”. The capsules hold up to 30
folks but we had one to ourselves for the 45
minute ride. The view was spectacular. We
also were able to walk the just opened
Henderson Wave, a 270 meter
pedestrian bridge
about 36 m above the ground – very
interesting construction and it provides
some great views of portions of the 9 km
garden and parks commons.
We then spent four days in
Bali. Stayed
in the central highlands town of
Ubud. Hired
a great local guide for three days and went
all over the island. Visited
Hindu temples,
saw several Hindu traditional ceremonies
including a wedding, talked with folks
working in rice paddies and in craft shops,
visited our guide’s parent’s home, swam at
both the white and
black sand beaches, visited the
Monkey Park, and more. We did visit the
tourist area around
Kuta and saw the memorial to the
first terrorist bombing. Tourism is coming
back to Bali. There were tourists from all
over the world but very few Americans – the
State Dept’s negative website probably had
an effect.
Sam Greer reports:
Nothing to report here, except I'm alive and
"OK". My wife, Dee, is out on the
golf course
while I'm writing this and that's great.
We're "hangin" in there day by day. I'm
still self-employed working in electrical
sales. (Me a BIG goat in "juice"!!) Anyway,
here I am. Dee and I are still in "Joisey",
with
five grandchildren-----------and no dogs!!.
Of course, (no pun intended) She's out on
the golf links while I'm slaving away.
Sam
Bill Hauser reports:
Bill Hauser, who did some professional
writing/publishing (largely on
civil-military relations) while on active
duty and during a second career in the
corporate world, has taken up
fiction-writing for a third. Seventeen of
his short stories have been published,
mostly in literary journals that no one has
ever heard of and that pay in free copies.
(Moral for aspiring artists -- keep your day
job.) He continues to publish
professionally, most recently in the journal
Armed Forces &
Society. During the past year, Bill
has been on a series of speaking tours with
a team of like-minded retired officers,
sponsored by the Center for Arms Control and
Non-Proliferation (a Washington think tank)
under a grant from the
Ford Foundation,
to demonstrate to civic audiences the
political impartiality of the military
profession. He and Helen continue to reside
in Fort Lauderdale FL during November thru
April, and in Reston VA (convenient to their
sons' homes in Washington and Alexandria)
during May thru October.
Bob Keener reports:
Jim Allison
recently moved to Chapin, SC from
Georgia to
be closer to his daughter. As far as I know,
Jim and I are the only classmates in the
Columbia, SC area. Jim joined us on
Labor Day
for one of the two annual picnics we have
been having for over 25 years. (The other is
on July 4th.) Kay and I hope to
see a lot more of Jim now that he is
permanently in the neighborhood.
Bob Keener
Bill
McKenney reports:
In mid May 2008 Bill McKenney flew from
Tampa to Russia with an overnight at Dragon
Hill Lodge in Korea. In Vladivostok Bill
joined fellow travelers with the National
Geographic Expeditions to board the
Trans-Siberian Express. For fourteen days
the luxury train crossed wild Siberia, the
Urals, and into Europe ending in Moscow.
Along the route the group visited several
cities such as Irkutsk where revolutionaries
of December 1825 were exiled, and
Yekaterinburg where the Tsar’s family was
executed, and, of course, Moscow. The train
crossed into Mongolia for a day’s visit in
the country’s capitol, Ulan Bator. The
passengers also had a barbeque beside the
train on the shore of Lake Baikal which is
the world’s deepest lake. Having visited
Russia 16 years ago, Bill was impressed how
much the country has changed to include
traffic jams and stores with full shelves.
Bill departed Moscow on Memorial Day and
landed in Frankfurt three hours later to
join Magda in their summer home near the
Rhein Valley.
In mid July Bill and Magda traveled for four
weeks in Austria ending south of Vienna near
Hungary. In Eisenstadt they participated in
a musical festival honoring Joseph Haydn who
served for nearly 30 years as composer and
conductor in Count Esterhazy’s court.
The end of September they drove south
through Switzerland and over the St.
Gotthard Pass into Northern Italy. At Lake
Como Bill and Magda joined fellow USMA grads
at the lakeside village of Cernobbio for
seven days of Italian hospitality, life, and
cultural heritage including a visit to
Milan.
On October 14 Bill returned to Tampa
completing his sixth round the world.
Ed McNair reports:
In May our triplet graduated from HS in
Fountain Hills, AZ.
Mary and Anthony Carillo accepted
appointments to AF Academy and Michael
Carillo accepted an appointment to
West Point. They
all have survived the first 3 months and are
"enjoying?" their experiences. We are now at
AF Academy visiting Mary, Anthony and Their
brother Christopher who is in his 3rd year
at USAFA.
Rebecca and I met Andrea and Corky Gabbert
for dinner in Tucson on August 12th while
taking a short tour around southwest
Arizona. Becky & Ed McNair
Russ Parker reports:
Russ & Ann Parker attended the
High School
graduation of their youngest daughter
Lindsay's oldest daughter Katrina in the
Mission/McAllen area of the
Rio Grand Valley. She
is now attending the
University of
Texas-Pan American in that area.
About a week after her graduation, Russ &
Ann went to the
Rock Island IL area for the wedding
of their oldest daughter Lisa's youngest
daughter Ashley. It was a grand gathering of
kids, grandkids, nieces, cousins and Ann's
brother Paul! In addition, the weather was
nearly perfect. Finally, Russ & Ann were
able to get home and recover from all the
travels after the joyous occasions. They are
keeping busy with church functions, Lions
(Russ), a teachers' group (Ann), and getting
together with friends. Russ was able to
observe some training (IRAQ pre-deployment)
at McGregor Range for some
New Jersey National
Guard troops. Very impressive local
Cadre and extremely interesting training
area. Part of it was the old Nike Hercules
firing positions used by Russ's unit (the
first full Hercules Battalion which deployed
to Thule Greenland and was operational in
the late 50s). Classmates Tom De Simone and
Bob McPherson also were in other batteries
in that Battalion. Our summer has had a good
amount of rain this year and the local
mountains (tail end of the Rockies) are
greener than they ever have been. Really
doesn't look much like desert country any
more. Had a great visit with John and Ann
Ballantyne who were in town for a wedding of
his sister's offspring. Russ & Ann are
planning to go to their timeshare in the
mountains of Southern
New Mexico
(Ruidoso) in mid October. Beat Navy and Air
Force. It has been quiet on the border! Russ
& Ann will spend
17-24 Oct at a timeshare in Ruidoso
NM overlooking the Apache's 'Inn
of The Mountain Gods' and with a
great view of Sierra Blanca
mountain. Looking forward to Ruidoso's
Oktoberfest
that 1st weekend. Not quite like Munchen,
but it keeps us from having withdrawals.
Attended a superb lecture about the
'Monument Men' by a man named
Edsel. Had
never heard of them (there were several
women also). The lack of notoriety for the
Monument Men (MM) was very similar to the
generally unknown
Navajo 'Code Talkers" in the Pacific
during WW II. The MM was a group of folks
from several nations (mostly US) during and
at the end of WW II who worked (and some
others are still working) to get the
artifacts which had been looted before and
during the war (mostly by the Nazis) back to
the countries of origin, in addition to
restoration processes. The US did a very
good job in Europe
(including edicts of 'off limits' and 'no
looting' orders put out by GEN Eisenhower),
but forgot what had been done there when we
got to Iraq.
Edsel is pushing for an education program,
particularly with the military. Beat Navy
and USAFA--seems like a false hope this
year
Russ & Ann
Gary Payton reports:
The only thing of note from me is that I
have just returned from a week long mule and
camping trip along the spine of the Sierra
Range. The mule was as old as me but in much
better shape.
Best to all, Cary
Prosper Walker reports:
We Central Texas
Walkers seem
to live such a low-key, humdrum (yawn) life,
there never seems to be much newsworthy
about our families of six grown up kids, 14
grand kids, and three great grand kids, the
bulk of which live near us in and around
Belton in Bell
County 15 miles west of
Fort Hood.
One of these days, though, I'll figure out
something and share it with the class.
Prop & Alice
Editor’s notes:
I have not been able to include
contributors’ e-mail addresses since the
WPAOG will no longer forward the listing to
me. They said that the information was
available on their web site. I strongly
recommend that everyone log on to the WPAOG
website to check your profile information. You will need your Cullum number to log
in. Since I recently changed my e-mail
address, I logged in and found that my
information was totally wrong. You can
correct the information on the site. The
site is:
https://www.westpointaog.org/.
I was unable to include several forwarded
pictures since my computer is packed for the
relocation to Tenn. and the computer I am
using does not have the required software
installed.
Hopefully by the Nov. newsletter, all will
be settled and back to some semblance of
order.
