Southern California
THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Alumni Association held its annual meeting April 28th at the University Club in Los Angeles. New officers elected for the ensuing year were: Dan Lindsley '16, President; Sam Hobbs '12, first Vice President; Lincoln S. Willson '13, second Vice President; Leon I. Rothschild '24, Secretary; Granville Luten '25, Treasurer, and Noel Salomon '29, Assistant Secretary-Treasurer.
The hard working dinner committee was well repaid for its efforts'when sixty, men turned out. James T. Durkee '17, retiring president, introduced an outstanding group of speakers such as the association is seldom privileged to hear.
Major Co'by Howe, MC '39, and Captain Bob McLeod, MAC '39, both football greats who recently returned from the South Pacific, gave us play-by-play accounts of their experiences in the South Seas. Howe mentioned the coincidence of meeting many Dartmouth men on his various assignments. Many of the men commented on the modesty of these boys in telling of their activities in the Marine Corps; also the fact that in spite of the many hardships which they experienced, they had not lost their sense of balance and were able, to add humor to the chills in describing their encounters.
Dick Baldwin gave us a graphic account of his two years before the mast as able bodied seaman in the Merchant Marine, devoting much of his talk to his impressions of India and his trip to the Solomons on one of the first transports to reach those islands. Dick, as most of you know, is 74 years old and is proud of the honorary decoration given him in Washington by the Merchant Marine. He holds two other titles of which he is also very proud; one, father of the Alumni Association of Chicago, and the other, honorary member of the Southern California Alumni Association.
Alumni Counsellor James J. Norton 'OB, put in a plug for the Alumni Fund and read us a letter from Prexy Hopkins explaining in detail the financial picture of the college.
Eck Hiestand '10local head of the Post War Vocational Committee told of the plans which are being formulated to assist Dartmouth men in getting employment after the war, emphasizing the particular problems of Southern California, and announced a committee of twenty men to assist him in his work.
Carl Eskeline '16, came down from Santa Barbara where, with the aid of California sunshine and food, he has regained many of the 52 pounds he lost in a Jap prison camp. His story, punctuated with humorous anecdotes, was a realistic one of life in a horror chamber. His classmates, Dan Lindsley, Bob Thieme and Dan Coakley were on hand to welcome him back again.
Lieut. Brad Petersen, USNR '36, just returned from duty in the South Pacific, was able to fit the meeting in between assignments. Major Theodore Geisel '25 (Dr. Suess to you who follow the political cartoons), came in from one of the motion picture studios where he is doing important work for the Government, together with his assistant, Corporal Paul R. Kruming '28. Lieut. William Brown, USNR '30, came up from Long Beach and brought Lieuts. W. H. Wiefobel '39. F. Spencer Foster '30, both of the USNR. Other newcomers to the community who made their appearance for the first time were Lieut. Dan Drury '26, USNR, Willard Isham '2B, Joseph S. Tidd '2B, Joseph Ruff '29, and Jack Rourke '4O.
Dick Merrill '08, paid tribute to Vic Salinger '00, who passed away during the year. Vic was one of the mainstays of the local association for many years and his loss will be keenly felt by all alumni in Southern California.
Musical honors were divided between B. W. Rodi '12, and Paul Wetstein '33. John Merrill '37, took care of the cheering assignment. The other men attending the Annual Dinner were:
L. A. Hatch '98, Hugh M. Sanborn '02, Albert L. Hill '04. George P. Laton '06, J. L. Richardson '08, Emile Erhard '09, A. B. Ahlswede '12, Ray L. Bennett '13, Roland Foss '19, W. M. Hawkins '19, R. E. Seward '19, Don Graves '19, Z. B. Forbush '20, S. F. Haight '21, W. S. McClintock '21, H. R. Almon '22, Wm. R. Perry '22, Wesley L. Nutten Jr. '22, W. H. Beveridge '23, Ralph Staley '23, Frank Appleton '26, Laurence T. Bourne '26, R. E. Guyot '27, Karl B. Rodi '30, R. C. Wilkin '32, Jack Eliot '32, Robert S. Cox '33, George Erhard '38. Luncheons are held every Tuesday at the Savoy Hotel.
A GROUP PICTURE of the smallest Dartmouth Club in the South Pacific. Members are Lt. (jg) John W. Conn '43 and Lt. (jg) Williams M. Fischbach '34 MC USNR.
