Look alive with Seventy-Five!
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Look alive with Seventy-Five!
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Dear ’mates: The Class of 2010 has joined the fleet and the Corps. Welcome to all of our new ensigns and second lieutenants. Among the future naval aviators is Justin Langan, son of our own John Langan. Justin’s 3.79 QPR as a Mechanical Engineering major earned him recognition as a 2010 College Squash Association Scholar-Athlete. At the Class of 2010 Awards Ceremony, Justin received the Calvert Award—given to the man and woman varsity athletes who persevered most during their career. He’s the first squash player to receive the Calvert. <photo 75#1: “Spring Board of Trustees meeting. Quigley, Plechash, and Weber”) Here’s an update from Alex Plechash. As the Chapter President of the Upper Midwest Chapter (see Minnesota in the Chapter News section) and now as a Trustee of the USNAAA, I had a chance to catch up with a few of our classmates at the annual ICOF (International Chapter Officer's Forum), which is done in combination with the Spring Board of Trustees meeting. Although there was no one time that all five of us were together at the same time with a camera handy, I did get a chance to visit with Craig Quigley and Fred Weber, in addition to Ron Casey and Kerwin Miller. Craig is a member of the Communications Committee of the BOT. Fred is the Chicago Chapter President. Ron is on staff at the USNAAA and Kerwin is on the Admissions Committee of the BOT. As a Trustee, I serve on the Governance Committee and was just added to the USNAAA and Foundation Joint Investment Committee and also the Strategic Plan 2020 Committee which will work with USNA directly. I am pretty excited about it since the committee is rather small and includes some pretty visionary folks like the former Commandant of Marine Corps, General Michael Hagee '68. On the personal front, I continue to be over-committed given my current job (FOLIO Institutional); my volunteer firefighting duties (250 calls last year); my USNA activities (Chapter, Blue & Gold, BOT, etc.); all the political roles I have right now within the Republican Party of MN; and the various boards I am a member of including Tee it up for the Troops, Inc. TIUFTT is a nationally chartered 501(c)3 organization which has raised and given millions of dollars to such organizations as the Wounded Warrior Project . Some of you may know it from its sponsorship of the National Day of Golf around the country. Since TIUFTT has contributed quite a bit of money to these organizations, as a board member I was invited to visit some of our wounded warriors at Walter Reed and Bethesda in April and attend the Hope for the Warriors gala event in Washington, DC at which I bumped into the senior Marine in our class, Lt Gen George Flynn, who is the Commanding General at Quantico. Here is a picture taken at that event. The four-star in this picture is General Amos, the Assistant Commandant of Marine Corps. <photo 75#2: “Hope for the Warriors Gala. Alex hanging with the generals.”> Some medical updates. Les Edgar celebrated the fifth anniversary of his second bone marrow transplant in May, and remains cancer-free. Ken Hart reports that Sandy came through April breast cancer surgery looking great and feeling good. June marked the ten-year anniversary of Andy Howard’s kidney transplant, in which his wife Tina was the donor. Andy’s latest hernia repair surgery has allowed him to retrench in a “new normal” plateau. Those of you who have faced medical challenges recognize the concept of the “new normal.” Life has changed forever, but you seek to reestablish a routine and get on with living and enjoying life. Personally, my new normal took a step for the better on June 1, when I received my first above-the-knee prosthesis. A couple of my 9th Company mates answered my Spring gouge call. Mike Ashley has been a chiropractor in Seattle for 23 years. Rich Lowell had dinner with Buzz Borries in Denver late last year. Rich reports that Buzz looks like he did in June 1975 (minus lots of hair). Buzz is constantly training for various triathlons, accounting for his superb physical condition. Barbara and Rich live in Texas—longer than Rich ever lived in a single place. All four of their grandchildren live with them. (Rich says it’s a long story.) From Jim Baumgaertel (jimbaum@procinwarn.com): I’m hoping to retire in the next year or two from the training branch of the Nuclear Engineering and Training Department of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. My wife, Kim, is done homeschooling our own children but she continues to teach classes for about 90 other homeschooled young people. My oldest daughter, Jessica, is in a PhD program in plasma physics at Princeton. My son, David, graduated this summer with an electrical engineering degree and is looking for work. My middle daughter Amy is in Morocco helping to build houses for earthquake victims. My youngest daughter, Jenny, is in the local community college and would like to get into a four-year nursing program. We had the privilege, last summer, of attending Jill and Doug Moran’s oldest son’s wedding. And this from Doug Michalke (dougmich111@yahoo.com): Marlene and I are still living in the Atlanta, GA area and both of us are still teaching: Marlene is in elementary school and I teach and coach at the high school level. Our son, Eric, is married and his two daughters (10, 4) are smart, beautiful and athletic (naturally) :):). Our daughter, Allison, graduated from the National Champion University of Alabama last year and is teaching/choreographing dance all over Atlanta. I have gotten back into the competitive swimming scene. I joined a local team called the Georgia Masters Killer Whales (a branch of the Georgia Super Swim Team abbreviated GAJA) and have lost about 25 pounds so far as I train for the upcoming US Masters Nationals. The meet will be at the Georgia Tech Swim Center (where the 1996 Olympics were held). So far, I have set three Georgia Masters records and am a member of two national top 10 men's relays in my age group. I am having a blast, especially as I lose those unwanted pounds! And one more from Gary Swift (gary.swift@ge.com): Don't have much to update with my family, but my part-time band is starting to book some gigs for the Spring and Summer. Thinking back, it makes me wish that I had actively participated in more music when we were at USNA. I remember singing a bunch of songs with a capella harmony ("The Letter" was a favorite song in that day) during a rare relaxation break (at Hospital Point?) within the first couple days that we all started arriving for Plebe Summer. Later, Doug Moran helped to encourage me with guitar, and I remember ”trying” to sing with Eddie Graves a few times when he was practicing for "The Messiah" or whatever. But I never thought to approach Dane McNeil, even though I recall that he had a nice fender amp and guitar, and that he loved playing ZZ Top songs! Just in case anyone wants a laugh, it might be fun to post my updated website address. I'm the "old guy" with white beard. Most of the Classic Rock songs we do would have been fair game for "NA-10." See http://breakevennevada.100webspace.net/
Our 35th is rapidly approaching. How ‘bout we all spend Halloween in Annapolis? Gary can sing for us and Doug can show off the newly-sculpted body. And I’ll buy you a beer if you let me show off my hardware! --- ’75 Sir! Larry |
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