Here is a photo taken at graduation ceremonies from Thunderbird Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, where MBA degrees in International Studies were conferred. Pictured on the right are myself and my son Michael, Jr. (A USNA '63 and '93 pairing). At the left are Dave Tornberg '64 and his son Dave, Jr., who graduated from the University of Virginia. It was nice to see Michael complete his advanced degree and set out to tackle the world as we did 30-plus years ago after finishing our obligation to the Navy. Thank God I don't have any more children going to school.

Fathers and their MBA sons

Dave Tornberg was in the 19th company with us when we switched to the 23rd. He and I served on GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER (SSBN 656) for two years and were roommates. It was a nice reunion for us as well. As a matter of fact, he and I and the doctor made wine in sick bay for New Years Eve 1967. To tell the whole truth, the wine was heavy bodied, lacked maloactic conversion, and tasted somewhat like the plastic carboy we used to ferment it.

    We went to Papua New Guinea for about a month, including the Trobriand Islands. It was the most remote place I've ever been. Great collecting of artifacts. I also went with my UPenn/Stanford archaeological team to the jungle in Thailand to excavate, and that is special, but I couldn't convey it adequately to you. Lots of dirt, labor frustrations, rocks, sweat, snakes, bugs, bandits, and whiskey (and a chance not to shave). Tom Clancy (a friend of the chief boss) was with us about two weeks last year. I have always been interested in archaeology and digging in old places. Comes from my Kentucky background I suppose. Today, collecting antiquities is a major part of me.

A few years ago, Ros and I were doing a trip to Southeast Asia and the Deputy in Charge of Mission at Bangkok, a friend of mine from my days at the State Department, asked me to make a little talk based on some experience I had when I was EA to CINCPAC. (Asia was my specialty when in active duty.) I did that, and ended up meeting a Thai two-star who was in charge of a military district. By chance, we came to find we both were interested in archaeology, and at a reception, he drove me off to his residence to see the things he had acquired. We had a great time, and that was that.

A few months later, I got an e-mail from my embassy friend, saying that General Tuan had invited me to participate in a new major excavation which was granted by the Thai government to the University of Pennsylvania and a consortium of other universities. I went in March during my Spring Break. It is a TREMENDOUS site, and some day you will read about it. I ran coffee, said Yessir, Nosir, stayed in the back, and was respectful to all. My son was an electrical engineering major at Penn, and by the chance of fate had taken a spare class with one of these great men last year, and the impression stuck. Thank God for kids. I was able to talk about digging with an icon of American archaeology, William Webb from the University of Kentucky, in the 50's and I became, somewhat, a member of the team.

The next May, I received an invitation from the leader of the team to join them, and thus my participation changed complexion. I am proud to say that last summer I was assigned a site within the complex to supervise, and, given my unfortunate experience in raising money for non-profits, I was tasked to hit the funding trail, which has been a secondary activity here in Hawaii. Before Christmas, I was able to get a big bundle from the McArthur family, but my biggest thrill is being in the field.

My site is an interesting one. We literally are carving it out of the jungle, and that is exciting for me. Every day brings something new. Snakes are there in abundance, and I am a coward about them. But we have a group of teen boys who get a bounty for killing them. My Ros shakes her head at all this, but grants me her okay to add this to my "middle age." I enjoy my teaching tremendously, and am enjoying my interaction with the grad students in the dig. I hope my health and motivation last to give me some more years in this.

I am planning a sabbatical in 2004 to trace the Mekong from Mongolia through the delta in Vietnam. I want to do it solo as much as I can, but am including my son-in-law (who is Vietnamese and will be a physician at that point) for the latter part, and will add a visit to some of his family. I hope I can make that a reality.

Ros and I enjoy exotic travel, and we have gone in partnership with an experienced travel guy here in Hawaii to do eco/soft adventure. We're going to Equador, the Amazon basin, and the Galapagos this summer. I will continue on from there for a month in Thailand and a side trip to Cambodia for looking at my Mekong trip.

    I am flying business jets for Executive Jet Aviation, owned by Warren Buffet. We do fractional ownership of biz jets from small to 757. I fly a thing called a Citation X. Until the Concorde came back it was the fastest thing in commercial aviation, capable of mach 0.92. If you have a few spare million its a nice way to travel.

Sue and I now have a local grandson. My oldest stepdaughter, Stephanie, and her husband, Gordie, are the proud parents of Preston. He's 17 months old and does a great imitation of the energizer bunny. The little guy is really a lot of fun, and we can hand him back when we start to wind down. Both Zeke and Chip are married and live in the San Francisco area. Zeke and his wife, Christina, have two sons, David and James. At 8 and 5 they are also really energetic, but one can occasionally persuade them to slow down. Chip and Tammy don't have any offspring yet. No problem; I never heard of a grandchild surplus.

Here in the frozen cornfield I am trying to get in enough training to do a few cross-country ski races this winter. The grand finale to the season will be the Vasaloppet in Mora, Sweden. I've done that one before, but at 90km it takes some serious preparation. The last 10km will be very long. Say a prayer for me the first Sunday in March.

        Northern Virginia residents Ann and Tom O'Brien have been far afield this winter, spending time with family members and classmates on the west coast. Tom filed this report for me to share with you.

Tom and Ann O'Brien

    In January, Ann and I were out in the beautiful Pacific Northwest visiting with son John O'Brien '89 and his wife, Julianne, who are expecting their first child in April. We were pleased to have made contact again (during our 35th Reunion in Annapolis) with 18th Company classmate Dave Durfee, who lives in Bremerton, WA, with his wife, Vivian. I e-mailed him before we left our home in Alexandria and we established a lunch meeting for January 30th.

After a pleasant, down-memory-lane Washington State Ferry ride across Puget Sound and a nostalgic drive through downtown Port Orchard, our "homeport" in 1971-72 while my submarine was on the blocks in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for overhaul, we arrived at Dave and Vivian's beautiful home, literally in an Olympic forest, and were treated to an exquisite lunch. Vivian's relatively new sun room -- a glass- enclosed, many-skylighted "cathedral-in-the- cedars" room, was the setting for a great three hours' worth of catching up over an extended meal under the watchful eye of their friendly Gordon setter, Tristan. Dave is staying very busy with their house, writes the program notes for the Bremerton Symphony's performances, plays the cello with a local group, and serves as an officer of a national club preserving the history of the nation's railroads. Vivian serves as a docent at the Bloedel Preserve on the north end of Bainbridge Island.

We had a lot of fun exchanging stories, but it was way too short. We hope to be able to resume our catching up the next time we visit in Seattle, tentatively scheduled for May.

        Tom supplied these digitized photos from the visit.

Tom OBrien Visits Dave Durfee	Dave and Vivian Durfee at Home

        Speaking of photos, here is a picture of Birney Pease and Bob Nobbs. It was supplied by Bernie's wife, Barbara, who noted that it was taken when they met in Ft. Lauderdale in December to discuss a rebirth of "The Bridge Club" and tell tall tales about Youngster cruise.

Birney Pease and Bob Nobbs

        "Our" ship, USS FITZGERALD (DDG- 62), continues her tradition of excellence and has been recognized for sustained outstanding performance. Named for our gallant classmate Bill Fitzgerald, the ship received the prestigious Spokane Trophy last summer, reflecting a uniquely high level of operational excellence. We thank our classmate Rich Pace for providing information about the award. An active member of the Navy League's Long Beach chapter, which sponsors FITZGERALD, Rich was aboard ship for the presentation.

THE SPOKANE TROPHY WAS GIVEN TO THE US NAVY IN 1907 TODAY IT IS AWARDED TO THE SHIP IN THE PACIFIC FLEET THAT IS THE MOST BATTLE READY This beautiful trophy was made by an unknown artist of the time. It was made of 400 oz of silver and depicts areas of Spokane and the Silver mining comunity. Its value is placed at 4 million dollars. It is under armed guard at the Navy Seals base in Coronado, California. The Spokane Navy League Council awards its own plaque to the ship that is awarded the Spokane Trophy.

FITZGERALD received the Spokane Trophy on 28 June while underway for a dependents' day cruise. Assembled on the foc'sle, her crew accepted a plaque representing the trophy from Col. Paul Gourd, USAF (ret.), from the Navy League Spokane Council. The event was made more memorable by a special audience. FITZGERALD received its most prestigious recognition to date in the company of its family and friends. Nearly 300 family members and guests of crew members were aboard. In many respects the ceremony also honored the dependents, whose tremendous support allowed FITZGERALD to excel and achieve recognition as the trophy winner. The ceremony provided an opportunity for the ship, its crew, and their families to celebrate and thank each other for a year of service, dedication, and accomplishment.

        Our 40th Reunion coordinator Bill Earner asked me to remind you about an exciting project which needs your participation, beginning now:

    The Fortieth Reunion committee has reviewed a video presentation done for the 40th reunion of the Class of 1960. It was something of a collage of their midshipman experience. We would like to compile a similar video for our own Fortieth Reunion. We have "recruited" a few volunteers who have begun work but cannot go much farther without help from the Class. We need pictures, negatives, slides, movies, and audio tapes of our experience as Midshipmen. Already digitized material or items converted to video tape would be appreciated. (16mm. film would be difficult but doable for really good scenes.)

This will be an events-oriented production built around a few general themes: (1) Plebe Summer -- Arrival at USNA, swearing in, before and after haircuts, our new life in Mother B, all Plebe summer events, Parents' Weekend, etc. (2) Plebe Year -- Come arounds, pep rallies, Plebe sports, Herndon Monument, Hundredth Night, etc. (3) Third and Second Class years -- Summer cruises, life in Bancroft Hall, classes, Army-Navy weekend, Ring Dance, etc. (4) First Class year -- Our Plebes, their come arounds, P-rades, life in Bancroft, sports, our Hundredth Night, Graduation, first salute, weddings in the Chapel ( really good would be pictures of classmates married on Graduation Day.), etc. (4) General -- Good scenes and action shots focused on group activities and sports, Christmas leave departure, the Yard in Winter, the Yard in the summer heat, etc. We are looking for both historical and humorous coverage (all in good taste, of course). None of the above descriptors is meant to be all-inclusive. We need things of general interest to all of us.

Please send any materials to Mr. Jim Leeper (aka Speed), 1676 Wingspan Way, Winter Springs, FL 32708; Ph. 407-359-7783; e-mail jleeper@flir.com . All materials will be returned in the same condition as received so everything must be documented with the sender's name, return address, e-mail address, date(s), narrative of what the pictures are about. This is very important. Good documentation will aid in final selections. All contributors will be listed in the production. Let Speed know if you want a digitized copy of any film sent. Pricing will be available later. All material will be acknowledged by e-mail upon receipt.

Copies of the production will be made available in CD movie-formatted disks. (DVD is too costly for us.) We are not trying to recreate our Yearbook. We are looking back from 2003. These are our memories. With your help we can restore some faded memories to vivid color. Go up to the attic now and dig out those pictures!

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        As you plan your travel for the warm months of this year, include a visit to the cool mountains of western North Carolina. In addition to the natural beauty and many cultural attractions, there is a little-known benefit available to members of the Class of 1963 - a rocking chair, free beer, and "sweet tea" at the Shelley house. We enjoy entertaining classmates and would love to add you to our guest book. Only 30 miles from Asheville and just a short distance from Interstates 26 and 40, our front porch and mountain view are yours for the asking. Come up the mountain, y'all!

  QUALITY ­ '63

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This page is  Shipmate:     April 2002  posted on:  12 February 2002

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