1932

Before I left for New Zealand last December 26 we had a good meeting at the Ft. Lauderdale Dartmouth Club, where three other classmates were present. Bob McConnochie had just arrived from California in his motor home after following the southern route in his annual return trek to his winter home in Hillsboro Beach to catch our warm Florida winter weather. Judge Milt Alpert also had just returned from a trip to Israel and Egypt and was still suffering from "Cheop's revenge." TedEllis was beaming over the recent receipt of $7,500 from the Veteran's Administration, and upon your secretary's inquiry as to how he happened to get such a windfall, he told us an interesting story.

During the winter of 1943 in World War 11, Ted was sergeant of infantry in the U.S. 84th Division. He was wounded by shrapnel in the Battle of the Bulge and when he was rescued they found that his legs were also frozen. He spent many months in hospitals in both England and the U.S.A. and was awarded the Purple Heart. In 1969 the Army caught up to him and awarded him the Bronze Star Medal for heroism in action. Ted told us that only seven members of his special group of 270 who had been especially trained to knock out German pillboxes came through unscathed from the three-week campaign! Now, 11 years after receipt of the Bronze Star medal, someone in the VA administration had found an error in the original computation of his disability pension, and Uncle Sam sent him a check for $7,500, which he richly deserved.

Ted was a good boxer in his undergraduate days, and we talked about another boxer in our class, namely Bill Harlow, who had not been as lucky as Ted, having lost his life in battle during the last days of World War 11. Your secretary visited the grave site of Bill Harlow some years ago when in France. He rests in a quiet spot in a well-maintained U.S. cemetery among the many rows of white crosses in the fields of northeastern France.

Classmates passing through Miami in December included Dick and Margo Cleaves, who were embarking on an 11-day cruise on the Holland-American ship Statendam to the West Indies. Dick had picked this cruise because it would bring him back to Martinique, where he and Howie Newcomb had spent three months on the beach in the early months of 1933. Dick was going to trace his "roots" of that period and he has promised to send us a detailed report of his findings for publication in this column. It should be interesting reading!

A long lost classmate, Lee Berkman, who lives in Henderson, N.C., telephoned from the Miami airport stating that for a number of years he has received Dartmouth news only from the class of 1931! Lee was on his way to Costa Rica for a three-month visit and wanted your secretary to be sure that he would receive news from his correct class of 1932. Lee is planning now for our 50th reunion and asked that a room be reserved for him at the Hanover Inn! Welcome back to our class, Lee.

Ben Drew, our 50th reunion chairman, also telephoned and wants all of us to reserve the dates of June 11-13, 1982, as the correct dates for this most important meeting. In the meantime, if anyone knows the whereabouts of Roland Sundown, please let Ping Ferry or your secretary know, as our last letters to Truth and Consequences in New Mexico have been repeatedly returned with the notation, "Addressee Unknown."

Addie and I left Florida on December 26 for a two-month trip to New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Phillipines, and Japan. We are now in New Zealand, having attended the wedding of our daughter Lisa to Larry Peterman on January 5 in the little town of Te Anau in the South Island of New Zealand. Both Lisa and Larry are graduates of the University of Montana and live in Missoula, Mont. They are on a six-week bicycle trip in this beautiful area in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Right after their wedding they started a five-day hike on the Milford Track, which goes from Te Anau to Milford Sound. Addie and I were supposed to take this hike with them, but we had to cancel because Addie had just gotten over the flu. Frankly, I am glad we did not go, as the weather was cold and rainy, and there was much snow on the mountain peaks, which rise some 6,000-7,000 feet.

Your secretary isn't as rugged as Ben Drew or Art Allen, who, I am sure, could have taken this five-day hike in stride! Incidentally, Ben has a son, G. Westcott, who is married to a "Kiwi" and lives in Whakatane in the North Island. Our next move will be to Napier, also in the North Island, where my company AMICO has a distributor selling the U.S. grain dryers we represent. I shall be working with them for four days before moving on to Australia. We look forward to visiting some classmates in San Francisco on our way home.

Your obedient servant

911 North Northlake Drive Hollywood, Fla. 33020