"Vietnam War: Operation Dewey Canyon", Historynet.com article about classmate Dan Hitzelberger .

Click Here for the online article

USS Intrepid's 70 Anniversary celebration

This picture of Robert Black and Charlie Minter standing before the actual F-8 Crusader flown by Tony Nargi in Vietnam. The photo was taken incident to the 16 Aug. 2013 ceremony recognizing the 70th anniversary of the Intrepid's commissioning and a reunion of former crew members, including a number of plank owners. Since Charlie's Dad, our Commandant Admiral Minter, commanded the ship in the early '60s, Charlie was invited to participate in part of the ceremony (wreath laying) and Rob is a member of the Intrepid Association.

December 25, 2013--Christmas 2013 Jim Ring Visits The Wall

Made it to the Wall to visit Jim Patterson and our other 12 classmates on the Wall. Left the flag by Jim's panel. Picture taken on Christmas morning. Wreaths are from the same company that does the wreaths for Arlington Cemetery. Not sure who sent the tree. I have the exact location on the Wall for each classmate. Great place to spend time with those who long ago could no longer celebrate Christmas. If you want the info on their location, contact me at jep.ring@gmail.

Webmaster note: Wall locations of each of our fallen classmates can be found on this page at VietNam.html

March 31, 2014--Mike Cronin POW Bracelet Returned

Jackie Cronin posted this photo of a letter and a Mike Cronin POW bracelet on Facebook. Amazing after all these years. I share it here.

February 1, 2016--Mike Cronin Honored on USNA at Large

Click Here for the USNA at Large Facebook post honoring Mike Cronin's service as a Naval Aviator, a POW and being instrumental in persuading Congress to pass the War Crimes Act of 1996, to further protect American POWs in captivity. USNA at Large is an effort of Dick Nelson '64 to honor exemplary graduates of the Naval Academy

April 11, 2016--Sobering Statistics About Vietnam Vets

Click Here for an article provided by Zimm Zimmerman telling of the death rate for Vietnam Veterans.I quote: "I don't know about you guys, but it kinda gives me the chills, Considering this is the kind of information I'm used to reading about WWII and Korean War vets. So the last 14 years we are dying too fast, only the few will survive by 2025. If true, 390 VN vets die a day. So in 2190 days...from today, lucky to be a Vietnam veteran alive... in only 6-10 years.. "

April 23, 2017--An Article from Scotty Wilson about the loss of twenty-four naval aviators.

Click Here for an article written by Scotty Wilson telling the almost unknown story of P2V and P-3 patrol flying during the Vietnam War and of the loss of two of their aircraft and twenty-four crew members.

Scotty writes: "My service in the Vietnam zone was only a 6 month deployment with the Tridents of Patrol Squadron 26 in Nov '67 to May '68. But it was a very active time, during which I collected two Air Medals for over 500 flight hours of combat support missions. This was written back in 1996 when my son, Gordon ('91), was on his first tour as a pilot with that very same squadron, VP 26 in NAS Brunswick, ME.They had a plaque in the hangar spaces with the names of the 24 airmen of the two crews that were KIA during that deployment. Whenever I visited, his squadron mates wanted to know more about what happened and what we did there. Eventually the squadron PIO asked me if I could write up something for their files and perhaps use sometime in a newsletter. That got me started. And once I got underway, the memories vividly reemerged, and I'm glad I put them to paper."

April 23, 2017--Ken Sanger's Rescue in Vietnam

From Ken Sanger comes this tale of inter-service assistance and heroism during the Vietnam War and news of a recent reunion.

     On the night of 21 July 1969 I had to jettison an A4 Skyhawk into the jungle of Laos. I also jettisoned myself but, unlike the aircraft, I was rescued by an Air Force Jolly Green crew.
     It was the last launch, and my third hop, of the day from ORISKANY (CVA 34). My wingman was a nugget (an inexperienced pilot). At about 2300, we were working with a FAC who had placed flares on the ground near the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos (that country we weren't bombing). The nugget was supposed to be a mile behind and 1,000 feet above me but lost situational awareness and was much closer. I was just making my first run and was in ninety degrees of bank when I felt the plane shudder and immediately go into a violent series of rolls while on fire. I think he took off part of a wing. I ejected at an estimated 360 knots and my radio was torn away. I didn't know my wingman had hit me until I met him on the rescue helo. I thought a SAM or gunfire had got me.
     After settling down during the peaceful parachute descent, I soon realized that since I lost my radio during the violent ejection, I was going to have to get my act together to either get rescued or start walking to Thailand. (The Navy was short on funds, so we were provided with only one radio and no beeper.) Since my radio was history, no one knew right away if I were alive. There was another section of squadron aircraft overhead. Knowing that, I pulled out my pencil flare while in the chute; I had nothing else to do! The standard issue flares were red, just like standard issue tracers! I somehow had learned that Sears sold green flares that fit the military pen. I bought a bunch. I fired off a few, hoping they would be seen and recognized. They were. When the others got back to the ship they convinced the air wing commander that I was alive and to hold off sending a MIA report.
     The crew of an Air Force Jolly Green rescue helicopter made the rescue the next day. After plucking me and my wingman from the jungle floor, they flew us to Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, where we were debriefed, patched up, and sent back to the ORISKANY and our squadron, VA 192 - The World Famous Golden Dragons. I have come to accept that my luck in surviving over 400 combat missions, 600 carrier landings, and a night in the Laotian jungle may be the reason I can't win the lottery!
     A friend (Roger Keithly, classes of '64 and '63) recently commented on my jungle camping experience. That got me to thinking I might be able to find and thank the crew who made it possible for me to write this today. I contacted the head of the Jolly Green Association and he put me in touch with someone who could help. In about six hours from my first email, I had the names of the crew members, five formerly secret reports of the Air Force efforts to get me out, and a photo of a happy, young, Yankee Air Pilot Pirate and the crew who risked their lives for me. I am in the middle.

Ken Sanger and his USAF rescuers

     The next day, I received the name and contact information for Jerry Jones, the pilot of the helo. On 27 March, 2017, I met Jerry at his home in Carlsbad, CA. We spent two and a half hours talking mostly about each other and filling in details of the rescue from each of our perspectives. The memories of the day of the rescue were amazingly clear for each of us. He recalled being awakened at about 0200 and told that they had a rescue scheduled for first light in a heavy threat area and then being told to go back to sleep! He didn't!
     He let me know that there were a major road and a few small towns less than two miles away. A helo had been shot down in the area a few weeks before while on a rescue mission. The crew and pilot were rescued, making the pilot one who had been shot down twice in a very short time! That was why they were a bit nervous about picking me up, since I didn't have a radio and they couldn't be certain at first that I hadn't been captured and the bad guys had my flares.
     The courage of the rescue crews was remarkable. There were known anti-aircraft gun sites in that area that could unleash a high volume of fire. The Air Force guys were willing to effect a rescue under conditions that could easily mean sudden death. A hovering helo is an easy target and the guns could have been hidden from view. That is heroism!
     Here are two photos showing Jerry and me, then and now. The first was taken at Nakhon Phanom after the mission. In the second, we are holding a framed copy of the same image at his home.

Ken Sanger (left) and Jerry Jones (right)

USN-USAF reunion 48 years later

     Jerry mentioned that everyone was very disappointed that the Navy was so damned efficient. A party was planned that afternoon/evening for all involved -- Sandy's, Sawdust, Jolly's, and the rescued -- but the ORISKANY's COD arrived to haul us back to the boat, where we had a welcome back cake waiting!

April 24, 2017--Steve Jacoby's West Germany and Vietnam Experience

Click Here for a history written by Steve Jacoby USNA63/U.S. Army relating his experiences as an artillery officer in West Germany and then in Vietnam.

April 24, 2017--Raymond Heins Vietnam Stories

Ray Heins submitted two stories about his experiences in Vietnam. Click Here for "Air Raid in the Tonkin Gulf" and Click Here for "Sunk".

April 25, 2017--Dave Moore's Introduction to Vietnam

"Through the Looking Glass", Dave Moore's introduction to Vietnam. Click Here .

April 26, 2017--More Raymond Heins Vietnam Stories

Ray Heins submitted two more stories about his experiences in Vietnam. Click Here for "A Memorable Song" and Click Here for "The Volunteer".

April 30, 2017--John McCabe's "Christmas at Sea"

Click Here for "Christmas at Sea"

May 11, 2017 Bob Maier added: Just a short follow-on to John McCabe's "Christmas at Sea" story :

I was on Ticonderoga at the same time as John, and clearly recall the events he describes. At the time, I was flying A4Cs as a member of Attack Squadron 144, and like John, also living in a stateroom maintained at 105 degrees. However..... Leaving the line and heading for Yokosuka, it was determined that the flight deck directly over the stateroom next to mine required repair. And yes, that meant replacing worn timbers in the wooden flight deck. (Writing that, I feel like I served on Old Ironsides.) The stateroom occupants were re-located, and a large hole opened to the skies.

Now Yokosuka in December gets cold and rainy, and the tarp covering the hole provided no protection. Of course the ship had no blankets - we sailed for the South China Sea, right? My roommate and I emptied our lockers to pile everything we owned on the bed for warmth, to little avail. When we awoke in the morning, our boots and shoes were sloshing back and forth in an inch of icy water.

It felt good to get back to a 105 degree Christmas with Bob Hope and his ladies, and I even got a kiss from Anita Bryant!

May 4, 2017--Fred Kaiser's UDT/SEAL Training, The Real Story

Click Here Fred's article about the realities of UDT/SEAL training

April 26, 2017--Stories About and By Grant Telfer

Here's a heroic but horrifying story about Grant Telfer's "Last Fight" Click Here. and Click Here for Grant's New Year's Eve ship's log poem..

May 11, 2017--Air Force B-57s in Vietnam, from Bill Palafox

First..I did not serve in Vietnam. Below is a piece of related history of the times. My connection...Commissioned USAF. At the time, I was assigned to a USA-based B-57 aircraft outfit whose core mission was to simulate attacks against North America (aka "Friendly Enemy.").

During the build-up, some B-57 crews ferried many Vietnam-configured B-57's from the USA (Martin Company/Baltimore) to Clark Air Base in the Philipines..Nav Aids...DR, Tacan, ADF and 4 eyeballs). Our range was 1500 to 2000 nm depending on winds..so, alot of island-hopping. These aircraft were then flown to Ben Hoa and Da Nang by others. After spending a few days at Clark, the ferry crews grabbed a Flying Tigers flight back to the states to pick-up another aircraft to ferry.

The B-57's distinguished themselves in Vietnam, esp. close air support. Notable books written about those B-57s are "DOOM Pussy" and "Vietnam, Over the Treetops." The B-57 crews,regardless of mission, were and still are a close gang
("DOOM"...aka "Danang Officers' Open Mess")

May 14, 2017--Vietnam and Me by Jim Ring

For Jim Ring's Vietnam story Click Here.

May 16, 2017--Vietnam and a Nuclear Incident by Michael Krause

For Mike's Vietnam story Click Here.

May 16, 2017--The Seabees in Vietnam by Jud Pearson

Click Here for Jud Pearson's account of serving with the CEC/Seabees.

July 5, 2017--Shot Down Over North Vietnam by Jon Harris

Click Here for Jon Harris's story of being the first pilot rescued from North Vietnam

May 23, 2021--Article by Stephen Duncan

Click Here for Stephen Duncan's story,"Mighty Anachronism, The Brief But Pyrotechnic Life of IFS Division 93"

May 23, 2021--"BROWN WATER BLUEJACKETS, VIETNAM: THE NAVY IN THE MEKONG DELTA" featuring David Robinson

Click Here for the article and video

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Class Valor
Classmates' valor - to honor our recipients of combat decorations, available citations for Silver Star and higher precedence decorations are displayed.

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Class History
History of the Class of 1963

The Class of 1963 was inducted on 7 July 1959, numbering 1,205 young men comprised of appointees from 48 States (no member from North Dakota), the Territory of Hawaii (not yet a state), the District of Columbia, the Canal Zone, and six foreign countries. We were the only class inducted under a 49-star U.S. flag, Alaska having been admitted to the Union in January of that year, while Hawaii was not added until August.

Our class was the first at Navy to take the SATs as part of the admissions process. Previously, candidates were given a special entrance examination prepared by the Naval Academy. We were also the first class since 1931 not to receive Plebe Summer flight training in the two-seat N-3N seaplane (the "Yellow Peril"), a fleet of which was still maintained across the Severn River. These antique biplanes, which were almost 30 years old by 1959, had just been declared un-airworthy, to our great disappointment. We were the first class to participate all four years in the then-new majors program, and 106 of us received major-credits on our diplomas. We were the last class to wear detachable collars with our white dress shirts; the last to have our names stenciled across our white works uniforms; the last to wear cloth cap covers and cape-style "rain gear"; and the last class to go through all four years using the old Navy 4.0 numerical grading system, where 4.0 was a perfect score and 2.5 was the minimum passing grade. By the end of our Youngster Year, the growing variety of academic courses had eroded the universal curriculum and, as a result, we no longer marched to and from classes.

We beat Army in football all four years. This string of victories continued with a fifth consecutive win the November after we graduated. We were the first class never to lose in football to either Army or Air Force, although we played Air Force only once, beating them 35-3 in the first encounter between the two teams. Evidencing strong, early spirit, members of the class painted " 63 sez Beat Army" on the freshly refinished laundry smokestack at the beginning of Youngster Year. (The large laundry building stood at the present site of Rickover Hall and the tall smokestack was a prominent feature in The Yard.) The feat was accomplished in a deft, nighttime climb and the encouraging words remained until we graduated.

The inaugural game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium was played in September 1959, against William & Mary. (Navy won 29-2.) The occasion was made memorable by the personal appearance of President Dwight Eisenhower, who flew in from the White House by Marine helicopter and officially dedicated the new facility.

We were the last class to enjoy "Exchange Weekend" with West Point, where all 2/c Midshipmen, in successive small groups, spent several days at The Point, stepping into the life and academic schedule of a counterpart cadet while cadets did the same in our places at Navy. This was a unique experience in seeing "how the other half lives" and strengthened the close relationships that exist between Navy and Army.

At our commencement on 5 June 1963, Vice President Lyndon Johnson presented diplomas and commissions to a class whose ranks numbered 876. The great majority of the graduates accepted Navy commissions. The largest number, 324, went into the surface line; 209 chose naval aviation, and 138 entered the nuclear power program. The remaining 54 new Ensigns were spread among the Supply Corps, the Civil Engineering Corps, and Engineering Duty Officers. Only 66 entered the Marine Corps, reflecting the limits on commissions into that service. Almost as many -- 60 graduates -- were commissioned in the Air Force. (The USNA and USMA classes of 1963 were the last allowed to send significant numbers of graduates to the Air Force, a vestige of the days before the Air Force had its own academy.) In addition, 20 new officers chose Army commissions. Five graduates were found not physically qualified for commissioning. Foreign students from Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Philippines, and Peru returned to service in their own countries.

After graduation, members of the Class served with distinction in all the services. Thirteen graduates were lost in Vietnam and two were held as POWs. Another 15 died in the line of duty over the years; among these were three men lost in the sinking of SCORPION and one who perished in the LIBERTY incident. Classmates serving in combat were awarded three Navy Crosses, one Army Distinguished Service Cross, and 15 Silver Stars. One Navy warship was named after a heroic classmate lost in Vietnam - the USS FITZGERALD (DDG 62).

Twenty 1963 graduates achieved flag rank, 19 in the United States Navy and one in the Peruvian Navy. Four of the U.S. flag officers attained the rank of Vice Admiral. Class members not serving a career in the military achieved notable success as physicians, actors, dentists, writers, artists, educators, jurists, clergymen, scientists, lawyers, and leading business executives. Class members also served widely in both elected and appointed governmental office at the national, state, and local levels. Two were named Distinguished Graduates of the Naval Academy. Forty-four of our sons and daughters are Naval Academy graduates.

In 1974, the Class established a Foundation to perpetuate the history and memories of the Academy and the Class of 1963, and to assist the growth and development of the Academy. Over the ensuing 30 years, the Foundation provided nearly $900,000 in scholarship aid to more than 90 children of our deceased classmates while also contributing substantial funds to other efforts, especially the Class of 1963 Center for Academic Excellence at the Academy. Contributions by classmates have endowed the Center's operations in perpetuity. Through its support of Academy programs over many years, the Class of 1963 is ranked first among all classes in alumni giving.

Our class motto is Quality - '63, reflecting a shared dedication to excellence in the performance of our service to the nation and our fellow citizens. We sustain that high standard, though many years have passed since our time "by the Bay where Severn joins the tide."

It is an established fact that the Class of 1963 endured the last true Plebe Year.

As we approach the twilight of our years, a third of our classmates have already crossed the bar from life into the ultimate safe harbor. Those who remain feel pride and satisfaction that the Naval Academy Class of 1963 has served our nation and our communities faithfully and well. Our service continues.

The Terrible Tenth "Experience"

The Tenth Company of the late 50's had a well-deserved reputation for killer "Plebe Orientation" and the Class of 1963 was the beneficiary of well-honed training methods. Not only were we educated but any classmates who wandered, like flies into a spider net, into the company area got a once in a lifetime dose of the Terrible Tenth experience.

The pressure was on every minute of every day with constant mental and physical testing that lasted until the first day of June Week. We shoved out, came around, rigged rifles, sweated quarters to the bulkhead, did carrier landings, "Grey Hound" races, went over "Niagara Falls" in a cruise box, turned on radiators at 4:30 in the morning, and in some cases were just plain physically abused. And that was just on Monday.

The hazing made all meals the last place we wanted to be as we did our best to regurgitate answers to both professional subjects and the classic trivia. Being shoved out and trying to keep food on the plates of the upper-class guaranteed come-arounds for intense and personalized orientation. Then there were the Sunday night comedy club routines we had to come up with and yes the opportunity for more come-arounds.

All of this had one actual measurable result and another more elusive. The pressure caused a very high drop- out rate to the point of our numbers being supplemented during second class year by some classmates from other companies. We lost some people with good potential who could not handle both the academics and Tenth Company hazing.

The more elusive is the success in both the Navy (three Admirals, many O-6s), the civilian world and the very close relationships that our shared experience built. We have gathered as a company annually for the past 15-20 years and shared the same old war stories with those who proudly call ourselves the Terrible Tenth Survivors.

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Class of 1963 Chapel Pew
Displays the plaque which our class has placed on pew 63 in the USNA chapel

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USS Fitzgerald
A link to the official web site of the USS FITZGERALD, which includes an excellent biography on Lt. William Fitzgerald '63; We've added a few photos from commissioning provided by John Guzik, a former crewmember.  Also there are some photos taken by classmates at the commissioning ceremony. The painting of the FITZGERALD by our classmate Dick Whalen was given to the USNA Museum in October 1998 [during our 35th Reunion] by the Fitzgerald family.  

October 23, 2017 U.S. 7th Fleet Honors 36 USS Fitzgerald Sailors For Bravery, Damage Control Efforts

Click here for the website

February 27, 2015 Click here for a description of the USS Fitzgerald and background of the naming of the ship. Quite interesting for our class. From Jim Koehn

August 1, 2013 Two Group Photos at USS Fitzgerald Commissioning (Adobe Reader required)

Celebration of Bill Fitzgerald's 50th Anniversary of USNA graduation (Adobe Reader required)

USS Fitzgerald September 2007 Newsletter (Adobe Reader required)

USS Fitzgerald Family Readiness Group( FRG)
This provided by Jim Ring on August 21, 2008
Because it is homeported in Japan, our Class has had little contact with the ship, other than copies of Ship's newsletters that are emailed to us. As a means of maintaining a link to perhaps the only ship ever named after our Classmate, a tremendous honor, I propose that classmates offer some financial support to USS Fitzgerald Family Readiness Group( FRG).

Its purpose is to promote and create a friendly and social relationship among its members, to raise funds for group oriented activities and to serve the family members and the crew of the USS Fitzgerald. Membership consists of any USS Fitzgerald family member who wish to become a part of this organization. The Family Readiness Group plans and organizes various activities for children such as bowling parties, movie night, holiday parties etc. They hold fundraising events for these activities. The group would be ever so grateful for any donations from members of the USNA Class of 1963. They do monthly social activities for children and spouses. They try to get out in town because Japan can be very scary for some of our members. The group also organizes the children's holiday parties and had a wonderful turn out last year for both. Fundraisers are held in the form of bake sales and they are currently putting together a cook book to sell.

I think donations of $25 to $100 would help them a lot. I intend on sending $100.
Jim Ring

The address to send donations is:
USS Fitzgerald Family Readiness Group
PSC 473 Box 1941
FPO-AP 96349-1941
June 21, 2019--USS Fitzgerald Crew Unveils Commemorative Flag

PASCAGOULA, Mississippi - On June 17, the crew of the guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) unveiled a commemorative flag honoring the Sailors who died in a collision in the Sea of Japan two years ago.

Designed by current crewmembers, the flag memorializes their seven fallen shipmates. The flag is blue with "DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP" emblazoned above the names of the seven Sailors. The motto is a common Navy phrase, but all Fitzgerald Sailors embodied that spirit on June 17, 2017 when they fought significant flooding and structural damage following the collision.

The Fitzgerald crew held a solemn remembrance ceremony and raised the flag immediately after morning colors.

"I am proud of this flag and proud of our shipmates who helped design it, as it is a product of respect and professionalism that symbolizes their great service and sacrifice," said Cmdr. Garrett Miller, Fitzgerald commanding officer, who unfurled the commemorative flag for the first time.

In addition, the National Ensign and Union Jack were raised on the ship for the first time since November 2017.

"Fitzgerald's crew designed this flag from scratch as a way to embody those shipmates we lost," said Cmdr. Scott Wilbur, Fitzgerald's executive officer. "It will be flown every year on 17 June to honor them and to never forget their sacrifice. The current crew continues to live out that motto while bringing the ship back to the Fleet."

On April 16, Fitzgerald took another step toward returning to the fleet. The ship launched and moored pierside at Huntington-Ingalls Industries - Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard.

Throughout this restoration period, the U.S. Navy has made it a priority to ensure Fitzgerald returns to a peak state of warfighting readiness to contribute to an agile and dynamic fleet.

June 14, 2020--USS Fitzgerald Leaves Ingalls Shipbuilding for New Homeport In San Diego, 3 Years After Fatal Collision

Click Here.

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USS Midway Museum
The Class of 1963 supported the dedication by VA-23 of a restored A-4 bearing the name of classmate Stan Smiley

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A Seaman's Eye by Dick Whalen  In addition to the painting of the FITZGERALD, Dick Whalen has produced several other paintings of US Navy ships in action.  Click here for the collection. Snaphots of his work, along with a biography of the artist, are a unique feature of USNA63.org.

Dick died August 13, 2019. We have no information if prints are still available.

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The Herndon Monument Climb
A history of the "tain't no more plebes" ceremony which features '63s John Truesdell

Here's an article from the May 19, 2014 Capital Gazette which also features John.Click Here

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Class Genealogy
Generational connections (Family Military Traditions:  to include '63 descendants and ancestors who attended USNA, USMA, USAFA, USCGA)

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Bibliography
Two full rooms of books.  Publications by '63 authors, publications by other USNA grads, items about USNA, other recommended titles.    Includes references in print and other media.

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Sea Stories
True lies but no videotape.  Sea Stories submitted by classmates.

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Cubi Cat
Tales of the legendary NAS Cubi Point Officers' Club. A must for aviators!

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Pride & Tradition:  Class Reunion Thoughts

  Keeping Remembrance Alive  - (30th Reunion)   by Tom Taylor
  Reflections - (35th Reunion)   by Steve Duncan
  Class President Spencer Johnson's talking points for the Superintendent:(50th Reunion)-- a fine compilation of our class accomplishments, milestones and unique occurrences during our four years. -    by Spencer Johnson
  Click Here for Mike Shelley's Memorial Service Remarks at the 50th Reunion.
  Click Here for Mike Cronin's address on our departed classmates at the 55th Reunion in San Diego
  Click Here for the briefing notes prepared by Spencer Johnson for the Supe's speech at the 55th Reunion and Click Here for the Supe's notes on the Navy-Notre Dame rivalry
  Click Here for Steve Duncan's speech at the 60th reunion memorial service.

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Dedication of Ted Willandt's Class Ring to the Alumni Association

  Spencer Johnson's report of the dedication ceremony
  Attendees and Photos from the dedication

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Pride & Tradition:  Memories
  7 July 1959 - (The Beginning) and other Plebe Summer Memories 
  Terry's Team -Mike Cronin relates his experiences riding in the MS150 bike ride on Terry's Team 
  Army-Navy Photos '59-'62 -A few old Army-Navy Game photos 
  Dirck Praeger's Car-St.Christopher -This is a great story about a great car. 
  18th Co. Christmas Party -A Tale of Misspent Youth. 
  Reflections of a Blackshoe -By VADM Harold Koenig, USN (Ret)
  Dirck Praeger's Hitchhiking Tale -Tales of hitchhiking home for summer leaves 
  Dirck Praeger's "Over-the-Wall" Tale -This tale will hit home for lots from '63 
  Dirck Praeger's "War Against the Language Prof" Tale  
  Dirck Praeger's "Adventures in Getting to Army-Navy '62"  
  Dirck Praeger's "Boots and Whiskey"  
  Dirck Praeger's "Camping on the Shenandoah"  
  Mal Wright's "Mal Wright and Larry Marsh Exchange Adm. Rickover's Picture for 38th Time"  
  Bill Pawlyk's Nuke Memories  
  Sam Garde's Old Midshipman Photos from Brooklyn Newspapers  
  Army-Navy Past: Joe Bellino (from Baltimore Sun)  
  Army-Navy Past: QBs recall historic '63 matchup 1963 from Navy Times  
  Coin that JFK would have tossed in 1963 Army-Navy game will finally be used 50 years later from Capital Gazette 12/10/13. Click Here for image of the coin on its plaque  
  Coin that JFK did toss in 1962 Army-Navy game--from 1962 Navy Football Captain, classmate Steve Hoy  
  Click Here for a video from Vietnam of Randy Orlowski and Bill Beck surfing with explanation from Randy.
      Jim Ring added this footnote:

In early 66, I was Sea and Anchor detail Officer of the Deck on PAUL REVERE as we entered Danang Harbor. She was over 600 ft long and was not easy to maneuver, but we really had to watch out for the water skiers who were cruising around the harbor behind the welfare and rec speedboats. It was close to China Beach. What was really strange was you could hear artillery booming off in the distance. Often wondered if any of those skiers are on the Vietnam Wall from injuries suffered while water skiing. Very strange indeed!

  Click Here for Dave Moore's memory of a memorable evening on Diego Garcia  
 February 28, 2014-- Click Here for a photo of a poster recently found in the basement of Johnson's on the Avenue with many '63 signatures  
        Click Here for blown up sections of the poster to see your name  
 July 2, 2014-- Click Here for Tom Kelley's remembrance of rendering honors to JFK on the USS Kitty Hawk  
 July 2, 2014-- Click Here for Tom Kelley's experience of witnessing a nuclear explosion from the USS Kitty Hawk.  
 July 5, 2014-- Click Here for A January-February 1996 Shipmate featured article about Ensign Jim Oakes meeting Admiral Nimitz.  

 July 21, 2014-- Click Here for Steve Coester's memories of helping launch Apollo 11 to the moon and preventing a launch scrub on July 16, 1969  
 July 21, 2014-- Click Here for Steve Coester's story about a Space Shuttle near miss.  
 July 28, 2014-- Click Here for Steve Coester's personal perspective on the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster  

 September 2, 2014-- A Vietnam story from Peter Quinton  
My first tour of duty after USNA was on board the U.S.S.Black (DD-666). We had 4, single, 5"/38 mounts along with 3, 3"/50 dual-mount, guns. During my tour I served as the gunnery officer firing many missions of gunfire support for Marines and Army personnel during one of my deployments to Viet Nam. I was the director officer in the Mk-37 director and got to pull the trigger during those fire missions as well as spotting and correcting the fall of shot to get on target. On one fire mission, our spotting O-1 Bird Dog (Army aviation) called for a check fire to observe the damage on our targets. As he passed over the beach, he took automatic weapons fire from a grove of trees. Always ready for counter battery fire, it was my job as director officer to immediately respond. I sited the director on the grove of trees, estimated the range (around 1500 yards) and put four, 55 lb projectiles right on target!...."Charlie" was not having a good day! Our spotting aircraft gave a whoop and a holler for our knocking out the machine gun nest. My one war story.....the rest of my career was not too exciting, peace time Navy!

Here's an addition from Art Clark.

My first tour was on the USS John R Pierce (DD-763). Oddly that was the very same ship that we toured as a high schooler that put me over the edge for attending the Naval Academy some years later. Second tour was aboard USS Nicholas (DD-449). Both had 5"/38 and 3"/50 mounts. Whilst aboard the Nick home ported in Hawaii, aviators bombed the wrong island, one ship lost control of a practice torpedo that landed on Waikiki beach, another ship fired a practice Weapon Alpha that promptly landed in their own laundry and last, but not least, the ship berthed in front of us laid a perfect hedgehog pattern of live ammo in the B25 parking lot. How did that happen you may wonder? Well, the ammo was olive drab signifying live ammo. The gunners mates, however, knew they had ordered inert blue rounds, so the painted them blue. Next their chief noted the color and also noted that the tail fins weren't notched, so he corrected that problem. Next came the Board of Inspection and Survey inspectors who noted the inert rounds, so they hit the rapid fire button on the starboard launcher. The last I saw was the weapons officer being escorted ashore in what looked a straight jacket. Sick but funny.
 May 14, 2015-- Click Here for Dick Jones' tale of hitchhiking to see his girlfriend during Second Class Summer Plebe Detail  
 May 18, 2015-- Click Here for Dick Jones' tale of liberty at Cubi Point and Olongapo City with a stinking finish.
 May 18, 2015-- Click Here for Dick Jones' story of NAAs Meridian, Civil Rights and the KKK
 May 21, 2015-- Click Here for another Dick Jones' story about a Marine aviator who got lost over Vietnam and almost landed among the enemy.
 November 5, 2015-- Steve Coester just read a great book about U of Washington's quest for the 1936 Olympic eight man crew championship in Hitler's Nazi Germany which prominently mentioned Navy crew. That reminded him of our own Class of 1963 crew exploits. Click Here for an article about our crew (also on our Reunions page).
Mike Blackledge adds: In Nov 1984, my siblings gathered at Hubbard Hall to dedicate a crew shell in honor of my father, Class of 1920. Surprisingly, at our 45th Reunion, we found that shell hanging from the rafters of Hubbard Hall, to represent the last of the wooden shells!
 January 22, 2016--Here's a story from Pete Savage about his time as Supply Office on the USS Tullibee SSN597 and a hilarious screw up on a simple requisition. Click Here for an entertaining story.
 August 1, 2016--Phillip Marsden provided this account of our classmate Ben Cole's wife, Sue, meeting the person she donated bone marrow to. Click Here for the newspaper story.
 January 11, 2017--Bill Pawlyk's involvement in the torpedoing of an American aircraft carrier Click Here for Bill's story.
 February 28, 2017--

Michael Blackledge got some interesting information about Navy prep schools and some bonus information about Class of 1963 firsts. Mike said, "James Cheevers, the Senior Curator of the US Naval Academy Museum, has done some research on the history of prep schools providing candidates for the Academy. He notes something that I never realized: one more first for our class, namely that our class was the first NOT to take the entrance exams for the Academy! Over 100 years of tradition and process changed!

I received this research as part of my on-going efforts to find which Prep School my father attended during Fall 1915 - Spring 1916; Jennifer of Special Collections has provided his results to me for the exam of April 1916 - which he passed. Thus I am here.

Steve Coester reports that if he remembers correctly he took a multi day civil service exam for the Coast Guard Academy that left him so drained he couldn't find his car in downtown St. Louis after it was finally finished. Must have done okay since he was offered an appointment.

"Click Here for this interesting information from James W. Cheevers, Senior Curator, U.S. Naval Academy Museum

 August 6, 2018--

Michael Shelley has compiled an extensive list of headlines and significant Academy events from our four years on the Severn. Click Here for this interesting information

 September 26, 2018--

An overall shot of our Ring Dance in 1962. The Ring is to the left of the reflecting pond

 April 2, 2019--

June Stone wrote this about Chuck's Austin Healy and his love affair with this "Other Woman"

"Click Here and "Click Here

 June 24, 2019, -- As we approach the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, Click Here for Steve Coester's memories of Working the LH2 leak that could have changed history.  
 September 27, 2019, -- Here's a YouTube video of the USS Kitty Hawk featuring classmate Lee Tillotson Click Here for the video  
 June 13, 2020, -- Sam Winston provided by Dave Moore

Sam Winston is a famous story in '63. We all returned from aviation summer and commenced 2/c studies and, of course, passed the legal drop dead date for resigning from USNA. Sam Winston then discovered he had just inherited $7M and his naval motivation suddenly waned. He put in his letter of resignation which was not looked upon kindly. The story goes that LTCol Twisdale, The Battalion Officer, called him into the office and read Sam Winston the riot act. He also said to Mid'n 2/c Winston" " Do you know how much Uncle Sam has spent on your education?" To which the cheeky midshipmen replied: "Col, can I write you a check?" The top brass would not let him leave so when it came time to take the finals for the first semester of NAV, Sam Winston just put his hand on the chart and ran the pencil around his hand and fingers carefully annotating the DR positions.

After his father died when he was a teen-ager, the Tennessee-born Winston followed his mother to the Los Angeles area. She married Ray Oliver, and the two men began selling tires wholesale in 1962. They opened their first retail store in Glendale two years later, selling Delta brand tires. Meanwhile, Winston completed a bachelor's degree in economics at USC in 1964. Winston also attended the Naval Academy and served in the Marine Corps. He was a board member of Meals on Wheels, a program that provides hot meals to elderly and ill people. He died in 1995 in a car wreck. Click Here for the Winston Tire web page.  

Here's more from Dave Maples, Sam's roommate in the 5th Company:

To answer Dave's question. The core of the version of Sam's story he heard is surprisingly accurate for having been handed down word of mouth for almost 60 years. Some of the details are a little different.

Sam was from Memphis, an only child. His dad owned a small restaurant there (really nice man and a world class practical joker). His mother came from money (she was a wonderful character, small, loving but take no prisoners personality).

Sam's dad died, I think early in our youngster year. His mother remarried to a man, Rick (can't remember the last name) from Dallas, TX. She, of course moved to Dallas. Rick had the Dunlop Tire distributorship for the southwest (Texas, New Mexico and Arizona). He had polo ponies, etc, etc.

I can't remember the exact sequence, but at some point Sam's grandfather (mother's father) died and Sam inherited the $7M.

To my mind, the beginning of the saga was Christmas leave second class year. Sam went to Dallas. At the end of the leave period the weather in Texas was awful and his flight back to D.C. was canceled due to weather. He couldn't find another flight. Rick even tried to charter an aircraft to get Sam back, but nothing could get off the ground. The result was Sam was about 7 or 8 hours late reporting back to the Academy. "No excuse, sir." He may not have been "Class A'd" but he received a ton of demerits and spent many hours walking the demerits off. It severely pissed him off.

I think the combination of the Christmas leave situation combined with the new personal wealth prompted his wanting to leave the Academy.

The exchange in Col Twisdale's office is accurate. One thing to add to it is Col Twisdale was so exasperated he called Sam's mother while Sam was standing in front of the desk. He implored Sam's mother to get Sam to stay. He said something to Sam's mother like, "What will he do?" Sam's mother replied, in her very southern accent, "Why, Col Twisdale, you don't have to worry about Sam. I have just transferred $250,000 from Sam's checking account to a business he and his step-father are starting." That was the end of the session with Col Twisdale.

(After returning to our room, can remember Sam recounting his visit to Col Twisdale's office to Hoot and me. Our eyes were like, wow.)

The Nav exam story is true. The Academy was probably pretty pissed at him. After separation, he was sent "across the river" at remained there for several weeks before being allowed to leave.

Rick, Sam and several other investors started Delta Tire Company. BTW, Sam had already invested in a small Memphis motel operation called Holiday Inn.

About that time, Rick negotiated an exchange of his SW Dunlop Tire distributorship for one the Southern Calif distributorship (much larger). Rick and Sam's mother moved to Pasadena, CA.

After Sam left he also went to Pasadena and finished school at Stanford. He saw a market for specialty tires (dune buggies, etc). The Delta investors din't want to go that route. So, Sam started Winston Tire Company. It was primarily passenger car tires, but he had the other part, too. He was one of the early guys to star in his own commercials. He had duo adds with Jerry West for a number of years. I think he built the business to around 240 stores.

While I was assigned in Los Angeles, we would get together occasionally for lunch.

Sam was tragically killed in a car wreck.

 July 2, 2022-- Click Here for Tom Kelley's remembrance of describing a situation where nuclear weapons were "uploaded" to Naval Air Force bombers.  

 August 27, 2023-- Click Here for Fred Kaiser Jr.'s report on attending the UDT-SEAL West Coast Reunion in Coronado CaliforniaUDT-SEAL West Coast Reunion in Coronado California.

Classmate Fred Sr. wrote:

"For years I have wanted to take our son Fred, to the annual Navy SEAL Reunion in Coronado, CA, but never could. School would start and he would be back, teaching classes. This year, being retired, he was able to attend. Being involved in martial arts, teaching PE, running many special programs for students and having an interest in a variety of weapons, I hoped he would enjoy seeing some of the facilities, meeting some of my old friends, and learning more about our mission. What my son wrote above triggered my emotions and made me so happy that this was the year he joined us. We are very proud of our son Fred as we are of his brother Chris and sister Kathryn. Klara and I are very fortunate parents!"

 March 12, 2024-- Gun Smoke--A memory from Keith Reynolds

In September 1963, I reported onboard the USS Jenkins (DD447) in Yokosuka, Japan. Days later we were underway transiting the Sea of Japan enroute to Sasebo, Japan after a brief stop in Hakodate. Once we were tied up in Sasebo, I was responsible to make the Top Secret/Crypto document run to deliver outdated documents and receive new documents. For that task I had a shopping bag sized heavy canvas bag with lock and a 45-caliber side arm, the Colt M1911.

As I stood by the floor safe, wondering whether it made sense to carry the weapon since I would always be on-base, the ship's "Bull-Ensign" came up to me. He took my Colt and proceeded to take the 2 of us into an adjacent officer's stateroom where he sat down at the desk while I stood just to the left of him. He was going to give me a lesson in the weapon's safety features. I was well trained in this but was willing to revisit this important bit of information. After going through the 3 safety features, he then instructed me on how to load a round by pulling back and then releasing the receiver.

This is where things happened so fast that it took several seconds to realize just what happened. When he released the receiver, the gun chambered a live 45 caliber round. He must have assumed the gun wasn't loaded and I knew that it was loaded. Before I could tell him that he had chambered a round he pulled the trigger. In less than a second the bullet went through the webbing of his left hand, through the stateroom's aluminum bulkhead, ricocheted off a steel watertight door 90 degrees to the left, ricocheted off the steel floor safe another 90 degrees to the left and penetrated the same stateroom's bulkhead and hit me square in the solar plexuses and then fell to the deck between my feet. It had traveled less than 15 feet. The Bull-Ensign's hand was bleeding, the stateroom was filled with the sound and then acrid smoke of the discharge. And, most importantly, the weapon was still loaded. While assimilating all that happened, I first secured the pistol and by then several members of the crew who were on the other side of the now dented water tight door arrived and helped out.

What an experience and a lesson that I would see several times over in my career - that life on board ship is inherently and unforgivingly dangerous. Later, when I asked the Executive Officer if I could have the mangled bullet he said " NO!" making it clear to me that I was one very lucky individual. I agree.

 

Midshipman Memories 
  Pat Waugh Tells an Amazing Story   by Pat Waugh
  Memories of Marching and Formations    by Dave Moore, Mike Shelley, and Mike Moore
  AWOL in Morroco    by John Morgan
  Bricking    by John Morgan
  Painting the Smokestack    by Zimm Zimmerman
  My Best Christmas    by Spencer Johnson
  Mess Hall Antics    by Dirck Praeger
  Tales from the Natatorium    by Steve Coester
  My Unlikely Journey to a Varsity letter    by Steve Coester
  Click for the Drag Handbook Mario Fiori sent in this Drag Handbook from about 1952. Steve Coester's wife has one from 1962 but it is temporarily lost.
 August 14, 2014-- Click Here for Jon Harris's account of raising the first 50 star U.S. flag in NYC  
 August 31, 2014-- Click Here for a nice poem about plebe year from T.C. Lyster USNA '64  
 September 3, 2014-- Click Here for Dave Moore's recounting of Navy football 1959-1962  
 September 15, 2014-- Click Here for a 1967 midshipman dating etiquette video from back in our day. From Dave Moore. How times have changed!  
 May 9, 2015-- Click for the Drag Handbook from 1962, the one we used. Finally Yvonne Coester found her long lost copy!
 May 9, 2015-- Click for our graduation announcement
 October 4, 2015-- Click Here for Pete Savage's recounting of our pranks at the very first Navy-Air Force football game in 1960. We won the game 35-3.
        Click Here for Pete Savage and Dick Nelson telling of the crazed falcon prank.
 December 3, 2015-- Click Here for a discussion of the Navy Songbook we were issued plebe year.This started with Mike Blackledge wanting to find a copy.

 March 1, 2016-- Click Here for a compilation of funny stories and misadventures which occurred during our Physical Education (PE) classes. If you have a good one send it to Mike Blackledge at mike@blackledge.com and he'll include it.

 April 9, 2016-- Click Here for Dirck Praeger's account of his pre-entrance physical and academic testing for the military academies. Webmaster's note: After reading Dirck's account, I could have just changed his name to mine. I'm sure it fits many of you.

 November 3, 2017-- Click Here for Ross Anderson's hilarious account of his and Vic Dean's road trip from Tallahassee to the Academy in a Model A Ford.

 November 27, 2019-- Click Here for Harry Hirsch account of how the 23rd (then 19th) Company painted the Academy smokestack.

 August 15, 2020--Here are five interesting letters from John Truesdell's file:

Click Here for Class Policy of the Class of 1963

Click Here Commandant's letter to the Class of 1963.pdf

Click Here First Class Privileges Class of 1963.pdf

Click Here Hundreth Night Policy Class of 1963.pdf

Click Here Late Night Policy First Class of '63.pdf

 August 16, 2020--A fun tale about the 1962 Army-Navy Game from Dirck Praeger

Click Here for Dirck's story of driving to the game.

 October 17, 2020--Lee Cargill relates how he and Jim Patterson built a glider during Spring Break '61

Click Here for Lee's story

 December 30, 2021--"Assault On A Fortress" By Austin M Seay:

I have been sitting on this story since Veterans day week end 1962. How do I direct it so that it gets placed in the class of 1963 archives??There were seven midship men from the class of 1963 that made the trip to West Point, namely: Dick Arvedlund ,Bo Kearns, Chuck Maclin, Ned Walsh, Ross Anderson, Tony Nargi and me plus six civilians as noted herein. I recorded the details of the event in a letter to my mother a few days after our attempt to steal the mules. Only two of us escaped, Dick Arvedlund and me. The other five were class "A' d" ,but had their demerits expunged by graduation due to good behavior. There are still a couple of other stories that remain to be told....like what happened when the middies were arrested and placed in the USMA brig, How Bo Kearns made his trip back to USNA by himself. It is a story the class never really heard about due to the brass wanting to keep it under wraps. It is time the story was told.

Click Here for the story.

Click Here for more background to the story.

Click Here for the text of a satirical Navy Unit Commendation.

 January 21, 2022--Midshipman Summer Cruise Memories

Soon after Christmas 2021 several of our classmates engaged in an exchange of entertaining emails about Youngster Cruise experiences in 1960. This led Jim DeFrancia to add an account of his adventures on First Class Cruise. Extracts from six of the emails in the below link.

Click Here for the stories.

 June 7, 2022--George Grider remembers a turbulent plebe year

Twisdale: Conversations with the Colonel...

Click Here for the George's story and how Col. Twisdale saved him from expulsion.

 June 7, 2022--A Couple of Items of Interest

I, Steve Coester, was having a discussion on Facebook with classmate Dick Wyttenbach-Santos about this photo.

It shows me picking up the diploma for my 18th Co. classmates. Dick pointed out that he had his presented by the Vice President, LBJ. I explained that was because he was #9 in class ranking and the V.P. presented to either the wearers of "Stars" or top 10 percent. Prior to graduation we had a practice like we did for every major happening, and the names were announced of those who would get their diploma individually. I was a "Stars" guy and my name wasn't announced so in a huff I complained and was told to go to the Admin office to straighten it out. I rushed over there only to be told that because of the infamous 18th Company Pre-Christmas drunken party my "Fitness" grade had tanked and that First Class year it counted for 50% of class ranking. Therefore my final class rank fell below the cutoff, but I was still next in line to pick up the bulk diplomas. You can read about that party by CLICKING HERE.

That led to a discussion of how I knew Dick's class rank. Toward the bottom of our website top page is a link to the "Annual Register of the United States Naval Academy 1963-1964" for our graduating year. In it is all sorts of interesting information about our class including class rank, final standing in each class etc. You can even look at the previous three years by changing the dates in the link which is https://archive.org/details/annualregiste19631964unse.

In our webpage several places we use ID numbers for you that were provided by the Alumni Association. These ID numbers for some reason are sequential by class rank not alphabetically so one can also tell class rank from the roster. Dan Hennessy was our #1 ranked midshipman with ID 314300 and it goes down 876 (generally by 10s) numbers to 323000 our Anchor Man.

 June 16, 2022--How We got Our Appointments

The following two photos show all the different ways midshipmen were appointed during our entry process. You should be able to figure out how you got your appointment.

 February 12, 2023--USNA Catalog of Information for 1959-1960 and 1962-1963
Lots of interesting information in these two catalogs.

1959-60 Catalog of Information.
1962-63 Catalog of Information.
Table of Contents

 December 27, 2023--Jim Ring's Memory of our first Army-Navy game.

I went to the Army Navy game in Boston, a few weeks ago. As I stood there, thoughts came to mind about our first Army Navy in Nov. 1959. What a thrill it was to march on to the applause of 100,000 at that old stadium. I think we did a hat trick also. I remember how nervous I was making sure I was keeping in step and did the hat trick correctly. Our best friends at the time were our roommates, so I am sure that I stood the whole game cheering on Navy with Jim Patterson and Peter Rollosson at my side. As you recall, we were pregame underdogs and it was very important to all plebes to win the game. If we did, we received carryon to Christmas leave. I remember how nervous I was in the fourth quarter thinking they would come back and win the game, even though we won 43-12. We had our secret weapon, Joe Bellino, who ran through Army and also intercepted a pass on defense Jim Maxfield, who lived a few doors from us, was the QB that season. Army had the " lonesome end". We wondered how in the world he knew what the play was since he didn't get in the huddle. Best of all, we got to carry on until Christmas leave!

---

Pride & Tradition:

Lest We Forget
  USS Scorpion Sinking Analysis - Provided by Jim Ring April 2010
  USS Scorpion Sinking Analysis - Provided by Bob LaGassa 10/20/2013
  Lasswell, USMC, Cryptographer - Classmate Jim Lasswell's father who identified Midway Island as Japanese invasion target
  Account of Pentagon Attack - Betty Maxfield (Wife of Kent)
  Address to the Troops (5 June 1944) - Gen. George Patton, USA
  Eulogy for a Fighter Pilot -  Pat Conroy
  What So Proudly We Hail - Capt. John McCain, '58
  Farewell to the Corps - Gen. Charles Krulak, '64
  Speech to Senior NCO Academy Graduation - General John P. Jumper
  The Boat School Boys - By Captain Richard A. Stratton, U.S. Navy (Retired)
  Home is the Sailor-John Paul Jones - From www.smithsonianmagazine.com
  Search for the Bonhomme Richard

In 2010 our Class provided $4500 to aid in the search for the Bonhomme Richard. Click on the title link for an article; Searching for the Bonhomme Richard: A Tale of Two Navies. The article was authored by Melissa Ryan, the architect of the Naval Academy's BHR on-line course and the project manager for the ongoing search for the BHR. I think you will find it a very interesting read.

Another item is Melissa Ryan's ongoing blog, which can be found at: http://searchforbhr.blogspot.com/.

A Smithsonian Channel special on the search for the Bonhomme Richard: "Mighty Ships: USNS Grasp", was aired on Sunday, Feb. 10 at 8:00 pm EST on the Smithsonian Channel. The USNS GRASP was the search vessel designated for the 2011 search for the BHR, which was led by Melissa Ryan and included 2/c Joe Walters. His participation was funded by '63 generosity.

While the 2012 search did not include midshipman participation, funding from the Class of 1963 helped ensure midshipman participation in 2010 and 2011, and re-energized the commitment of both the US and French navies to find John Paul Jones' elusive flagship. So in many ways, today's ongoing search is the result of our philanthropy.

  Fathers Day 1943 During WWII

Bob Abate sent in this post based on an interview he conducted with a WWII veteran. Click Here

  "In answer to 'Annapolis Teaching Young Sea Dogs Old Tricks"

Jim DeFrancia wrote this article in the April 1963 issue of Shipmate in rebuttal to an article by David Boroff in Harper's Click Here

Here's Jim's story behind the article.

. I was a bit of a discipline problem as a First Classman, having accumulated 120 demerits (of a permitted 150) by Christmas. The last addition to that total was for being caught going "over the wall" after the Christmas hop, to rendezvous with a young lady.

The consequence was my being confined to The Yard for the entire second semester, reporting to the Battalion Office every two hours except when asleep, in class, or engaged in permitted activities, like sports.

As it happened, in February of that year (1963) a lengthy article was published in The Atlantic which was quite critical of the Academy. The author was a self-appointed critic of the US college educational system, and he had written similar "critiques" of other schools, both public and private. His comments on Navy were, however, quite negative and harshly critical.

Being confined to the grounds of the Academy, I was often looking for amusement. So I decided to write a rebuttal to this article, largely for self-entertainment. I thus produced an essay piece countering his criticisms point-for-point. But upon finishing it, I decided that it actually read quite well and considered that I would submit it to the magazine for possible publication.

Mindful of my already very risky demerit situation, I thought it best to have this "cleared" by the Academy Administration. Thus I submitted it to my Company Officer, who forwarded it to the Battalion Officer, and so it went up the line to the Superintendent. "The Supe", it evolved, was thrilled with the piece, called me to his office, and said that the Academy itself would undertake its publication. And he asked if I would agree that it be accompanied by a small notice that identified me as the author, and that I had written it while on confinement for committing a Class A offense. Of course, I agreed.

The essay was then published within a short time in the Naval Institute Proceedings, the Congressional Record, and a number of press publications throughout the country. The Superintendent also circulated it with a letter to the parents of all the Midshipmen, as well as circulating it to the Secretary of the Navy and the uniformed leadership of the Service at the time.

I was shortly quite flattered and honored to receive letters from parents, graduates, the entire Navy Secretariat, a number of members of Congress, Admirals throughout the world in various fleet commands, the Commandant of the USMC, and - most importantly - from dozens of young women throughout the country. For several weeks I actually received mail by the sack!

And this short splash of fame also helped me skate through a couple of further discipline matters that arose later in the year, before my confinement was lifted prior to Graduation Week. A good deed salvaged me from the consequences of several minor bad ones!

  22 November 1963: Where Were You

Our Class had a unique relationship with President John F. Kennedy. He became president when we became upper class. He was a Navy Man, war hero, skipper of PT-109. He loved football and the Army-Navy game. We lost our 'rubbers' when we marched in his Inaugural Parade, and we lost our innocence on 22 November 1963. Our experiences that day were unique, and for the first time since throwing our hats in Halsey Field House, we were all unified via a single event.

What is your story? Where were you when you first heard that the President had been assassinated? Click Here

To add to the list contact Mike Blackledge at Mike@Blackledge.com.

  D-Day June 6, 1944

Bob Abate sent in this post on June 5, 2014 based on an interview he conducted with a WWII veteran. Click Here

  December 7, 1941

Bob Abate sent in this post on December 6, 2014 based on an interview he conducted with a WWII veteran. Click Here

  March 28, 2015-Ring of Valor

This 1965 Navy documentary, narrated by actor Robert Taylor, gives an inside look at life at the United States Naval Academy, in Annapolis, MD. Webmaster note: I actually think this film was from about 1960 as I remember it being shown at a Christmas Academy dinner in St. Louis while we were Mids. In one scene Dick Danhof and I are shown playing tennis as plebes.

  April 1, 2015-- April Fool's Day 1945 Okinawa During WWII

Bob Abate sent in this post based on an interview he conducted with a WWII veteran. Click Here

  April 8, 2015-- WWII 100 year old Vet gets high school diploma thanks to '63 classmate Bob Abate

  April 24, 2015--A newspaper article about our classmate Bob Abate "World War II interviewer: 'Every day is Memorial Day" Click Here

  June 6, 2015--From Steve Coester--I often think about the classmates we have lost and realized that while I am all too familiar with our thirteen killed in Vietnam, our total of twenty-eight killed in the line of duty, and our two POWs, I had no idea of the Vietnam losses for the Academy as a whole. I had some discussions with Mike Cronin and he enlisted Mike McGrath '62 who is the POW historian. From them I discovered that USNA lost one hundred and forty KIA in Vietnam. Also from the Academy there was a total of thirty-nine captured and held as prisoner of war.

Here is Mike Cronin's note from Mike McGrath:

POWs- USNA 39, USAFA 33, USMA 9

A total of 591 POWs returned alive of a total of over 700 believed to have been POWs. Many of the MIAs were POWs who died in captivity before getting into contact with other POWs so that their names would be known by others as POWs and relayed to US authorities upon release or exchange of POWs. Some of these died of combat wounds shortly after capture and before reaching any POW camp, others were most likely shot while evading capture, and others died as a result of torture before other POWs knew of their presence. No one knows how many are in each of those categories. The Vietnamese aren't talking, but it is likely that quite few of those listed as MIAs actually died in captivity but were never known by the rest of us to have been captured.

My personal belief is that there were never any MIAs alive and held by the Vietnamese after the war. The Vietnamese knew that we had spent great efforts to compile and memorize lists of names because they caught us doing so many times. To their great frustration, they could never stop that or the communication that enabled it. They got everything they wanted in the Paris Accords of 1973- All US forces out of Vietnam and North Vietnamese forces permitted to remain in South Vietnam. The only way they could have blown the deal was to have been caught holding back prisoners. I just don't believe they were dumb enough to take that risk. The MIAs were actually KIAs. When the circumstances of a loss were not clear COs were most likely to list a loss as MIA. I was listed as "missing presumed captured."

KIA- USNA 140, USAFA 150, USMA 267

Among the USNA KIAs the class date range was from '43 to '69

The class with the most KIAs was '66 with 16. 2nd was '63 with 13, 3rd was '62 with 12.

May we always remember not only our losses in the class of 1963 but all of those from USNA.

  June 22, 2015--Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Description of Battles on the Facade Click Here

  October 9, 2015--Dick Jones' memories of his meetings with legendary fighter pilot BGEN Robin Olds, USAF (Ret) Click Here for Dick's accounts.

  October 23, 2015-- Click Here for Rick Trani's sister, Ginny Peabody's "The Professor and the Warrior" about their grandfather who was a professor at USNA and her brother Rick. Click Here for several photos accompanying the article.

  November 6, 2015-- Tom O'Brien suggested posting this article from The Submarine Rewiew. Tom says,"No '63 Classmate is mentioned in CAPT, USN (Ret.) Bud Alexander's excellent article that appeared in The Submarine Review, but it may be an appropriate article to post on the Class Web Site as a reminder of the many years of dedicated performance in the Silent Service by several of our Classmates.."Click Here for CAPT, USN (Ret.) Bud Alexander's excellent article.

  November 22, 2015-- Navy's Ken Niumatalolo is the most underrated coach in college football. Click Here for John Feinstein article.

  June 26, 2016-- There are two monuments at the Academy that you might not be aware of.The first is located across Dorsey Creek facing the cemetery. It is dedicated "In Grateful Remembrance: Naval Academy Graduates Lost in Operations During the Vietnam Conflict" It includes the names of the thirteen members of our class lost in Vietnam
The other monument is located by the Columbarium, dedicated by the class of 1937. It "Remembers Our Shipmates Whose Resting Places Are Known Only To God". During our service we lost twenty-eight classmates in the line of duty from the Class of 1963. Fifteen, including nine from Vietnam, three from the loss of the USS Scorpion and three in aircraft accidents at sea, are listed on this memorial.

  September 1, 2016-- In 1964 Admiral Minter sent a letter to prospective midshipmen explaining what to expect if they entered the Naval Academy. Thirty five years later James Webb wrote this reply to Admiral Minter. Click here to read both letters. Outstanding!

  September 13, 2016-- A new 9-11 In Memoriam video and webpage from the USNA Alumni Association dedicated to those who were Killed in Action or were Operational Losses since 9-11 Click here view the web page!

  February 19, 2018-- From Tony Taylor: I recently gave a "slide" presentation about the closing days of WWII in the Pacific to about 90 veterans and wives in our community; we had a few WWII vets present, including a Marine who was in the Philippines on September 2, 1945, and another veteran who was stationed on a destroyer protecting the carriers off the coast of Japan during the Surrender Ceremony. A third veteran, who used to live around the corner, was part of the bomber crew on one of the B-29s that flew over Tokyo Bay at the conclusion of the Ceremony.

There are a lot of tidbits history in this presentation, and the response before the Veterans Club was very gratifying and I believe it would have made my dad proud. One woman was so moved that she came up to me with tears in her eyes and just wanted to keep shaking my hand. Many others said that it was a presentation that every high school student should see. I have already been asked by another group to give the presentation next month. Click here for the presentation.

  September 3, 2018-- From U.S. Naval Academy Facebook: The Naval Academy was honored to host the private funeral services for Senator John McCain today at the Chapel and Cemetery. Photos of the events are available (and download-able) here: Click here for the photos.

Approximately 500 midshipmen attended the service in the Chapel, not including the Glee Club(who attended and performed during the service). Those midshipmen were joined by an additional 500 midshipmen to line the procession route from the Chapel to the Cemetery.

Not pictured are those of you who spent your day in the heat to pay one last tribute to the family outside of our gates. We appreciate your respectful and lasting tribute to the family as Senator McCain entered the Academy one last time. Thank you for continued support and understanding.

  September 29, 2020-- Class of 1963 Vietnam Wall Memorial Service from Jim Ring

In 1995, 25 years ago, we found out that the National Park Service allowed services at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, as long as it didn't interfere with public access to the Memorial. The Class of 1963 Foundation decided that we should have a service at the Wall. We organized a committee and it became a group effort with many classmates volunteering to help. We decided to hold the Memorial Service on June 10, 30 years to the day that we lost our first classmate in Vietnam, Carl Doughtie.

Only a few of our classmates were still on active duty at the time and one, Larry Marsh, who was Assistant Chief of Naval Personnel for Personal Readiness and Community Support, agreed to be the Master of Ceremonies. He provided some Navy personnel to sing and to play taps. We asked those who had a close personal relationship with each of the KIA/MIA to speak about him. Finally, we called Carl's parents in North Carolina to come to the event. They came with his brother and nephew. His parents said how pleased they were with the service, because they had not heard from the Class and thought that we had forgotten about him. Family members of Bill Fitzgerald, Don MacLaughlin, Chuck Marik, and Ken Buell joined us also.

This video of the ceremony has not been available for viewing until now. The first eight minutes show Classmates and spouses gathering. Several of them have passed away and all of us look different today. Classmates gave a eulogy for each of the 13 and Mike Cronin spoke eloquently about their loss. Eleven of the 13 KIA/MIA were aviators and something eerie happened at the end of our ceremony. When a few of us carried the pictures of our classmates and a wreath to the Wall and the bugler sounded taps, a small flock of Canada geese flew over the wall in what I interpreted to be a Missing Man Formation. The flight was captured on video. View it for yourself and see what you think.

Since many of us are mostly homebound during this pandemic, we have time to remember our Classmates who gave all for their country and whose lives were cut short by the war.

To view the YouTube video Click Here

  May 17, 2022-- Interview with Mike Cronin after his return from being a POW in Vietnam.

This interview was found on https://thinkport.org/pdfs/vietnam_war_stories/8Invasion/Mike-Cronin-Interview-Transcript.pdf . It can be viewed as PDF on this page by Clicking Here

  April 13, 2017--Coach Wayne Hardin Dead at 91

Former Navy coach Wayne Hardin, who led the Midshipmen to two top-five finishes in the AP poll, has died. He was 91.

Hardin suffered a massive stroke on April 11. Temple, where he also coached, said Hardin had attended alumni day festivities the previous weekend.

Hardin went 38-22-2 with the Midshipmen and led to the 1961 Orange Bowl and 1964 Cotton Bowl. He coached Heisman Trophy winners Joe Bellino (1960) and Roger Staubach (1963). His 1960 Navy team ended the season ranked fourth by the Associated Press, and his 1963 team finished second in the AP poll.

Hardin also went 80-52-3 in 13 seasons (1970-1982) at Temple and is the winningest coach in school history. He led the 1979 team to the Garden State Bowl, where the Owls defeated California for their first bowl win. The 1979 team set a record for victories with 10 and finished the season ranked No. 17 in the AP Top 25 poll.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

From Navy Times

For additional links see Baltimore Sun and Philadelphia Inquirer

  May 27, 2017--Class of 1963 Line of Duty Deaths

Click Here for poster memorablising our classmates killed in action or in the line of duty.

  October 1, 2019--The Thresher: History’s deadliest nuclear submarine disaster gets Arlington National cemetery monument - The Washington Post

Click Here for the article.

  Bob Abate talks about his experiences with interviewing World War Two veterans. He describes friendships that he made with the veterans and assistance that he provided to them. Click Here

Ethics
  Military Leadership in a Changing Society - James H. Webb, '68
  Remarks at JSCOPE 2000 - Gen Charles Krulak, '64
  If It's Not Fun, Then Why Do We Do It?  -  Col. Wayne Shaw, USMC

Media Literacy
Men of Annapolis - The Television Series  -  Capt. Sherman 'Bud' Alexander, '56
Graduation Speech to Class of 1993  -  Sen. John McCain, '58
NATO and the Future Use of Military Force  -  Stephen M. Duncan, '63

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Vanity License Plates
Photographs of our classmates USNA/Navy inspired license plates

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Old Midshipman Photos
Photographs taken by our classmates in the good old days. Arranged by company.

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Army-Navy Football '59-'62 Photos
Photographs from OUR Army-Navy games.

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Navy Defeats Notre Dame after Forty-Three Years
Photograph and "Miracle on Turf" by John Feinstein

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Thirtieth VietNam Wall Remembrance Ceremony June 10, 1995
History and photos at the ceremony.

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Nick Nerangis '63--Hogette
A Wall Street Journal tribute to our Hogette.

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George Tracy '63 Named to Lacrosse Hall of Fame
Click for the article copied from navysports.cstv.com

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Distinguished Graduate-Roger Tetrault
Click the above title for the complete Distinguished Graduate Nomination packet.

We are pleased to announce that four U.S. Naval Academy alumni were chosen by the Naval Academy Alumni Association as the 2013 recipients of the Distinguished Graduate Award. Congratulations to:

Mr. Roger E. Tetrault, Class of 1963, served as a naval aviator upon graduating from the Naval Academy. He established the USNA Ethics Leadership Chair; was vice president and general manager of the naval nuclear fuel division of Babcock & Wilcox when the company became sole naval reactor supplier, saving the Navy hundreds of millions of dollars; and served with NASA on the Advisory Council Committee, International Space Station Task Force, Columbia Accident Investigation Board and National Research Council Committee and was awarded their Distinguished Public Service Medal.

The Honorable John S. Redd, Class of 1966, served in the surface warfare community following graduation from the Academy. He retired as a vice admiral, having commanded eight organizations at sea, including founding the first new fleet in half a century, U. S. Fifth Fleet in the Middle East; served as Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq; and was selected by President George W. Bush to serve as the first Senate-confirmed director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC).

Ambassador Richard L. Armitage, Class of 1967, selected service as a surface warfare officer when he graduated from the Academy. He organized and led the evacuation of 30,000 South Vietnamese naval personnel and assets at the close of the Vietnam War; served as ambassador to the newly independent states following the dissolution of the Soviet Union; and was the 13th Deputy Secretary of State.

Admiral Thomas B. Fargo, USN (Ret.), Class of 1970, selected service in the nuclear power submarine community upon graduating from the Naval Academy. He served as Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet; served as Commander, U.S. Pacific Command; and was awarded the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale award for Inspirational Leadership.

Each year, we honor distinguished graduates because of their demonstrated and unselfish commitment to a lifetime of service, their personal character, and the significant contributions they have made to the Navy and Marine Corps or as leaders in industry or government. The 2013 Distinguished Graduate Award Ceremony will be held on Friday, 22 March 2013.

Congratulations to the 2013 Distinguished Graduates!

Byron Marchant '78
President, U. S. Naval Academy Alumni Association

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1963 USNA Graduation Speech by President Lyndon Johnson June 5, 1963
Click the above title for Graduation speech.

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1963 USNA Boxing Championships
Mike Blackledge "liberated" this photo from Chuck Spadafora's Facebook page on January 25, 2016. The Class of 1963 can take pride in our champs.

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Coach Wayne Hardin's 90th Birthday
Ron Klemick provided this account of the celebration Click Here for the story and photos.

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May 23, 2016--Coach Bilderback Named to IMLCA's Lacrosse Inaugural Hall of Fame Class
Tom Reemelin provided this notification Click Here for the announcement.

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June 7, 2016--CBS Sports Article about Navy Lacrosse
Dick Nelson '64 posted this on Facebook: Most folks (especially on the East Coast) and all alumni know that Navy has historically had one of the nation's powerhouse lacrosse programs. However, I have never seen a detailed history of Navy lacrosse like the attached article by CBS Sports. Highly recommended! You might see some names that you know! Click Here for the article.

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October 16, 2018--Tribute to VADM George W. Emery USN (Ret.)
Dick Nelson '64 posted this on Facebook in his USNA Exemplary Graduate series Click Here for the tribute.

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January 13, 2021--Terwilliger Center for Student-Athletes a 'spectacular' showcase of Naval Academy physical mission
Click Here for the Baltimore Sun article.

November 12, 2021: Daryl Rabert provided this:

Bonnie and I had the pleasure of being invited to the dedication of the Terwilliger Center for Student Athletes (TCSA for short). The dedication took place the weekend of Sept. 10 & 11. The TCSA is a beautiful space for visiting potential Midshipmen, visitors to the yard and alumni. It houses Navy sports trophies/awards, photos of Navy student varsity athletes and interactive services to view Navy sports history. It also has an auditorium for showing movies and conduct lectures.

The dedication weekend started with the first viewing of the TCSA which included USNA Foundation members, the Terwilliger family and '63 classmates - Jim DeFrancia, Forest Siburt, myself and Ron's brother Bruce '65.

Saturday morning was the official dedication ceremony. In attendance were Foundation members, the Terwilliger family (Fran, Ron and children) and classmates. Remarks by Chet Gladchuk, Bryon Merchant and Tom Lynch '64 preceded Ron's remarks (video attached).

I would urge all classmates to visit the TCSA when in the yard. It is located at Ricketts Hall.

It was a great weekend except for the loss to Air Force.

I have attached photos of the '63 classmates headed to the ceremony - Jim DeFrancia, Forest Siburt, myself, Ron and Ron's brother Bruce. There are also photos of the ribbon cutting ceremony and a video of Ron's remarks.

Click Here for video of the ceremony. Beat Army
Daryl

Click Here for NAAA report on the dedication and additional photos.

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June 4, 2023--Our Four Years--Photo slide show of the photos from the Lucky Bag. Copied and slideshow prepared by Steve Coester in honor of the 60th Anniversary of our graduation.
Click Here for the the Four Years slide show

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November 4, 2023--Class of 1963 Crew Racing Shells
Click Here for Chuck Adams' visit to Hubbard Hall during the 60th reunion to see the new Class of 1963 shell.

Also Click Here for the article about the christening of the first '63 shell at our 50th reunion.

The Craig Thrasher Service to Rowing Award will be given out annually to a member of the Navy Crew alumni in recognition for their outstanding service to the rowing community. This award is created in memory of Craig L. Thrasher (USNA 1963) for his extraordinary contributions to the rowing community. Craig spearheaded the creation of the Navy Masters Rowing Program and the establishment of the Navy Crew Fund. In Buffalo, New York, he formed and coached the women's program at the West Side Rowing Club, collecting numerous national and international awards. Craig was a driving force behind the design and build of the Buffalo Scholastic Rowing Association Boathouse, and with the introduction of the sport to otherwise underserved minorities. He will be remembered as an Eastern Sprints and IRA Champion, and as a finalist with the Class of 1963 Plebe Crew in the 1960 U.S. Olympic Rowing Trials.

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