1958

As we suspected, when the last issue went to press, at least two marriages had already taken place when we were cheerfully reporting engagements. (If you stop and think about it, this whole program appears to be a fertile field for mechanization. Unless our systems men are able to develop instantaneous communication facilities from our churches, synagogues, justices of the peace, etc., to headquarters, the only solution appears to be mandatory simultaneous engagements and weddings. Undesirable social side effects of this procedure will probably preclude its implementation, however, and we will doubtless continue to be delinquent in our reporting.) Miss Kathrine Darling and Dave Carruthers were married on August 29, in Pleasant Valley, Conn. Dave is now with the Buckeye Cellulose Corporation in Foley, Fla. On the same day, Miss Mimi La Taif and Dr. Bob Massucco were married in New Milford, Conn.

We also have some relatively new social news to report. On September 12, Miss Pamela C. Stafford and George Salkeld were married in St. John's Chapel of Columbia University. Engaged are Miss Carol Critz and Dave Whitmore. Dave is with the Continental Insurance Companies in Rochester, New York.

I had the pleasure of receiving a letter this summer from "Buck" Latimore who is with Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere, Inc. (CARE). After graduation. Buck spent two years in the Navy and two years at Columbia where he obtained an M.A. degree in Soviet Economics. In November of 1962, Buck was sent to Saigon, Vietnam by CARE, where he spent sixteen months prior to being transferred to Istanbul in March of this year. In order to provide some insight into the problems, adventures, and satisfactions which service in foreign countries encompasses, and, at the same time, to preserve the inimitable Latimore style, I have herein quoted portions of that letter.

"Three Americans with CARE in Saigon. My wife Susan came with me and our first child, Daniel Webster Latimore III, was born nine days after the coup of November 1, 1962 in which Diem and Nhu got theirs. It was, as they say, 'my very first coup,' and it was a dandy. We watched all the action from the 5th floor bar of the Majestic Hotel in downtown Saigon - about four and one-half blocks from the Palace. ...

"Lots of laughs in the stories surrounding this coup - most tinged with a little grimness or bitterness. The editor of the virulently pro-Diem, anti-U.S., Times of Vietnam took refuge in the American Embassy, where she disguised herself by dyeing her hair and affecting outlandishly colorful outfits - e.g., vermilion blouse and pink capri pants. A young girl in Cholon (the Chinese section) ventured on the streets two days after the coup in a Madame Nhu styled outfit with the low neckline (as opposed to the traditional high neck with collar on the woman's dress) was surrounded by a group of students, stripped to the buff, and left unharmed in the middle of the street. The nine-year-old son of a friend of ours, whose home was near one of the pro-Diem camps, told his mother during the long night's exchange of fire that he wished two people were there to help - Jesus and Roy Rogers.

"My work was fascinating and varied. We had a fishing boat construction program on the east coast and school building program in the mountainous areas. We delivered a six-month supply of rice and a set of five agricultural hand tools to 7500 families in the hill regions. The rice went by truck. We traveled by every type of plane in Vietnam — from Air Force C-123's and C-130's to small Army 'others' and helicopters and civilian Cessnas, Beechcrafts, or Dakotas. After we arrived we had military escorts to the villages.

"We had a MEDICO team (Dr. Tom Dooley's outfit - now merged with CARE) in Quang Ngai, Vietnam and two in Cambodia. The one in Lumphat, Cambodia was so far off the beaten track that, during the rainy season, the only way to cover the last 22 kilometers was on the back of an elephant for a grueling nine hours. Susan had obtained doctor's permission to ride the elephant if necessary (she was seven months pregnant at the time) but the 16-hour overnight riverboat ride up the Mekong in a storm to the jumping off spot was enough for her, and I went in alone — by Dodge truck. We missed the rainy season by eight days.

"One trip to Bangkok and a couple of 'R + R's' in Hong Kong helped relieve the tension a bit. and we were looking forward to a third 'R + R' in Malaysia. Unfortunately the stepped-up terrorism in the early part of the year — in particular the bombings of the softball field and the movie theater - led my boss to ask the home office to transfer me.

"I arrived in Istanbul in March, and even with Cyprus crackling away off the coast, it's terribly quiet and peaceful-seeming. I even get a chance to write occasional letters. ..."

It is quite apparent from the foregoing that Buck has been right in the middle of some of the more significant events affecting United States foreign policy for the past two years. Since it will be approximately four-six months from now, assuming he doesn't change locations during that period of time, when his copy of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE is ripped on his mail slot, we will probably be devoid of news of his activities during this period. We hope, however, that more will be forthcoming soon.

President Dickey with Bill Breer '57, anembassy official in Japan, during Mr.Dickey's visit there last spring.

Secretary, 289 Marlborough St., #7 Boston 14, Mass.

Treasurer, 102 Hastings St., Framingham, Mass.