1948

10214 Del Monte Drive Houston, TX 77042

This is the last set of DAM notes, written in March, to appear before our '4B Fortieth on June 13-17. Bud Gedney and his reunion committee are expecting a turnout in Hanover of about 70 of us, plus wives or girlfriends, and we are to report to our Fayerweather Row locale on Monday morning, June 13, for room, keys, caps, etc.

If others of you unexpectedly find at the last minute that you wish to be included, give Bud a call at 603/523-7065 in Canaan so he can cover you if still possible and provide details. President Earl Chambers backs Bud in urging all '48s to attend, as the committee is dedicated to ensuring a good time in bringing us back together at "The Place" where Eleazar gave us so much so many years ago.

A recent development for the occasion is that our own historian and national syndicated newspaper columnist Dr. WidWashburn will be the speaker at our class dinner. Wid, a prodigious writer in many fields, holds several honorary degrees, heads the office of American Studies at the Smithsonian, and is a leading historian of the American Indian. He was a U.S. marine in WW 11, learned Japanese and served as an interpreter in Japan, played football for Dartmouth, and has written several articles about a contentious Hanover subject, the Indian symbol. Wid is a thinker and doer of extensive proportions who merits our attention.

Who in our mixed-up wartime class was the first '4B to arrive on campus in Hanover to commence his studies? A good candidate has to be John Cameron, now retired with Jean in Clermont, a small town in central Florida. John graduated from Lane Tech- nical High in Chicago in 1941, joined the navy and went to sea. In the fall of 1942 he was selected from the fleet to attend a new V-12 officer training facility at Dartmouth and was put on a northbound train from Norfolk. Destination: Norwich, Vt., which the navy rightfully said was the nearest station to Hanover. John changed trains in WRJ and eventually arrived at the tiny stop in Norwich, where the only person around told him how to walk to Hanover. So he trudged across Ledyard Bridge and up the hill, seabag over shoulder. Suddenly Eleazar's plain burst into view before him, the beginning of a lifelong relationship. John was one of the first seven V-12 candidates to enroll in Dartmouth, in that fall of 1942, and he probably was the earliest '48 to arrive on campus. Any challengers? John left Hanover for the Pacific theater in 1944, where he saw action on destroyers and ATDS. Returning to Hanover in the fall of 1946 he, Boz Kirkpatrick, and Lou Springsteen shared a corner room in the basement of North Mass for the next two years.

After graduation, John acquired a master's at Maine, taught school for a while, then spent 37 years in industrial relations with various firms in the midwest until retirement last year. He's been back to Hanover twice and speaks with affection of his life and friends at a place he probably would not have known except for Uncle Sam.

Jottings. Ted Thornton has gained a real estate license in Point Pleasant, N.J., joining retired predecessors such as Harry Shaw and Joe Smith in this profession. WaltBaker sold his boatyard in South Freeport, Maine, and is now executive secretary of the Maine Marine Trade, an association of small yards and marinas. Bob Herrick in California says he regretfully won't make reunion this year as it recently cost him the mint to marry off his daughter in Hawaii. Reunion gift chairman Jim McLaughlin also just gave away his daughter, all the more reason to give him your support in the drive.

Gang, hope to see you at reunion, in the Granite State in '88!

1948 FANTASTIC FORTIETH JUNE 13-16, 1988 Be in the Granite State in '88