1939

The sad news for the month is the passing of Zeke Hill from a stroke on December 10. Zeke was extremely well known in New England as an editor, writer, historian, and preservationist. An obituary will appear in this issue.

In the nostalgia department: a note received from John Page leads off with the following thought: "Could be I am the last member of our class to have seen JimMathes alive." Jim was lost on a PT boat in August of 1944 while making a torpedo run at a German E-boat off the Channel Islands. John was aboard the USS Ariel (AF-22), an Atlantic Fleet auxiliary which carried troops and refrigerated cargo. They were in Plymouth, England, during the hectic days of preparation for the D-Day invasion in World War II. John was ashore for briefing with his senior officers when he was hailed. "I would know that endearing, highpitched voice anywhere. There was Jim calling and waving from his PT boat right beside us—dockside. What an unexpected and pleasant surprise." John says he's going to have his senior cane with him at our 50th, and points out that it carries many memories including some hand-carving by Jim Mathes, among others who are no longer with us.

Pem Pleasants, whose story was featured in a sailor's journal entitled Windward Mark magazine a year ago, related an anecdote that we think bears repeating. It seems that while at a summer camp prior to college entrance Pem became fast friends with an athlete who was being sought by dozens of colleges including Dartmouth. The athlete suggested they check out Hanover, being close by to Laconia where the camp was located. They hitched a ride in the back of a pickup truck with a dead cow. Somehow the College authorities thought that Pem was a great hockey player because he had played for Lower Canada College, a prep school, but with the magic ring of our hockey-playing neighbors to the north. And this was the genesis of his wearing the green. To our knowledge Pem never hefted a hockey stick in competition during his stay in Hanover.

Al and Marge Loberg flew from a Thanksgiving weekend at the Greenbrier to Norman, Okla., for Christmas with son Charlie and family, then flew to Michigan to celebrate New Year's with some cruise buddies, and topped it off with a February trip to Belize for some fishing. Al has just been elected president of the Maryland Section of the Navy League, a rather singular honor.

Your scribe and wife are off for Australia and New Zealand, with Fiji Isles and Tahiti en route. See you next month.

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