1948
WW II year 1944,47 years ago, saw most '48s on campus at least part of the year, either as members of the navy/marine VI2 unit, a magnificent Dartmouth contribution to the war effort, or in the small but highly active civilian group, most of whom were awaiting an "I want you!" signal from Uncle Sam while living in Crosby, Richardson, and Wheeler. The Hanover weather that summer of '44 seemed marvelous and contributed to a great camraderie that those who were there can't forget. Remember?
Bob Tracy, a V-12, loved the wild outdoors of New Hampshire's north country and spent almost every weekend on DOC trips. The navy truck, always driven by Dave Kendall '45, provided the transport this per the unbelievable deal coach Tom Dent obtained from Captain Cummings of the V-12 to aid physical conditioning. Those mountain and canoe trips were solid ventures and hard work, but they gave students the pleasure of getting to know the outdoors and each other. Bob developed many lifelong friendships on those trips, but none mourned his passing last year more than his two closest lifetime friends, AlMcKee and Larry Pedersen, who still can't believe he's gone.
Lasting friendships were one of that summer's bounties. Another was laughter. In the March issue Ken Saunders recited his '44 life in Crosby. One of Ken's pals was fellow Chicagoan Ev Wilson of the gang on the fourth floor. Ev today watches his two sons run the family building materials business in the Windy City (Ev and Mouse Taylor should compare notes), but he and Ken are still close buddies, and they still often reminisce and play golf and bridge. Ev well remembers Crosby's "father confessor" Jim Dufly, who was about a year older than most in the dorm. He also recalls with affection Dean Rathbun,John Price, and "golf nut" Rog Zorn (who recendy moved to Pinehurst). Also those summer hockey games on the top floor and the fright of Ken and Rog when they too successfully hypnotized someone in Boston's Biltmore one weekend and had nerve-wracking difficulty ending the trance. Enforcer Ev warns his group to be on hand at '48's 45th in '94!
Prexy Bud Gedney is proud that '48 voted last fall to spend $300 for Friends of Dartmouth Hockey and a large banner to commemorate in Thompson Arena the 1948 Ivy League champions, who were in the nation's Final Four at Colorado Springs. Remember? Who can forget the fantastic noise and hammering bedlam in packed Davis Rink that year when even the overhead stanchions hung with spectators! (Bob Merriam, what are your memories of that great campaign?) Some on hand who enthusiastically approved of the vote were Dick Bredenberg, DickGreene, John Hatheway, Bob Munson, BillScott, the Smith boys (Joe and Mort), and Bud Thorne.
A lifted tot from Eleazar's 500 to JimNicholson, who in May received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the College of New Rochelle for his outstanding service over so many years to the advancement and shaping of that noble institution; to Warren Daniell, recendy made a lifetime fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers in recognition of his "design of many major building projects" as a structural engineer; to statesman Ron Spiers, retired from a brilliant career in the foreign service to become under secretary general at the U.N. in New York; to Marve Burning for his selfless but effective work on the Alumni Fund in spite of the continuing doubts of many '48s who can't find it in their hearts to give; and to Wid Washburn for the fascinating archaeological work he has done at the site of ancient explorer Martin Frobisher's 16th-century base near Baffin Island in the Arctic.
Please let me know about Hanover if you visit there this year. Any changes? Anything the same?
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