1986

Remember how every spring the B&G army went on a cleaning and painting rampage before reunions? Soon the College will be trying to dupe us into believing the campus is always as spiffy as Disneyland. Reunion is just a few months away, and we have a fancy logo to prove it. Here's brief reunion update: 1. We are set to break attendance records, with over 260 '86s planning to attend. The earlier you submit your checks, the less you pay! 2. The class will launch a community volunteer program. Allison Barlow and KathleenHolland are leading the charge.

3. Class elections (president, treasurer, secretary, newsletter editor, head agent, reunion chair, and alumni council rep) will be held. Nominations must be submitted by April 1 to Laura Lindner (708/864- 5095). Call her for an absentee ballot before June 1. 4. What is a reunion without fund raising? Historically Dartmouth graduates are outdonated by Harvard, Yale, and Princeton alums. Why is this? Do they dig their school better than we do? Start saving your pennies and donate in a big way to the Big Green.

Now for some news about your classmates, starting with excerpts from a letter written by Phil Burrow on November 20:

"After graduating I headed down to Pensacola, Fla., to have my head shaved and be yelled at by a 6'4" Marine . . . well, I survived those 14 weeks, and two years of flight school. I'm now flying F- 14A 'Super Tomcats' off the U.S.S. D.D. Eisenhower. That's the same basic plane you saw in 'Top Gun'.

"It was far from a boring summer. The Eisenhower was the first U.S. military asset to show up off the coast of Saudi Arabia when things got hot. I spent many hours flying combat air patrol or sitting in alerts waiting to be shot off the front end. A catapult shot is pretty exciting: 0-165 m.p.h. in 2.2. seconds.

"[Much of our training involves] dog fighting: I've fought a lot of different planes, from a Harrier to a Mirage to an F-16 . . . Most fights start with the planes converging headon at approximately 1000 mph and passing side to side with 500 feet between them. Then it becomes a very physical three-dimensional chess game. Yesterday it was just me against an F-16 and A-4 . . .We figure if we can consistently beat the F-16, Saddam's boys don't stand a chance." Phil also reports that ByungYe is the intelligence officer for VF-74, another F-14 squadron stationed in the Red Sea. Good luck, fellows.

Shep Kopp had an adventure of a different sort last summer. He writes about a journey with Chris Lord and Pete Bogardus '87:

"After spending 1989 doing public policy/ legal work, I thought I better hit the road again. Having been pretty enchanted by Asia in '87 when travelling with Neil Maher, I decided to return.... Laos, which I had been itching to see, was a tough one, but Vietnam was wide open (for only a brief time).

"We flew into Ho Cho Minh City and started bicycling north up Vietnam Highway 1, sort of like California Highway 1 but with more water buffalo. Along the way to Hanoi we had a few iced coffees with former Viet Cong, who were quite friendly...

"After Nam, we flew to Kunming in south- western China and began heading north to the fabled city of Kashgar. However, we were facing one problem: because of Muslim unrest about Chinese interference with religious rights, riots had erupted in which about 50 peole were killed and the area we were headed to was closed to foreigners not on a tour group. We eluded authorities and made it to Kashgar ... but then were stuck waiting for the Chinese to open the border. We laid seige to the Paki border for about live weeks, during which time we tried everything imaginable to escape. [On one attempted escape], we were arrested and had to write self-criticisms."

Shep is currently studying law at Hastings; Chris is studying business at Harvard.

Next time you cruise through Norfolk, Va., tune your radio to 106.9 FM. If you would like to hear your favorite song, dial 804/624- 9759 and ask for the program director. No doubt Mike O'Connor will be happy to satisfy you, but be forewarned that "Dartmouth Undying" is not in the station's collection.

Finally, I have the tragic news JonathanDaniels died in a December mountain climbing accident in Eastern Europe.

Howard C. Hayes Jr., 140 Kenilworth Ave., Kenilworth, IL 60043

19865th Reunion"Back where as started ..."June 14 - 16, 1991

Were you "born" at Dartmouth? Think about it. Part of you still lives there. CARRIE LUFT '89