1944

We have a good-sized bundle of copy at hand for this month, and yet ... as an old Vietnamer and with the war "over," I got to looking at files. Would you believe a copy of the AlumniMagazine in 1944 when our class was back there with the obits, the last one reporting, from the classes of 1878 to 1944. Today, two wars later, Korea and Vietnam, we are somewhere in the middle of the Magazine, from the classes of 1902 to 1972.

So, putting this month's regular items aside, here is a re-run of 1944 Class news, April 1944, as compiled by the then Secretary, Don Burnham:

"Gene Kinney sends word of a group of '44s at Notre Dame Midshipmen's School, 'Buzz Snell,Fred Potter, Tom Miner, and Bob Harris are all that I have found so far. But here is the payoff. Brad King is here and out of the whole school he and I were paired up in a double room' ... BruceThomson writes from an overseas replacement depot at Kearns, Utah, which speaks more for his whereabouts now than we can ... Mac McLoud is an ensign at Harvard now and Bud (L.P.) Baker graduated 42d in a class of 1600 from Notre Dame recently.

"Dick Ostberg is now on destroyer escort duty in the Atlantic ... At latest report, Don May,Claude Shuchter, and Johnny Roberts were at Fort Pierce, Fla., for attack boat training; RonSmith and George Springsteen at Little Creek, Va., in assault boat training; and Cliff Baum and Art Scharf in a special type of training at Little Creek ... Jim Towsen is on board his ship... Marsh Clark is at a sub-base in California... Seen in the Biltomore several weeks ago, JimDonnelly was due to shove off for sea duty within a few days.

"... Jack Beckwith is now a pharmacist's mate and writes, 'Harry Carey is up in Iceland in an Anti-Aircraft unit and finds time to ski a bit. BillGatlin, who has been hospitalized due to a broken elbow, has returned to his base in Alabama. DonCampbell is in the Air Corps and should be receiving his wings soon.'

"Larry Farley and Johnny Lesher are in the same squadron in the final phase of their training at Corpus Christi ... Service promotions reported recently are those of: 2nd Lts. Bob Rader and Bill Warner and Lt. Jack Riley. Jack is in- structing future instrument instructors at Atlanta, which job, according to sources who ought to know, takes a flier of rather tremendous ability ... Ham Rowan is now flying in the south Pacific, and his wife, formerly Jean Ranch, has returned to school at Colby ... Lt. Ham Bates' address is now A.P.O. c/o P.M. Seattle ... Paul Jones is an engineering trainee at Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank, Calif.

"Bob Myers was voted the outstanding cadet in his battalion at Chapel Hill. He, Phil Penberthy, and Charlie Mattola are now at Peru, Ind., for primary flight training. Bud Welch, Buzz Beatie,Tom Douglas, Hardy Caldwell, Rog Arnold, FritzHier, Lem Arnold, Dave Judson, and Rog Chapin are at Glenview, Ill., for their primary. WhiteyVosler and Johnny Callow are at Chapel Hill.

"Max Edwards is in a reconnaissance outfit stationed at Camp Chaffee, Ark., and has his APO number . . . Fred Kennedy, Dick Rondeau, and Bob Hawkins are now at P.I. for the first stage of officer training...Also there is TubbyCrawford, who this winter became the second man in the athletic history of Penn State to win five major letters...track, soccer, football, ice hockey, and boxing.

"Al Howard V-mails that he is on an island in the South Pacific ... Budd Welsh is at an AGF Replacement Center at Ft. Meade, Md ... He sends word that Bill Carey is in primary flight training at Camden, S.C. ... Charlie Spallino and Sam Barnes are at Radio Tech. School in Chicago, have probably been transferred by now. George Sawyer was there and transferred to Utah.

"Dan Holley is in advanced pilot training in the AAC...Henry Merritt is back in the country having been in North Africa for nearly a year... Frank Martel has been transferred to OSS in Washington ... Fred Hickey is at West Point.

"Howie Pennington is in Florida training on landing craft...Johnny E.Morse is stationed at Yale.

"Ensign Dick Rice and Sarah Dunlap of Springfield, Mass., and Sargent College were married on January 24. Mac McLoud was best man. Engagements reported are those of: FrankBehrle and Margaret Begley; Charlie Martus and Patricia Casey of Grosse Pointe, Mich., and Skidmore; Charlie Spallino and Barbara Cray, sister of Paul, of Bellows Falls and Smith; and BuddWelsh and Julia York of Macon, Ga. 'Tis rumored that Charlie Mottola got himself engaged to a North Carolina girl while at Chapel Hill but nothing more definite is known at present." * * * *

And that's the way it was, April 1944, as seen from here, April 1973...29 long years and a warrior class ago.

One final word, a sad one. Bob McLaughrey's wife Joan died March 5 after more than 20 years of courageous fighting against multiple sclerosis. A woman of incredible courage and determina- tion, she was the only one in recorded medical history to have three children after having contracted MS. The sympathy of the Class to Bob and the four children, Bruce, Bob, Bill, and Lynda.

That's it. Blessings.

Secretary, 309 Crosby Hall Hanover, N.H. 03755

Class Agent, Lawyers Co-operative Pub. Co. Aqueduct Bldg., Rochester, N.Y. 14603