Class News: 1963, Spring 2006

Would you believe that on Friday November 4th, the day before the Army football game, the weather in Colorado Springs was really nice? Good enough for Bob Hayes to play golf at the Eisenhower Course. On game day morning, however, the snow was really coming down and with no warning! Despite the storm, the mini-reunion went off with only one real hitch—Army won the ball game! The weather cleared and the sun came out by the time we were gathered at the tail gate site—only one snow squall was noted. All present were dressed warmly as the temperature did not really get out of the 30’s but it sure felt good in the sun; however, when the shadows spread over the west side of Falcon Stadium the cold really settled in and only the hearty souls stayed through the entire game. The C-Springs contingent and especially, Bob and Charlie Ann Hayes did a great job organizing the tail gate and the post game events at the AOG building, Doolittle Hall. There was a strong contingent present from Arizona including Ed Reisdorf, Bob Mazet, Randy Reynolds and yours truly. Barney Bartlett was there with son, C4C Austin Bartlett.

BR: King, Wecker, Lee, McClellan, Reisdorf, Thacker, Ball, Gaston, Mazet, Savonen, FR: Steinbrek, Hayes, Johnson, Bredvik, Reynolds.

Missing during the group photo were Barney Bartlett and Dave Nuss who were probably at the buffet table. After a short search the two were located and the following picture was recorded:

Bredvik Bartlett, Nuss and C4CBartlett

As usual the Cadet Wing march-on and the Cadet Parachute Team demonstration stirred the soul but the usual massive, pre-game fly-by’s of AF and Army aircraft was missing. One flight of four F-15 Strike Eagles did fly over the stadium at kick-off time and they were impressive.
Soon after the game was over everyone gathered at Doolittle Hall for some refreshments, a catered dinner and the cup turning ceremony. Bill Ball did a terrific job as Master of Ceremonies and I sensed the atmosphere for the cup turning to be very intimate and personal. This year the cups for Jim Weaver, Frank Black and Rod Himelberger were turned. In summary, the mini-reunion was a great time and we are ready to do it all again—even in November!  Steve Dotson was signing his new book, The Light on the Star, during the mini-reunion weekend. I bought a copy and started reading it before turning in that evening and finished it by the time we made it back to Tucson. I can report the book is truly a page turner. It seemed to me to be much more than a combat story and in many ways we are taken back to the time right after graduation, through flight training and Southeast Asia. The political and cultural scene of the Vietnam War era is vividly portrayed by Steve. In a way, many of you might find the story to be sort of a personal memoir. Seven reader reviews of the book were on Amazon.com and all of them were very enthusiastic. Two of the reviewers were classmates Pete Ognibene and Chuck Bush. Recommend going to Steve’s website www.thelightonthestar.com.
A couple of weeks ago Bob Mazet sent me a photo of Doug Butterfield’s two grandchildren, Abby and Drew Harris. The photograph was sent to Bob by Doug’s daughter, Camille Butterfield Harris, who was about one year old when Doug was killed over Vietnam in 1967. Bob says that Camille never really knew her father; yet she followed in his footsteps graduating from the USAFA in 1988, followed by pilot training. She went on to become a pilot for Southwest Airlines. Camille’s husband, Robert Harris, is also a USAFA graduate. Camille would like to learn more about her father and she would appreciate hearing from Doug’s classmates. Her address is: Mrs. Camille Butterfield Harris, 537 Allegheny Ave., Towson, MD 21204.

Search for Golden Class Traditions: Back in December Marty Marcolongo from the AOG office sent an e-mail saying the Class of 2007 is interested in learning about any “gold class traditions” they may be able to incorporate into their last two years. If you have knowledge of traditions that might help them, please e-mail them to Cadet Lydia Bigelow at C07Lydia.Bigelow@usafa.fa.mil. Cadet Bigelow is in direct contact with the Class of 2007 President as well as the Class of 2007 Ring Dining-Out/Ring Dance Committee. About all I can recall is Nino Baldachi.
 

Update on Bill Green: Ev Vaughn reports that Bill is a whole lot better and really appreciates the cards and telephone calls from classmates. Bill is now going through rehab and according to Lisa he recently visited the barber shop to get a haircut. As you might recall we reported in this space last time that Bill had suffered an Aortic Dissecting Aneurysm. Bill can be reached at 13882 Knaus Rd, Lake Oswego, OR 97034-2138.
One move of note: John Nehring gave up the mountains of Montana for Las Vegas, Nevada where he is working as a department head for the Las Vegas Embry-Riddle Center.

Many thanks to all for the inputs and we especially enjoyed reading all the holiday cards. As of this writing, Linda and I still have half our holiday greeting cards to go—don’t know where the time goes these days. That’s it for this time. Remember this is your column so get involved—a telephone call or an e-mail is all it takes. Hope everyone is doing well and having a good time. Take care.