1955
As you can see by the above address, your scribe has finally "answered the call." After completing four weeks of pre-flight training at Lackland AFB, John Demas and myself were fortunate enough to be sent down the road a piece to Hondo A.B., Hondo, Texas the garden spot of the West. Our only consolation in facing up to our geographical predicament is that Web Wilde and Glen Wilson, likewise imbued with a craving for Eastern climes, managed to survive the program before us and have traveled on to basic training in greener pastures with no visible ill-effects. Admittedly, Glen's aren't the "greenest" since he's still in the great state of Texas — Loredo to be specific. Web, however, is now stationed at Greenville, Mississippi — sufficiently removed from "God's country" to be livable. (Note: In the wake of all this sarcasm, my apologies and sympathies are extended to the Texans in our number.)
My roommate, John Demas, claims his name has yet to appear in this column and his craving for publicity has driven me to delve deeply into recent history to find something significant in his relatively insignificant existence. So, here it is, already. It appears that some of the luck of the Irish has rubbed off on the "Greek" (Note: For those who don't already know it, this is the appellation most commonly assigned to Mr. Demas). Not to be outdone by "Nick" (famous gambler) of the same nationality, John has been indulging in a certain game of chance, namely Bingo and has had the phenomenal luck of winning a bottle of whisky, a camera, four-hundred dollars worth of merchandise and an impotent electric fan in only five tries. We hope that the fact that the proprietor of said game was named Zografos had nothing to do with his winnings.
The San Antonio area has been well populated with '555 during the last few months. The golf course at Lackland was the scene of many a '55 get together. Colin Hunt was often seen leading a full safari into the rough in pursuit of the illusive pellet while he was stationed at San Marcos, the Army primary flying base. Colin has now been sent on to Fort Rucker, Alabama, for further flying training. Dave Conlin and Jack Welsh also spent some time 011 the links until Dave was sent to Marianna, Fla., for his basic training, and Jack to Seward AFB for technical training in the finance field. More recently at Lackland were John Wetzel, Charlie Williams and Bud Bombard. Bud took a couple of weeks off to try out for the Olympic sailing team before going on to primary training, but despite his efforts his boat missed qualifying — only one out of the fifteen boats entered was chosen to represent the U. S.
While we're more or less up in the air, we should bow to the sea-going birds in our number. Ed Chapman, Bill Browning and EdBuhlig qualified as carrier pilots early this summer and are now undergoing instruction in instrument flying at Pensacola, Fla. Ensign Larry Hagar made the first big step in his naval flying career when he soloed at Whiting Field last June.
John Mansfield entered the Naval OCS program last spring and graduated as an Ensign this June. He's now at Pensacola for his preflight training. Bill Bassett completed his basic naval training this past July and received the American Spirit Honor Medal as "outstanding recruit" of the nine-week training period. Bill completed one semester at MIT toward his Master's degree in architecture before being inducted into the Navy and plans to go to OCS school with a commission in the Civil Engineering Corps as his goal.
Any commentary on the military would be incomplete without some mention of the "backbone of the armed forces" — the trusty foot soldier. Willie Lyon recently graduated from the South Eastern Signal School at Ft. Gordon, Ga., where he studied radio repair and servicing. Bill began the 25-week course after his basic training at Ft. Riley, Kansas. Bill Shaw completed his training at Aberdeen with a 16-week Associate Company Officer's course.
Don Charbonnier and Buzz Bissell have completed an eight-week course in the operation of ammunition supply installations at Aberdeen.
Milo White and Tom Schoonmaker spent their summer "providing support for National Guard and Army Reserve Units" at Camp Drum, N. Y. Tom was a rifleman and Milo an ammunition bearer in the 74th Regiment combat team operating out of Fort Devens, Mass.
Lt. Spud Mansur is receiving basic training at Aberdeen under the Reserved Forces Act, and will finish his six months tour there with additional "on-the-job training."
Greg Knowles is preparing to move to Europe this fall with the 8th Infantry division as a part of "Operation Gyroscope." Greg entered the Army last April and received his basic at Fort Carson, Colorado.
Single men, despite our stalwart resistance our numbers continue to dwindle. Upon gazing on the utter devastation of our kind, it seems that the only way out is complete and unconditional surrender.
The following is an official release of our casualty list. Due to space limitations this is only a partial listing, but further publications will account for those others missing in action:
Dick Hogarty and Ann Jeffers were married May 5 in Trenton, N. J. Ann's a graduate of Sweet Briar '55 and Katherine Gibbs of New York. Dick Roberts and John Callahan were on hand for the wedding and the reception in Lawrenceville, N. J. Dick and Ann spent their honeymoon in Colorado Springs prior to Dick's return to Camp Pendleton, Calif., where he is Communications Watch Officer with the Ist Marine Division.
Bernie Carpenter and Sandra Davis were married August 4 in Winchester, Mass. Sandra's a graduate of Colby Junior and a native of Winchester. Dartmouth 'sss on hand for the wedding and reception were Bob Morse, George Bates, Phil Mossman, Paul Andreini and Roy Hill who served as best man. The bride and groom spent a two-week honeymoon in Bermuda.
George Bates, by the way, is also among the fallen. George and Mary Sue Onstott were married June 9 in Short Hills, N. J. Reverend E. H. MacBurney '49 of Hanover performed the ceremony. Mary Sue is a graduate of Colby Junior and attended Katherine Gibbs of Boston. George is now attending the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Mass.
Mark Cowdrey married Janne Ward of Rochester, N. Y., and Skidmore. Mark and Janne have set up their Tee-pee in Cleveland, Ohio. Ed Call married Edna Lee Kimberly of New Canaan, Conn, on June 9. Chuck Ennis was best man at the ceremony held in Ed's home in White Plains, N. Y. Edna Lee is a graduate of the White Plains Hospital School of Nursing and is assured of a steady job as soon as Ed finishes up with the Class of '59 at Yale Medical School.
It looks as if the Class of '55 is blessed with a boy as our Class Baby — and in the true spirit of Dartmouth this is probably just as we'd want it. Peter John White, son of Milo and Mickey White is "our boy" by virtue of his April 14 birth date, and will receive an engraved cup from the Class signifying his "adoption."
The bottom of this last page is fast creeping up on me, so it's about time to bring this first column of the new year to a close. I'm sure a lot of interesting and exciting things happened this summer that will make good reading for the Class as a whole, so send all the news on to me here in my isolation booth and I'll relay it on. I'm also always in the market for snapshots of any description, remember?
That's about it for this month — so long for now.
At the wedding of Wayne Cliff '55 and Margot Talmage on June 16, John Stonehill '55 catches the bride's garter while Ushers Ken Harvey '55 (center) and Roy Hill '55 (just behind him) both miss out.
Secretary, Class 57-T, Box 693 Hondo Air Force Base, Texas
Treasurer, 411 Mid vale Rd., Upper Darby, Pa.
