1940
Those of you who have turned to this column for news of the class will have to wait till next month. Moody, and, he says, his wife have mislaid this month's accumulation of correspondence. We can't even find those little notes from the Alumni Records Office which are the filler for any secretary's column. Somewhere in the fair but cold city of Montpelier there rests a folder, approximately 9 by 11½ inches overall, which could save us this more or less public admission of carelessn ess. Possibly this is a good place to put in a small announcement, since it probably explains the missing of the folder. Having passed his CPA examination in November, and feeling the urge to be independent if not affluent, Moody has set up a public accounting office in Montpelier. Being somewhat rushed, to his complete surprise and intense pleasure, the office of Moody is in a general state of upheaval, on or near the bottom of which may well rest a hunk of manila labelled "1940."
One folder we have not mislaid is a collection of 1940 notes dating back to Tom Braden's time, and his first column in October 1940. Some of you may find it interesting to use the space this month to review some of the things that have happened to '40 and its members between then and now.
1940 in a class poll conducted by Braden, 299 out of 426 voted for Willkie, although 76 of them didn't know how to spell his name by December 34 men of the class had enlisted.... some of them already had commissions and were on active duty. Malcolm de Sieyes wrote of his experiences with the French Army during June 1940. The 1940 dinner meetings were held in Boston, New York and Chicago.
1941..... Sammy Snow and Danny Sullivan were playing hockey for the Boston Olympics. .... Ben Stewart died at Mary Hitchcock, the first to go since graduation Bob O'Brien, Art Root, Page Smith, Jack Preiss, Bud Schlivek and Al Eiseman were wintering in Sharon, Vt., on what used to be called the Sharon Experiment Bob Breech ran the 1940 end of the Alumni Fund that spring Viv Bruce wrote in from his training station in the Air Corps.... eight more '40s were in midshipmen's school in Chicago .... eleven were married in the summer of '41.... the class fell down very badly on the "Class Boy," there wasn't any after thirteen months, and a great many marriages Dan Conway was the first to die in the war, though it had not then officially begun.
1942 .... Braden went over with the British Army and Scotty Rogers took over as class secretary 1940 ran at the top of the Alumni Fund drive in Rourke's first year as agent Elmer T. Browne was on board the Kearney when she was attacked in the Atlantic before December 7.... Jim Cooke was taken prisoner when Manila fell Hiram Mather Shaw turned up as the Class Boy of four months' standing Dick Babcock and Jack Willson were overseas with the American Field Service Bob Hartman showed up safe after Pearl Harbor Bill Hutchinson heard from Hans Joachim Heinz, then a member of the Wehrmacht Fred Eaton, progressing from lieutenant to lieutenant colonel, was flying bombers out of Java, later Australia Hal Webster died in a patrol bomber crash in Virginia Bill Vroom was killed in action somewhere in the South Pacific Jim Tredup landed with the Marines at Guadalcanal Hank Ingersoll and Joe Huber completed flight training together at Pensacola.
1943 ..... Dav Davenport took over when Scotty's Army career began to interfere with his class secretarying. ... . Jim Ruch was killed in action in a merchant ship gun crew. .... Don Tenney became the father of Don Alan Tenney February 26 Bob Armstrong and Chet Garrison showed up as parachute troops officers Ray Dau was piloting a fortress out of New Guinea bases Dee Rogers died in a bomber accident in England after saving the lives of his crew and co-pilot Ben Parker was killed in action in the South Pacific Cal Bowie was reported missing in action .... a couple of Ted Boorum's poems were published in Poetry. .... Bob Austin was reported making good recovery from a leg injury received in action. .... Don Cobb became a major in the Marines Dick Babcock returned from fifteen months with the British Armies in American Field Service 75% of the class were in the services at year's end.
1944 ..... Ed Giorchino received the first of his many decorations—the DFC Capt. John O'Neill USMC was killed in action. .... Jim McElroy was trying to find some way for '40s in England to get in touch with each other Capt. Jack O'Shea was handling 75 million pairs of shoes for the Army Quartermaster Depot in Boston Malcolm de Sieyes received the Air Medal Bob Kinsman returned from the Pacific, where he served as a Japanese language officer, sick with spinal arthritis Dick Ellis was on board the Scorpion, reported overdue and presumed lost Major Eliot Bridge described the fighting at Eniwetok in a vivid letter home Tom Braden and Ted Ellsworth were home on furlough from the British Army, ended up in the U. S. Army Capt. Harold Hillman, then a prisoner of war in Germany, was awarded the Air Medal and one Oak Leaf Cluster Major Elly Bridge was killed in the invasion of Guam .... one of those who were prophetic enough, and brave enough, he trained for his work in the Marines in the summers of '38, '39 and '40, and participated in most of the Marines' actions in the Pacific from June 1942 to the time of his death.
1945 .... Dr. Seymour Wheelock completed his interneship at Mary Hitchcock Capt. Cliff Falkenau and Lt. Joe Harpham constituted the Fifth Reunion committee and class in India Les Nichols, Beezie Smallwood and Scotty Rogers made up the group in Metz, France Hank Dahl, Will Pitz, Joe Huber and Bill Rutherford held down the Hawaiian front for '40.... the last casualty list of the war saw Phil Eddy, Rog Herrick, Jim Murphy and Bob Hale give their lives Walt Bernstein had published his Keep Your HeadDown, a book of sketches of the war.... and as the end of the year approached the first lists of men discharged were published, plans for renewed Boston, New York and Chicago dinner meetings were afoot, with Los Angeles soon to join in ... . and our first Reunion for July 1946 .was scheduled and planned.
A SKI-TROOP SMILE is displayed by Ist Lt. Jim Anderson '39 of the famed 10th Mountain Division.
Acting Secretary, 1 Terrace St., Montpelier, Vt. T recisurer, 8040 Diggs Rd., Norfolk 5, Va.
