CLASS OF 1963
Pres:  Stephen M. Duncan
Sec'y: Michael H. Shelley
25 Sweetwater Lane, Pisgah Forest, NC 28768
h: 828-862-4245  e: Class.Secretary@USNA63.org
Web site: www.USNA63.org

Navy 30, Army 28. Sweet.

        Again this year, many members of the Class of 1963 came together at Navy football contests not only for the games but , more importantly, for the good times spent among classmates, their ladies, family members, and friends. Two of the away games were seized upon as opportunities for Company reunions. Thanks to the ever-ready Roy Warren for sending this account of the 12th Company assembly at the Air Force game in Colorado on 7 October.

   The occasion for our reunion was the Navy-Air Force game in Colorado Springs. Some combined the reunion with vacations throughout Colorado and trips from our base at the hotel to tours of the Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, Olympic Training Center and other cultural areas of the beautiful Colorado Springs area. On hand for the reunion were Wayne Nelson, Roy Warren, Ron Wills, John Truesdell, Bill Witcraft, Fred Kaiser, Gary Smith, Roger Milos, Grant Telfer, Mario Fiori, Bob Bennett, Charles McCarthy, John Detweiler, Randy Orlowski, and Jim Stageman and their beautiful wives or significant others. Planning to attend but unable to attend due to family illness or personal recovery time were James Czerwonky, Brad Eichorst, and Al Griggs. We missed them.
   Everyone was present on Friday night when we went to dinner at Giuseppi's. Somehow Mario was able to arrange a room wherein we could all be together when little prior planning had been done because no one lived in the area and was able to make arrangements. On Saturday, Vicki and I sponsored a tailgate party utilizing our motor home as the base. Except for the game being the early game for TV purposes and not knowing game time before arrival in Colorado, all of our plans were for the late game. They didn't even have the game time on our tickets. As it turned out, the only thing we didn't plan correctly was that we had way too much beer and soft drinks and not near enough coffee or facilities to make coffee. We were able to supply almost everyone with blankets to help keep them warm during the game which was conducted in a very cold, stiff wind coming off the high plains of Colorado and sweeping around the foothills. Although we witnessed a losing effort, we were all impressed with the effort and the execution of the Navy team on the field. During halftime I was looking around at the crowd and found that Jim DeFrancia and Dave Thornhill were sitting behind me. After the game, Dave came down to visit with us at our motor home. We sure did not let the loss affect our good time.
   Saturday evening we let Mario choose the restaurant and it was German food this time. Sunday morning many of us were able to wish each other safe voyages home at a brunch. All in all, it was a great time but much too short. It would be nice to get all of us together again and to be able to have more time to visit. Ron and John are going to try to arrange another weekend for the company at the 2001 Army-Navy game. Hope they can get more of us to that game.

    Roy sent nine digitized photos from the reunion. Click on the thumbnails to see the full size version. Take a look!

Jim Stageman (front right) and going counter-clockwise, his wife Karen, Fred and Clara Kaiser, Ellen and Roger Milos, Wayne and Michaelene Nelson	Bill Witcraft, Randy Orlowski, Ron Wills, and John Detweiler	John Truesdell, Gary Smith, Mario Fiori, and Roger Milos	All except for Jim Stageman
The beautiful ladies that keep us in line keeping warm in the motor home	The whole group	John Detweiler, Dave Thornhill and his wife, Fred and Clara Kaiser	Roy, Vicki, Vicki's brother and sister-in-law, and Roy's sister
Gary Smith, Fred Kaiser, and Bob Bennett

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    Our second account of a company reunion comes from Bill Earner, who filed this report about the 8th Company's big weekend in Florida:

    In another of a series of recent gatherings, some 15 members of the Eighth Company assembled in Orlando to attend the Notre Dame game on 14 October and enjoy a weekend of camaraderie. The game was a real loser but the "seats were great." Under a broiling October sun we watched Navy go down to ignominious defeat ( really!). A bright spot for Mary and Dave Bingemann was that their son Jarrett is a soph at ND. The weekend was orchestrated by the team of Jim "Speed" Leeper and Bill "Oats" Oatway. Their splendid effort resulted in a wonderful weekend despite the game. Accompanied by spouses we enjoyed dinner Friday near our hotel arranged by Janet Leeper. Many then ventured to Universal Studios nightclub row for hurricanes and regaled each other with lies until the wee hours of Saturday morning. After the game we all repaired to Bill and Jane Oatway's magnificent home north of Orlando for a great dinner including Bill's grill, cajun gumbo, and Bernie's salad. The beer was cold, the wine was mellow, and I assume the soft drinks were OK. It was great to catch up and to think ahead. We were all convinced we were still young . Our spouses gamely put up with us. The planning for the next gathering was handed to Meredith Musick. After all he was a big striper. ( One "p" only please)

    Dick Augur supplemented Bill's account with a list of attendees. On hand were Dick and Marylyn Augur, Dave and Mary Bingemann, John and Margarette Boley, Al and Katherine Breen, Earl and Celes Buck, Roger and Sandy Deegan, Dennis and Ollie Doherty, Bill and Jennifer Earner, Bill and Barbara Hahn, Kit and Lillian Karson, Rick Kleinfeldt, Meredith and Laurie Musick, Bernie and Carole Patterson, Marc Williamson, Speed and Janet Leeper, Bill and Jane Oatway. Other classmates at the Notre Dame game included Steve Coester, Jack McDonald, and Bruce Webb.
   One week later was Homecoming in Annapolis. The stadium tailgating was terrific, but the game was ­ well... Fortunately, Carla and Jeff Miles hosted a class party at their lovely home in west Annapolis that evening. Assisting Jeff, who was recovering from foot surgery, as grill chef extraordinaire was Jim Metcalfe. I saw many classmates and their ladies at the game and the party, including Mike Nadolski, Dave Robinson, Don Freese, Norm Shackelton, Forrest Siburt, Bill Earner, Joel Gardner, Dave Ebert, Ian Sargent, Keith Reynolds, Al Sherman, Tom Reemelin, Spencer Johnson, Paul Tobin, Dan Hitzelberger, and Brev Moore. My snapshots from that day aren't ready yet, so here are two that I took at the TCU game on 29 September. Look closely and you'll be able to identify Messrs. Hirsch, Krause, Leisge, Grabowski, Hoy, McDonald, Storz, Sherman, Shackelton, O'Brien, Lindell, Shelley, Forster, and Freese.

Happy tailgaters	Tailgating before the TCU game

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   Supplementing his report in last month's Shipmate, Jim DeFrancia told me that his sons recently won an award at the New York Film Festival.

   Cris, a third year law student at UVA, was doing a summer internship at The World Court in The Hague and developed the idea of doing a film on modern day atrocities as a function of his working with the International War Crimes Tribunal. He got a one semester leave of absence to do the project, with some funding from the Lawyer's Committee for Human Rights, and off he went to film and interview with a pick-up crew of young people he had met in Europe. The film is focused on war crimes in Bosnia. His brother, my son Tommy, then did all the technical work, such as editing, sound, sub-titling, etc, as that is Tom's profession (He is an director/producer with a small independent company.). Their film, "Mirror to History: Confronting War Crimes in Bosnia" received the award for Best Political Documentary in the New York International Film and Video Festival.

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I recently received a copy of a super photo of Terry Rogers, complete with this caption, "9th District Court Judge Terry Rogers spent more than 150 hours hand-carving this four-foot, 80-pound walnut and maple Seal of Wyoming The carving will hang in the new district courtroom." He is quite an accomplished craftsman.

Terry Rogers Carved Wyoming Seal

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   A 13 October Washington Post article about the terrorist attack on USS COLE included comments by two experts, both members of the Class of 1963. Here is the pertinent part of that story:

    When a captain realizes that his ship may be under unconventional attack, said naval expert Harlan Ullman, he has to decide almost instantly how to respond, knowing that an error in either direction could result in a court-martial. "Is it going to be Vincennes or Stark?" Ullman said. "And what if it is just a Greenpeace raft or something?" Retired Navy Capt. P.T. Deutermann remembers, for example, commanding the USS Tattnall on "picket duty" off the coast of Lebanon in 1984 when a small plane flew directly at his ship. He tracked it for several miles as it approached, determined that it was flying "the kamikaze pattern we had been warned about" and prepared to shoot it down. He was overruled by a superior officer. The aircraft then turned away. Deutermann says he later learned that it had been piloted by a Lebanese Air Force officer taking his family on a sightseeing trip. "We averted a tragedy purely by luck," he said.

    Here's a photo of Steve Duncan with his daughter Kelly and her husband Kyle White (both USNA'90) on the occasion of her promotion to Lieutenant Commander at the Washington Navy Yard on 8 September. A hot runner, she relieved a full Commander as the Commanding Officer of her new Naval Reserve unit a few days later.

Kyle and Kelly Duncan White '90 with Steve Duncan

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   Dave Moore reports that Bob Miller is the Chair of Neurology at the University of California at San Francisco Medical School. Other physicians in the Class of 1963 include John Newsom, Richard Nutt, Jim Stageman, Dave DeHoll, and Tom Pessoney. Do you know of others? Let me know.

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   From England comes this update from Larry Warnken, who has somehow survived the culture shock of relocating after many years in Hawaii.

    Darlene and I moved to London in March to be the Morale, Welfare & Recreation Program Manager for all the Navy and NATO bases in Europe. Being back on the staff of a four star admiral again is very interesting although no job could ever be as much fun as running the MWR programs in Hawaii. And I'm really missing Navy Marine Golf Course. If I don't get some games in soon, even Forrest Siburt will be able to beat me! I'm hoping to visit Florida in January for some remedial golf.
Living in London is a great experience and walking to work is unique. I've stashed my Aloha shirts and shorts and now own five suits and various jackets, a Burberry raincoat, and a topcoat. The problem is that our two-story flat hasn't any closets or shelves, except in the kitchen. We now own six armoires and that barely covers our needs. But the great theater and restaurant options as well as the ubiquitous pubs and museums more than make up for beach deprivation and lack of volleyball. Plus, I'm learning to appreciate soccer, excuse me, Euro football. And Darlene can immediately switch to Britspeak when called by local tradespeople or talking to a cabbie.
We haven't met any classmates out here but hope to connect with Charlie Newkirk in Germany soon. We recently enjoyed dinner out with Denny Neutze '65 and his wife Sonny. I am sending a digitized picture of us at an inn in the Cotswolds in October. You will note the fireplace and the serious beer!

Hello from the Cotswolds

    Jan and I had a great opportunity to take a USNA Alumni sponsored trip along the major waterways of Europe this summer and had the opportunity to meet a Quality '63 classmate and his wife, Sue and Jim DeLong. It was a pleasure for Jan and me to get to know a classmate and his wife whom I had never met before. Jim was on the other side of the world from the 18th company (he was in the 1st) so I did not meet him at the Academy. He currently lives in Northern California.

Quintons and DeLongs cruising through Europe. (Note N-Star banner in background.)

With 35 other USNA graduates, we cruised the Rhine, the Main, and the Danube rivers aboard the Dutch registered river cruise ship the M/S ERASMUS. We flew from Dulles to Amsterdam in late June to pick up the ship for the start of our journey through the heart of Europe to Budapest, Hungary. The rivers and surrounding countryside were just like the postcards! The nicest part was that our hotel traveled with us! Traveling through a series of 70 locks along the three rivers turned into a great adventure. While we entered quite a few locks during the daytime, three of the tallest locks that took us from the Main River canal to the Danube over the spine of Europe were done at night. Reminiscent of the midwatch, I got myself up around midnight to watch the ship rise up over 80 feet in a lock that filled with 10.5 million gallons of water in less than 20 minutes! There were a number of us sea-service types up to watch the evolution. Nine days of the trip were spent in Germany, with many exceptional tours along the way. From Austria, we went on to Bratislava in the Slovak Republic and ended our journey in Budapest. The ship was very comfortable, accommodating only 100 passengers. There were alumni groups from Notre Dame and Northwestern Universities on the tour as well. For those of you who have not experienced small ship cruising (other than those gray-hulled beauties called DD's), I highly recommend it. This was our fifth tour through either the USNA Alumni or Michigan Alumni and they are a great bargain and extremely well done. It is a great opportunity to meet grads from the other classes and, as in this instance, a classmate I had not met before.

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Mike Rubel and Reed Farrington

   Here's a note from Mike Rubel that I received in mid-November:

    This is a photo of Reed Farrington and me at his show in the Carmel (California) Art Institute in October. The model in the painting behind us was somewhere in the crowd, but clothed this time. I bought a painting very similar to this that now hangs in my living room.
All is well in Seattle. I'm still doing M & A deals, predominantly in the Northwest but have been working on one in the U.K. and one on the Gulf Coast; both are acquisitions for clients. I'm on my way to Annapolis to visit Barb and Harry Hirsch and then on to New York for Thanksgiving. I hope to see Sheila and Mike Bonsignore while in the city. My daughter is expecting my first grandchild. Does that make me a grandfather? If so, I'm not telling my girlfriends.

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   The Class of 1963 Foundation has commissioned custom-produced neckties, bow ties, and cummerbunds.   These handsome items feature a regimental stripe design which incorporates colors from all of the armed services in which our classmates have served. For a photo of the ties and information on ordering, visit the Foundation section of our web site.

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   Here's the latest old-timer's cycling report from Bob Harper:

   The combination of the easier Northern Virginia Multiple Sclerosis bike route this year, plus the advancing ravages of Halfzeimers led me to agree to accompany Charlie "Goose" Gosnell in his Delaware Ride to the Bay for MS again this year. Charlie was riding in his 14th ride for MS.. That is all the more remarkable when considering that though Northern Virginia hosts a 150 kilometer ride; Delaware hosts a 150 miler! Goose's wife Judy took this photo the morning of 30 September and then sent us on our way for the adventure. She has made MS a family affair, being registrar for all their participants.

Bob Harper and Charlie Gosnell ready to ride.

Unlike last year when we hooked up with some speed freaks who drafted in excess of 20 mph, Charlie and I opted to take in some scenery and poked along at a much more reasonable 15-16 mph rate. While we were by no means the spring chickens of the riders, there were quite a few riders of our "prime" vintage. It seems as though the flatlands of Delaware are indeed much kinder and gentler than the Appalachian foothills. I really enjoyed renewing acquaintance and sea stories with Charlie and encourage more of our bikers to put him on their agenda next year. Of course, I could never pass up the opportunity to get in a commercial for the USNA '63 (Terry's Team) next year. The dates are 19 and 20 May, on a friendly course between Manassas and Fredricksburg. We mustered ten classmates in 2000 and hope for more in 2001!

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   So here you are: smack in the middle of the Dark Ages, spending lots of time indoors and sometimes wondering what to do next. Well, I have a suggestion: Write to me! If nothing else, that will help you kill some time before the next round ball contest appears on your TV screen. The guys who supplied the preceding info did their part for the rest of us. Now it's your turn.

 QUALITY - '63

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This page is  Shipmate:     January/February 2001  posted on:  10 December 2000

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