22 Hotel 1 Biographies 25 Sep 19 v2

BIOGRAPHIES 22 HOTEL 1
HOTEL 1 BIOGRAPHIES
Larry Baxter
Raised as a country boy in Upstate New York, I graduated from SUNY at Oswego and
received a NIMH Fellowship to a doctoral psych program at Vanderbilt in the fall of
1967. The research oriented grad school was not for me and when I received notice to
report for a draft physical I did and then quickly enrolled for a term at the University of
Montana where I met my wife to be, Kathy, in a poetry class. About a week later we
agreed to be married and that was 45 years and many happy days ago.
As a married man I hurried to beat the draft and applied for OCS which found me four
days after marriage at Ft. Ord, California for basic, then Ft. Leonard Wood for AIT and
three months in a holding company for OCS-bound folks where I spent my time
cooking eggs and bacon and my specialty, the huge pot of soup for about 200 potential
officers.
I have many memories of OCS. As many have noted it was a formative experience and I
look back on it with fondness. I was with good people who for the most part had great
appreciation for humor as a way to survive the ordeal. As the “command information
officer” I was responsible, or so I thought, for bulletin board material in our barracks.
I suspect OC Proud remembers one of my creations which featured a monkey wearing a
green beret with my caption, “What does it take to earn a beret?” When the barracks was
inspected by a Green Beret Major, those who were there were “asked to” fall out.
For some good fortune I was not around at the time and when the Major asked if anyone
thought that the bulletin board was funny, Jim Proud truthfully responded to the
affirmative and was forced to hang from the overhead bars scratching his underarms and
making monkey noises. God bless you Jim Proud!
Lots of other things stand out…the sting of CS gas on a sweating body…
our tiger cloth helmet covers which my wife and Paul Cent’s wife secured for us…the
escape and evasion course where I was caught not once, but three times until I finally
had to actually knock some of the captors over to escape…awaking with an Arby roast
beef sandwich tucked under my head (haven’t liked Arby’s since!) That’s enough for
now, if your memory is weak and you need stories to tell see me at the reunion; I hope!
I vol-indefed, took two months of atomic demolition classes at Belvoir (practiced
blowing up the Washington Monument and other national treasures to my horror!) and
received my first choice of duty at Alaska’s Ft. Richardson where I was assigned as an
Engineer Platoon Officer, later became the post information officer and published a
weekly newspaper and accompanied national reporters for Time , Newsweek and Life to
the surface of the Beaufort Sea where USARAL was conducting a mock airline rescue
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mission. Most of my energy however was spent accumulating, training and racing 60
Alaskan Huskies. Housing them at the posts racing kennels. This culminated in my
professional career as a Dog Musher, finishing 10th in the 1970 World Championship
Sled Dog race and winning the initial Iditarod (no not the 1200 mile one) which was run
for 25 miles the year before the long race was instituted. My wife also ran the dogs and
together we made the cover of Outdoor Life when I submitted a “this happened to us”
story about our fight with a bull moose which ran over our sled on a midnight training
run when she was seven months pregnant. We had many adventures and enjoyed Alaska
and the arrival of our first son, now a professor of stream ecology at Idaho State
University.
I got a call from OPO in the winter of 1971 saying it was time for me to go to SE Asia.
Unlike many, I was given a choice and when they said a desk job in Thailand I accepted
and became the USARSUPTHAI Deputy Engineer, a Lt. Col’s position but things were
winding down. I tell kids today that my job was waterskiing with the General (Vessey)
which I did on numerous occasions. I also was given the assignment of writing the
history of the US Army Engineers in Thailand. I compiled about 200 pages, didn’t keep
a copy and turned it over to my boss when I was offered an early out in March and got to
go home and meet my second son.
I had managed to save most of my salary in Thailand and that was enough to buy a run
down but scenic dairy farm in Western Wisconsin which with hard work and a cleanup
and the inflationary air at the time I traded less than two years later for a much more
productive and larger unit. Kathy and I with my brother and his wife formed a family
corporation and milked cows, grew corn and raised kids, pigs and beef about 40 miles
from St. Paul, Minnesota in Wisconsin. We were named Western Wisconsin’s
Outstanding Young Farmers in 1979 by the Jaycees just before things started to
rapidly go south. Carter embargoed the sale of corn to Russia (cost us $80,000) and the
interest rate on our half million dollar loan went from 8.5% to 23.5% in one month.
With that we managed to sell out and still remain solvent enough to relocate to
Montana where Kathy and I got teaching certificates, ran a ranch outside of Glacier
Park for a wealthy surgeon and regrouped as our kids grew and thrived and we added
our third son Corbett. Our teaching salaries in Montana were meager though we loved
the job and when we got a copy of the salary schedule for the Beaverton School
District we hopped in the car and both were hired a few days before the start of the
1987 school year.
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We all thrived in Oregon. Within a year we found a forty acre run down farm for sale
about one mile from the Intel Headquarters. It was sold on a state bid sale and the
weather was so bad the day of the bidding only three bidders showed up. I taught social
studies and coached three sports every year (kids liked to run around singing “I wanna be
an airborne Ranger”) Eventually I became our school’s Constitutional Law Team Coach
while my wife taught music and later elementary school. We call our home, Red Hawk
Farm and thousands of kids have come to it for field days and many happy faculty and
family parties have graced our majestic, walnut tree sheltered, lawn.
My middle son and his wife and kids live about ten minutes from us and that was all the
impetus I needed to buy the first of many ponies and horses with the idea they would
lure grandkids. They did! But now they are in their late teens with soul mates, AP
courses and driver’s licenses.
I still have seven horses including a wonderful Arabian stallion who talks to me every
morning at 4:30 when I feed him before taking my daily swim and on many occasions
heading off to work as a substitute teacher. Both Kathy and I retired five years ago and
have spent many enjoyable days traveling the back roads of the Western US in search of
wild places with wild animals. We also spent a year caring from my Mom at her home in
central New York and reconnecting with my sisters and their families who live close by.
We also have a full line of farm equipment and grow enough to feed our horses with
some left over to sell.
I suspect more than a few of your are noticing changes relating to age. Though we are in
good health and enjoying every day I did get a double knee replacement this June which
sucked the REBA out of me for a while but with FEBA FEBA FEBA I’m up and mule
deer hunting with my youngest son, active duty infantry Captain currently getting a
masters in political science at Oregon before a three year teaching assignment at West
Point.
This I’m sure is more than many of you can stand…if so you haven’t reached this point!
I hope you all are appreciating these special days, that your worries are few and that
your retirement checks match your needs.
Looking forward to a reunion,
Larry Baxter – Addendum: 17 Sep 19
Since I wrote a lengthy life account for the 45th this is an addendum covering the last five
years:
Our big news is the sale of our Beaverton, Oregon farm to our middle son and his wife.
After closing out my teaching career with a 3 month sixth grade assignment in the middle
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school where I began teaching in Beaverton 34 years ago. I wrapped up the spring grain
planting and the summers haying, then a chance came up for us to sell all our horses and
tack and investigate a move to south Idaho where our oldest is a Professor at Idaho State.
The sale of our farm allowed us to move to a wonderful large log home on a twenty acre
promontory on Snow Peak Mountain near Inkom,Idaho. We call it our Wild Mountain
Lodge and have many family and friends visitors since completing our move on March 1st.
We have fortunately remained in good health and after 52 years of marriage enjoy
traveling and camping around the mountain west. This coming year we plan on visiting our
youngest son , an Army Major and his family , who are stationed in northern Italy where
he works for the US African Command.
Though not attending the 50th my thoughts and good wishes go out to you all. Such a fine
group to be associated with Keep carrying on!
Sincerely, Larry and Kathy Baxter
William Blackburn
It has been nice to see that there is life for all after OCS. I was married and we had a baby
boy before going into OCS, and our family was in California, so my wife joined us , and
lived in a trailer house off base. As you all remember, no one had much free time for
personal things, but Adele (my wife) did a few “poggie bait runs” for us during our fun
experiences in Hotel-22.
I graduated with a commission in the Quartermaster Corps, and we were sent to Ft Lee
for advanced training. Probably because of my degree in Accounting, I was assigned
to Officer and NCO Club management. After Ft Lee, we were assigned to the Aberdeen
Proving Grounds. It was a good 6 months, and I hoped that we might slip under
someone’s radar and miss the opportunity to go to Viet Nam. I was wrong. I went to
Saigon in July of that year, and never left the city. I was assigned to a warehouse, with
offices upstairs, and a bunch of civilian working for me. I had a Toyota to drive around
town, and to get to the various Clubs throughout the city. We did financial reports,
counted money, ordered supplies and kept a close inventory on the booze. It was during
this time that we knew we were pulling out, and we started to collect and destroy all of
the slot machines out of our facilities.
Except for the absence from family, it was a good job. About 8 months after arriving in
country, my wife gave birth to twin girls. By the first of June I was ready to leave the
country, and come back to the states. I got a job with a CPA firm in Las Vegas, and stayed
there until I got a job offer to come to So. Cal to work for a different CPA firm.
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I got my MBA from Cal State Northridge and within 5 years, we moved to Bend Oregon
to open my own practice. By then, we had 4 children, and decided that So Cal was not
the place we wanted to raise our children. Life was good in Bend, but we got restless
after our 5th child, and we were getting too comfortable. We took our two youngest
children with us, and we moved to Hawaii, and opened up another CPA practice. Our
oldest three were all married by then, so we left them behind.
After about 20 years in Hawaii, we were getting too comfortable again, so we sold our
home and went on 3 different missions for our church to Mexico, Guatemala and
Peru. Most of our efforts have been to help young people get an education, and to help
them learn how to handle their personal finances.
We have now settled down in Oregon, and are content for a while. I suspect that I will
get too comfortable here within a few years, and look for another adventure. My wife
has been wonderful, and has kept up with me these many years. 5 Children, 16
grandchildren, and 7 Great Grandkids so far. Life is good.
Joe Boyle
Here's a quick bio: I graduated from Ohio State in 1967 & '68 - two degrees. Then it was
off to The Big Green Machine in September of '68. Basic at Ft. Leonard Wood, AIT as
artillery surveyor at Ft. Sill, and 23 weeks of fun & frolic in OCS at Ft. Belvoir. I was
commissioned in the Transportation Corps & went to Trans Officer Basic Course
(TOBAC) and then Cargo Officer Course at Ft. Eustis. My wife, Judy, & I lived in
Williamsburg during that time - Sept thru Dec of '69 - on the second floor of a house just
off the William & Mary campus and across the street from Colonial Williamsburg - very
cool. I went "volunteer indefinite" & went to Bremerhaven, West Germany, as a
Transportation officer in the First Movements Region, getting cargo moved in & out of
the port. We traveled a lot - England, France, Italy Switzerland, and a lot of (West)
Germany, plus Berlin in the former East. After 19 months in Germany, I got orders for
Vietnam, but they actually were for Thailand. I became "Chief of Movements" in
Thailand in August of '71. I worked at the Deep Water Port of Sattahip, Thailand. Much
of the cargo was munitions going to the B-52 base at Utapao, and the five other US air
bases in Thailand. I also had to get supplies from the port to a Special Forces unit that
was not in Laos and to some Air Force & Army personnel who were not in Cambodia. I
made captain in October, and got out on 10 March 1972. I rode home from Saigon on a
flight with Larry Baxter of 22H. My wife actually came to Thailand on her own & lived
with me in the resort town of Pattaya in a bungalow just off the Gulf of Siam. (Once,
when her visa ran out, we took a taxi to Cambodia. I got out on the Thai side of the
border, paid several bribes, & Judy rode with the taxi driver into Cambodia. She went to
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a village & shopped a little, got back in the taxi, and re-entered Thailand two or three
hours later - after a couple of more bribes - on a new visa. Cambodia, in late 1971 - she's
nuts !)
I couldn't get a teaching job in March (of '72), so I started working for the Ohio Dept. of
Health. I started teaching at Columbus Bishop Watterson High School in the fall of '74. I
taught American history, government, and social sciences; became an assistant principal
in July of '76; completed my Master in Education Administration at Xavier U. in '78; and
became a high school principal in July of '79. I was a high school principal for thirty
years - Columbus Bishop Hartley for eleven, Grandview Heights (Columbus suburb) for
eight, and Dayton Oakwood for eleven. After retiring from Oakwood, we moved back to
Columbus in August of 2009. I have a part-time adjunct gig with the University of
Dayton working with prospective school principals. Otherwise, Judy & I occupy our days
with babysitting two of our five grandkids (four days a week), going to our eighth-grade
granddaughter's soccer games, orchestra concerts, & choir concerts, going to our 21 year-
old grandson's college football games (but he's not playing this year), and generally
spending time with family. We are blessed to have adopted four girls - two from Korea.
Our grandkids are quite a beautiful mix of African American/Korean, Amerasian, and
good old Caucasian !! Also, I'm the oldest of seven siblings, and several live in the
Greater Columbus area. The Boyle family is known to party. Go figure.
For fun, Judy & I get partial season tickets to the Columbus Symphony, Columbus Blue
Jackets hockey, and Columbus Clippers AAA baseball, and full-season tickets to Ohio
State football (Our youngest daughter is on the staff, and we buy her tickets). We go to
blues concerts, Rolling Stones concerts, and a few others. (2013 was a great year: I saw
the Allman Brothers at the Beacon Theater in New York, the Rolling Stones at their last
concert at the Verizon Center in DC, and the Gregg Allman Band, the Susan
Tedeschi/Derek Trucks Band, the Black Crowes, Peter Yarrow, The Preservation Hall
Jazz Band, and Charlie Musselwhite's blues band at various venues in Columbus.) The
Blues forever, baby ! Also, I read a lot of "Black Ops"/CIA/etc. novels, walk the dog
about three miles a day, and try to keep Judy from beating me. I never knew retirement
could be so busy !
Joe Boyle – Addendum – 18 Sep 19
Since 2014: Judy & I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in June of 2018. We now
have six grandchildren ranging in age from 26 to 5. Our oldest, Matt, graduated from Ohio
University in Athens, OH, & works in Chicago for a French electronics firm. His sister,
Caylie, is starting her second year at Ohio State and is doing a fantastic job. The other four
(Emma, Isaac, Sophia, & Evelyn) are all in elementary school or pre-school and are doing
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fine. Judy & I go to a lot of games, concerts, and other activities for them. All four of our
daughters live in the Columbus area - which is great for us.
Judy still babysits grandkids all summer, and she fills in doing the same during the school
year. I’m still an adjunct for the University of Dayton meeting with grad students who are
working to become principals. We have season tickets to Blue Jackets hockey games
(which we split with a couple of others), season tickets to Ohio State football games, and a
package of 6-8 Columbus Clippers baseball games. We also buy a package of 8-10
Columbus Symphony performances each year. Every third year we rent a very large house
near the ocean on the Outer Banks & take the whole family to the beach for a week.
Except for an occasional trip to Florida, our travels have been pretty limited lately. We
both still read a lot. I love Daniel Silva & Brad Thor novels, & Judy devours just about
anything.
Lastly, we hope to join the ranks of “great-grandparents” next February! Since grandson
Matt is half Korean & half African-American, and since his girlfriend is Greek-American,
this baby should be a real All-American melting pot!! We are blessed.
Our best wishes to everyone in Class 22-H.
Richard Brennan (12-23-1945 - 12-9-2013)

Dick received his commission in TC, went Volunteer Indefinite, attended TC school at
Ft. Eustis, stationed at St. Louis with the US Amy Aviation Command, and deployed to
Vietnam in August ‘ 71 stationed at DaNang , returned to the States in ‘ 72 and continued
his service to retire at the rank of Major after 20 years. In civilian life Richard made a
career teaching and lived in Houston, TX with his wife along with 5 children and 13
grandchildren.
A remembrance by Dick's Operations Officer in Vietnam:
I was the S-3 of the 520th Trans Bn, Aviation Maintenance & Support (DS/GS) in June
of 1971. Dick was assigned to the Supply Platoon of the 165th Trans Co. We were on a
base about 20 miles north of Saigon/Ben Hoa. We had a Fixed Wing DS Company, the
56th Trans about 30 miles south east of us at Long Than. On the Phu Loi base we had
the 20th Trans Co. (GS), the 165th Trans DS and the 605th DS/GS, an Aviation
Electronic Repair (AVEL), a Capstone Detachment for retrograde and Pipesmoke, an
aircraft recovery platoon, an a CH-47 operation.Dick was a TC officer who had attended
the Supply Management Officers Course at Ft Lee and the battalion had the Direct
Support Supply Activity (DSSA) for Military Region III for all aircraft parts.
Dick had been assigned initially in Saigon with the Aviation Materiel Management
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Center. He was handpicked to run the DSSA because he was trained in running the
new computer system with a daily batch processing. Dick was a nerdy type who lived
in the warehouse and spoke Quartermaster to other supply types. Daily requisition
cycles was star wars stuff back then. They were using what became the DS4 divisional
materiel management computer and it was primitive. The punch cards would swell
because of the heat and humidity and the feeder would continuously jam. It would take
hours to run the nightly cycles.
Dick was quiet and subdued and a bit overwhelmed by the bravado of the pilots and
crews. It was a wild west time in Vietnam and he was a serious person. The Treaty had
already been signed in Paris and we were turning the war over to the Vietnamese Army
and Air Force. The bad guys had not quit and we were the last American firebase
between Saigon and the Cambodian border. All combat arms units had been moved out
or sent home. Only one brigade of the 1st Cav was left and they were 50 miles away.
Dick was a solid officer who was a super logistician. My favorite story happened in
early 1972. I had flown to Saigon to pick up a Civilian Contractor at Tan Son Nhut
airport. I met him at the civilian terminal and we rode to the Helipad. He had his wife
with him as he lived in a nearby village as did all of the contractors. I had just lifted off
and turned toward Phu Loi when I received an FM radio call from the Company 1st Sgt.
They had just been attacked with mortars. I raced back to Phu Loi and received several
Sit Reps. Rounds had landed on the flight line and many aircraft had shrapnel damage
and there were several injured soldiers. Another round had landed on our company
supply building and the roof was blown off. First Sergeant said he could seen the aircraft
supply yard and there were at least twenty soldiers killed. They were lying all over the
area.
As I neared the airstrip I shot my approach to the far side of the supply yard. I saw
soldiers walking around but no one on the ground. 1st Sgt amended his report. No one
was killed but a few soldiers had minor injuries in the supply platoon. I landed and shut
the aircraft down and headed for the supply yard. Dick met me and reported what
happened. He had been conducting a class for the platoon in the yard when the attack
started. He had just instructed them that if they had a mortar attack, hit the ground and
lie flat. Do not move until there is an all clear. The mortars landed nearby and they
followed instructions. They did not move. First Sergeant had looked out into the yard
and there were about 40 soldiers following instructions. He thought that they could not
move and were probably dead.
Thus, we had experienced the first lesson of command. "They first report is
always wrong."
An officer's memories of Dick Brennan.
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Obituary for Richard "Dick" Sexton Brennan

III
Richard “Dick” Sexton Brennan III, 67, of Houston, passed away peacefully on December
9,
2013 at Methodist Hospital in Sugar Land, TX.
Dick was born on December 23, 1945 in Evanston, IL to Richard and Marjorie Brennan.
He was a graduate of Loyola Academy and Loyola University of Chicago.
Dick is survived by his wife, Ngoc S Brennan; his children and their spouses, Mia
Brennan and Tony Huynh (Houston), James Brennan (Houston), Richard S. IV and
Kirstie Brennan (Kinston, NC), Christine B. and Christian Schick (Houston), and Cindy
Brennan (Houston); his siblings, Kathy and Jim Fretheim (Bemidji, MN) Mary and John
Zazverskey (Plymouth, MN), and Thomas and Ann Brennan (Greenville, SC); and his
thirteen grandchildren, Ryan Brennan (Virginia Beach, VA), Christopher, Matthew,
Michael, and Caitlin Huynh (Houston), Nicholas and Amy Brennan (Houston), Sloan
and Millar-Claire Brennan (Kinston, NC), Sofia and Brennan Schick (Houston), and
Amelia and Delaney Rodriguez (Houston).
Dick was a career military man, serving in the US Army for 20 years and fought in the
Vietnam War. He retired at the rank of Major. After retirement, he taught 4th grade at
South Polk Elementary in Fort Polk, LA until he moved to Houston in 1997.
Dick enjoyed watching college football and basketball. He rooted for his home team,
“Da Bears” each NFL season. He loved spending time with and spoiling his
grandchildren. He was an avid reader and it was rare to find him without a book or his
Nook.
A loving husband, father, “Papa”, brother, godfather, uncle, cousin and friend, Dick will
be missed greatly by all who were blessed to have him in their lives.
The family will receive visitors on Monday, December 16 from 6-8 PM at 954 Coachlight
Drive Houston, TX 77077. The funeral mass will be on Tuesday, December 17, at 10:30
AM
at St. John Vianney Catholic Church, 625 Nottingham Oaks Trail, Houston TX 77079. A
reception will follow mass at St. Jude Hall of St. John Vianney Catholic Church.
Interment of his ashes will be on Tuesday, December 17 at 1:30 PM at The Houston
National Cemetery, 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive, Houston TX 77038.
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(From the Houston Mercury)
John Brownell (1942-2005)

John Brownell was commissioned as an Ordinance officer. He served at Long Binh, Viet
Nam. Leaving the Army as a First Lieutenant, he became a partner is a law firm in Grand
Island, Nebraska, where he was highly admired as a civic leader and named Man of the
Year in 2002 by the local newspaper. A local hike-and-bike trail which he was
instrumental in organizing, was named in his honor. John had a bachelor's degree in
political science and history from Catawba College, and a juris doctorate from Duke Law
School. He succumbed to ALS, often called Lou Gehrig's disease. He left his wife, Diane
of 36 years(they married a week after he graduated from OCS) a daughter and a son.
From the Grand Island 'Independent',
George Buley
I have to begin my Bio before I went into the military, because as it turned out it was the
beginning of what became to be the development of a bad attitude towards the whole
military experience.
I was in my senior year in college when I went home for Christmas break. When I
got home I was greeted with an invitation from the local Draft board inviting me to
Uncle Sam’s on-going party. I went to the Board to inquire as to whether or not they
were going to let me finish my last semester and graduate before I was drafted. They
said yes. When I came home at (Easter/Spring) break. I checked with them again and
they said they would love for me to still attend the party. After I graduated, I checked
again and they said that if I had not enlisted by the end of the Summer they would
draft me!
Upon the advice of several different people, who said that since I had my Bachelor
Degree, I should enlist for OCS. I went and talked to the local recruiter about doing
that. He told me that there were only three OCS’s accepting new candidates at that time.
Infantry or Artillery or Engineering. Now at that time the Army’s recruitment propaganda
was “choice not chance” (lie #1). Now me being stupid, naive, or having faith in my
Government I believed the recruiter.
I did not choose Infantry for obvious reasons. I chose Engineering because I thought it
was more in line with my major in college which was Industrial Education(I was
thinking of becoming a High School Shop instructor). The recruiter told me I could not
sign up for Engineering OCS because I did not have an Engineering degree(lie #2).
(Comments in parentheses are after the fact comments) All that was left was Artillery
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OCS; so that is what I signed up for. I took the 90 day delay program that was offered at
that time.
In September, 1968, I went to Fort Leonard Wood for basic training. Towards the end of
that training the Army came out with a “tentative” list of who was going to which OCS.
Low and behold I am listed for Engineering OCS. How??
For AIT it was on to Ft Sill, OK, for Fire Direction Controller training. What? Towards
the end of that training that “tentative” list of which OCS Schools that people were
going to became permanent. And, again I am on the Engineering OCS list. Again--
what??
So on to Fort Belvoir, VA.
After OCS I had the choice of two other branches of service other then Engineering. One
was Ordnance and the other was Transportation. When I heard that the Transportation
Corp. had Harbor Crafts, I decided that was for me because I like boats and the water. So
I took my commission in Transportation.
I was sent to Ft. Eustis, VA, for Harbor Crafts training and after completion it was time
for my first duty assignment. It was at Ft. Eustis; but not in Harbor Crafts(lie #3). I was
assigned to a Terminal Service Company as Platoon leader, payroll officer, training
officer, warehouse officer and maybe a couple of other things that have slipped my mind
over time. Well in a combat situation a Terminal Service Company is responsible for
loading and off-loading ships, as I understood it. But since Ft. Eustis was not a combat
zone in the literal sense, the company I was assigned to was basically a “duty company”.
Which meant the troops spent most of their time painting rocks white, raking leaves,
mowing grass, picking up cigarette butts, and other such interesting things. BORING!!
I did have one interesting experience. That was when I was acting Company Commander
for about two weeks, while the real Company Commander was out sick. Thank God for a
very helpful First Sergeant.
Towards the end of my first year duty assignment I received my orders for Viet Nam(as I
knew I would).On the orders it stated a temporary duty assignment to Mare Island Naval
Training Center in Vallejo, California, which is located at the North end of San
Francisco Bay. What for you ask? Why for “PBR” Training. What is “PBR” training you
ask, or at least I did. I asked at Battalion level at Fort Eustis and other people and no one
knew, or if they did, they did not tell me. I went to the Post Library to find out. Of course
in military lingo “PBR” stands for Patrol Boat, River. Now how the hell I ended up in
that situation, I still do not know to this day.
As it turned out it was nice to see San Francisco and the surrounding area and the PBR
training, after awhile, sort of gave me a John Wayne kind of attitude. It became kind
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of fun racing up and down the tributaries off of the Bay.

Thirty days leave before leaving for Viet Nam. Arrived in Bien Hoa in September, 1970.
Went to Long Bien for my first duty assignment. I no longer remember the level of the
military hierarchy where you are assigned to what Company you are going to. I
remember sitting in this Major’s office waiting for him to return to his office. While
waiting I was looking over all these various Transportation Companies manpower boards
up on the wall. I saw openings for Lt’s. in Harbor Crafts, Terminal Service, River Patrol
Boat units and figured that I would be assigned to one of those. I had changed by MOS to
Terminal Service Officer before leaving Fort Eustis; so I really thought I would be
assigned to a Terminal Service Company since there were plenty of openings according
to the boards. WRONG!!! The Major returned--we introduced ourselves--he sat down at
his desk and spent a few moments looking over some paperwork and then proceeded to
say “Wellllll Lt. Buley I think we are going to assign you to a Medium Truck
Company”!! What the f--k!! This is the closest I came to losing it. But since I had no
desire to go to Leavenworth; what do you do?
As things turned out, at least for the short term, I was assigned to the 572 nd
Transportation Company, the Gypsy Bandits, and as others who had been assigned to
Long Bien this was as close to stateside duty as a person could get in Viet Nam.
I ran convoys out of Long Bien from September, 1970, to about the end of January, 1971.
In January our Company was moved north towards the DMZ to Phu Bai for about a
month, then up to Quang Tri, where we stayed for about a month to month and a half.
While in Quang Tri there were rocket attacks about once a week on the base from the
Viet Cong or North Vietnamese--I don’t know which ones. Towards the end of our
time at Quang Tri, during one of these rocket attacks we had a rocket land in our motor
pool area and peppered the trucks and dispatch tent with shrapnel. Fortunately just a
few weeks before we hired a “papa san” to dig one big a-- hole with a fortified roof just
outside the dispatch tent, just in case a rocket should land in our Motor pool area the
troops doing the dispatching and any drivers would have a place to take cover. As it
turned out is was a good investment because the dispatch tent looked like Swiss cheese
from shrapnel going through it.
Around the end of April, 1971, our Company was moved back to Da Nang, where we
continued to run convoys. We took over an old Sea Bee compound located near a beach
on the South China Sea. The Officer’s Club was at the beach(pretty cool). The only thing
between the Club and the Sea was some concertina wire.
Because President Nixon was pulling US Forces out of Viet Nam, I was able to leave
country about the first week of June, 1971. I flew to Cam Ranh Bay and from there to
Fort Lewis, Washington. Arrived on a Saturday. The personnel there claim that they did
12
not know we were coming, so they had let a lot of the military staff and civilian staff off
for the weekend. The only ones that were able to go through the final out-processing
were enlisted personnel and Warrant officers. Company grade officers had to wait until
Monday to be processed out. Of course there was no one, that I was aware of, that
offered any welcome home, no information about what to do on Ft. Lewis or how to get
about, so all that I knew to do was to sleep or pace around until time to process out.
AND OF COURSE IT WAS RAINING!
As it turned out they were able to get some staff in Sunday afternoon to process us out
and to the airport. So ended my military career. My final conclusion of the whole
experience is as follows. From an experience point of view it was something I do not
regret, because I guess I survived it more or less, even though in 1990, I was diagnosed
with Type 2 Diabetes, that I found out by accident in 2003, that the Veterans
Administration in 2001, had made a “presumptive” decision that there might be a
connection between Type 2 diabetes and possible exposure to Agent Orange. I
proceeded to fill out the paperwork they sent me and sent it back, they did their thing
from there, and concluded that I am eligible for some compensation and am considered
to be 20% disabled. Of course, because of some regulation that the VA put in place
(probably to reduce the money that they might have to pay out) they only compensated
back to 2001 and not to 1990; which leaves me with the question of what is the difference
between my diabetes of 1990 and the present?
Having said what I have said, the time from a productive point of view was a100%
waste of time with no benefit to me for having served my country and the loss of some
fifty thousand-plus lives, waste of trillions of dollars, injured veterans, and an
unappreciative public has, as you may have surmised, left me with a bad attitude and a
great deal of distrust.
My parents had retired in August, 1970, and moved to a home in Michigan from their
home in Illinois. I was looking forward to watching my parents enjoying their retirement
when I got home from Viet Nam. Unfortunately, three weeks after I got home my Father
suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed on his right side and he lost his ability
to speak. Needless to say this more or less put an end to their retirement dreams. The
house in Michigan being all that was left.
Since I was just out of the service and had no commitments, I thought that if I could find
a job where I could make enough money to support myself that I would stick around and
help out. My brothers were all married and had families of their own and lived in other
parts of the country. There was no discussion about the situation; I just thought it was
the right thing to do(no I am not patting myself on the back). I did take advantage of the
GI Bill and went to Western Michigan University and got a Masters Degree in Industrial
Supervision (to this day I do not know what it was good for, because employers in
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Michigan did not seem to know either). I did get a job with a plant located in a near-by
town, that was part of Ex-Cell-O Corporation that made machine tools for the auto
industry. Had seven and a half years with them, when the plant was closed, because of
the oil crisis in 1979/1980. Of course, at that time, one needed ten years with the
company to be vested in a retirement program. So. nothing from that experience that
gained me anything. And things just go on, so that I have nothing that I think anyone
would say brought any rewards for having served my country, obtained two college
degrees, or whatever work experiences I may have gained along the way.
SURELY, ANYONE THAT HAS READ THIS FAR MUST BE BORED TO
TEARS, SO I GUESS I WILL STOP NOW!!
Craig Carothers
Hello, Kit. I received "The days of 22 Hotel" this week. Thanks so much for sending it. I
had forgotten a lot, but it came back quickly as I read through the pages. What a nice
summary to have!!! Thanks, again.
I have a few stories about OCS that I still can't tell - too embarrassing. I remember that
what affected me the most was sleep deprivation. My body still needs more sleep than
most people. I fell asleep in OCS classes a lot, which didn't help my scores on the tests. I
also remember maxing out the first PT test -- which included accurately throwing
grenades, so a lot of luck had to be involved. But, then, when I didn't max the 2nd PE test
because I was not so lucky throwing grenades that time, I was in the dog house with the
TAC officers.
After OCS I did the "voluntary indefinite" route, signing up for another year, minimum,
in exchange for training in computers. I remember Jim Quimby and John Brownell from
the Ordnance training at Aberdeen and supply training at Ft. Lee. Then I was assigned to
an army agency in downtown St Louis that was building a computer system for tracking
army supply processes. My roommate in St Louis was Dick Brennan, who was already
posted at a different army agency in St Louis. That was December, 1969. I met a woman
there who I married in Feb. 1971, and 2 weeks after we got back from our honeymoon, I
got my orders for Vietnam. I served as the battalion supply officer, Captain, in Cam
Rahn Bay for the unit that supplied all ammo to Military Region II. Two days after I got
back from R & R, Nixon went on TV and said he was bringing the boys home, and I got
orders discharging me from service - Feb. 1972.
The computer training started me on the path that was my career, with stints at National
Car Rental in Minneapolis and General American Life Insurance Company back in St
Louis, in their health insurance area. At General American, I had an opportunity to form
a joint venture subsidiary with several competitors to facilitate collecting insurance
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claims from hospitals and doctors and send them on to insurance companies. That
company is now a part of WebMD. That experience put the entrepreneurial spirit in me.
After retiring from the corporate world in 2005, I've built over a dozen web sites in wide
ranging areas of golf league handicap administration, family genealogy, religious
philosophy, high school reunions, etc. - under the umbrella of Carothers Enterprises,
LLC. I'm still keeping busy and enjoying life.
I've been married for the 2nd time for 22 years. I have 2 sons in Chicago and a step-
daughter here in the St. Louis area. Enjoying hiking (hiked to Machu Picchu with one
son), learning piano, playing golf, building web sites and reading.
Thanks again, for connecting me back to those OCS memories!!
Tony Caruso
Thanks to Chuck Engelberger's diligence we have reconnected with Tony Caruso. Tony
lives in Waltham, Massachusetts, in the same house he lived in when he entered the
Army. Tony was commissioned in the Transportation Corps, right afterwards requested
orders for Vietnam but did not get the opportunity until after spending a year at Ft.
Eustis. Arriving in Long Binh in August '70 he was assigned to the 4th Trans. Command
as a company commander for one of its transportation units and returned to the real
world in June '71. He earned graduate degrees in engineering and finance, worked at HP
for many years and now owns a real estate development company.
Loren B. (“Casey”) Casebeer

Readers will, I hope, excuse some lack of detail or vague dates. Hell, nowadays it’s
sometimes difficult to remember what day it is; let alone forty-five years ago!
Let’s see … after graduation from the USAEOCR I was scheduled for a
counterintelligence class at Ft. Holabird (Baltimore, MD). Following graduation from
Holabird I was transferred to the 113th MI Group in Detroit and worked mainly on
background investigations. In 1971 another transfer took me to the 2d Infantry Division
at Camp Casey, Korea. At the 2d I was assigned as the Deputy G2, and was so far over-
my-head I couldn’t even see daylight. Although I made Captain, it was a grind, and
when an opportunity came to ‘jump', I did. I ETS’d in March 1972 and headed back to
the US. No job, no career; oh, what to do?
During a fit of irresponsibility I decided to go to Europe, buy a motorcycle, and travel
until I figured-out a Plan. My folks (particularly my retired USMC SGM father…)
thought I’d gone over the edge, but we survived. I did the motorcycle-thing, camping in
Europe for several months. While in Europe I decided that my future should be with the
National Park Service as a Park Ranger. Luckily, when I returned to the States the NPS
15
had decided to hire 125 new Rangers and my application was among 6100 other qualified
applicants. Somehow I got selected. Lucky me.
As a newly minted NPS Ranger transfers took me to places like the Tetons(WY), Lake
Powell (AZ/UT), Yosemite (CA), Biscayne (FL), Lake Mead (NV), Rocky Mountain
(CO) and Katmai (AK). My last field assignment was as the Chief Ranger & Park Pilot
at Katmai National Park from 1981-1987. After Katmai I transferred to the Federal Law
Enforcement Training Center (Brunswick, GA) for the last eleven years of my career. I
retired in April 1998 and haven’t looked back.
I have been married/divorced (1982), and married/widowed (2011). Mary and I met here
in The Villages (FL) and married earlier this year. Mary retired in January after being a
pharmacist for thirty years. Neither of us have children (although I have a 45-year old
stepson). Mary and I are living the old saying: “Dessert First”. None of us really
know what’s around life’s corner, and at this point in life we just want to Go … Do
… Explore while we can.
In about 1978, I was invited to go back into the Army as an individual reservist. A few
worthless assignments as a senior captain convinced me that I was wasting my time and
Army money. I tried to “vacate” my commission, but was convinced to take a “direct
warrant.” I did take the Warrant – and things improved more than I could have
imagined. Sure, it came with a 30 month post 9/11 mobilization, but that’s another
story. In 2006 (at age 60) I retired from the army as a CW4. In my view “…my worst
day as a Warrant Officer was better than my best day as a commissioned officer.”
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it … but frankly I couldn’t have done it without OCS.
Thanks to EVERY ONE of YOU for being part of my Story.
Kenton Cecil
Kenton received his commissioned in Military Intelligence, volunteered indefinite. His
first assignment was at Ft. Meade, after which he was deployed to the Canal Zone for 1.5
years, and finished military service at Ft. Rucker as a Captain. He spent most of his
civilian life being an entrepreneur. Kenton resides in Montgomery, Alabama along with
his wife, six children, 12 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. Like all of us Kenton
was totally surprised to be contacted and happy to be reconnected to us fellow smacks
and looking forward to attend our 45th reunion.
Richard Charin
Thanks to Chuck Engelberger's diligence we have reconnected with Richard Charin.
After OCS Richard selected voluntary indefinite, went to QM school at Ft. Lee, served
two years in San Francisco stationed at Ft. Madison as Logistic Control Officer,
16
completing active service in Thailand. After attending law school, Richard practiced law
and is now retired living in Vienna, VA. Richard has two grown children a son and
daughter.
Don Cowan
After the Army, Don went to graduate school and became a grain trader and later was
involved in food companies, i.e. Beatrice. He and his wife have a grown son and a
daughter and live in Thompson Station, Tennessee.
Leo Daley
Leo Daley resides in Naples, FL and Emmaus, PA. Leo was one of our # Distinguished
Graduates commissioned in the Quartermaster and signed up for voluntary indefinite
program. After attending Quartermaster School at Ft. Lee, Virginia Leo was assigned to
the Electronics Command in Philadelphia, deployed to Vietnam in June '71 assigned to
the 1st Signal Brigade at Long Binh and completed his service in June '72 with the rank
of Captain. Leo retired from Air Products and Chemicals and is now enjoying the good
life with his wife of 41 years along with three grown children and three grandchildren.
Clyde Davis
After OCS. I went voluntary indefinite and was sent to Supply School at Ft. Lee where
my first son was born. I was then posted to Ft. Jackson and assigned as Assistant
Adjutant in the Personnel Center. After being promoted to 1 st Lt., I became CO of a
Reception Station Co. where I stayed until I got an early out in March of ’72. We had a
second son at Ft.
Jackson. I entered U. of South Carolina Law School fall semester of “72 and graduated in
the spring of ’75. I then worked as Law Clerk to the Chief Justice of the South Carolina
Supreme Court. During this year, my third son was born. Following that year, I went back
to my hometown of Greenville, SC to practice law. After about a year, the Chief Justice
asked me to return to the Supreme Court to establish and run a central Staff Attorney
Office for the Court, an offer too good to refuse. During my time as Chief Staff Attorney,
I joined a Reserve Jag unit and drilled with them about 3 years. After several years, the
Court appointed me as Clerk of Court where I ran all Court operations and staff except
for the Justices’ personal assistant and law clerk. In 1998, I was appointed as an Equity
Court Judge for Lexington County by Gov. David Beasley. I was reappointed by the
renowned Mark Sanford before his Argentina problem came to public attention. I was
able to buy my military time into the State retirement system and fully retired December
31, 2006 with 34 years of service.
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I have continued to serve as a Special Referee, hearing cases when other judges are
recused. I average 3 or 4 days a month, travelling over the upper part of SC. I serve on
the Board of a Christian non-profit that goes into primarily the Caribbean and Central
America finishing church buildings that have been started but were not completed. I have
been on 6 one week trips since my retirement. Because I had back surgery, I do not do
construction work but I cook for 15 – 18 people. These things along with 10
grandchildren and my honey-do list keep me pretty busy. Sometimes it seems more so
than when I worked. I think the truth is that I don’t have the energy I used to have and it
seems like more work than it really is.
Rose and I are in reasonably good health and are active with our children and
grandchildren. They are the reason we retired here. Two of our sons with their wives and
4 children each live within 5 miles of us. They both own their own businesses. Our oldest
is in Lawrenceville, GA with his wife and 2 children. He is CFO of an 11,000+ member
church with over 200 employees on staff.
Jon Dawson
Jon Dawson, a Belmont, MA native with deep roots in Maine, attended MCI in Pittsfield
and holds a BA in Business Administration from UMaine (1967). He attended Engineer
Officers Candidate School in Alexandria, VA and was commissioned in the US Army,
Military Intelligence Branch. He served at Ft. Belvoir OCS as a TAC officer and in
Vietnam as a military intelligence advisor. In 1970 he earned an MBA at the University
Of Maine Business School.
For the next two years he worked in Bangor for the Eastern Maine Development
Corporation as an economic development coordinator.
In 1972 he joined Country & Coastal Realty in Bangor with Carroll Wilson, Bill Baker,
and Dewey Gosselin. In 1974 he purchased the company, changed the name to Dawson
Realty, and joined the national real estate franchise ERA. After four years at 143
Broadway he moved the company to their new office at 417 Main St which currently
offers over 15,000 square feet at that location.
In 1989 Dawson purchased the ERA Bradford Co., Real Estate & Insurance, in Orono
from Richard Bradford. The office at 50 Main St, Orono continues to serve that
community. Dawson has served numerous charitable and civic organizations in the
Bangor Area.
The ERA Dawson Bradford Co. continues to meet the real estate needs of the Bangor
market place through its 70+ real estate associates in the area of residential, commercial
18
and recreational real estate and provides insurance services through its Dawson Insurance
subsidiary.
He is married to Nancy (Speirs) Dawson and has two girls, Julie and Katie.
Geret De Piper
Geret wrote: I do remember a Charles but not the last name. I remember Gorski and
Quimby. I also remember the TAC officers reasonably fondly. John Grega and I roomed
together as young officers at Va. Beach before Nam and joined the same company after
the war.
My best OCS memory was coordinating the girls as dates from the U of Maryland for
our white tab party. Not because I did it but because I was nervous something would
happen and I would be tossed.
Charles Engelberger
After college graduation, like many of you I visited the Army Recruiter to inquire about
OCS. I informed him I wanted to be commissioned in Transportation or Quartermaster.
You can imagine the look on his face. He told be about Infantry and Artillery but never
mentioned Engineer OCS. In September 1968, I found myself standing in formation with
Joe Boyle, Clyde Davis, Jim Karuzas, and Bill Mills (we would also attend AIT together)
in Charlie Co, 1st Bn, 3rd Bde, Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. After Basic Training, we were
assigned to Alpha Battery, 2nd Bn, 7th Bde, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. Since the 13E pre-OCS
classes were full, we were trained as artillery surveyors, MOS 82C. Before graduation,
we were given the opportunity to decline our OCS commitment and serve the remaining
time as artillery surveyors. If we honored our OCS commitment, we would not know
which OCS we would attend until we received our orders. Of course, we started OCS in
March and graduated with you in August 1969.
After graduation, I attended the Transportation Officer Orientation Course and remained
at Ft. Eustis where I was the XO and then CO of Charlie Co, 714th Railway Bn. Ed Svitil
was in HQs Co. George Buley was in a watercraft company and Tony Caruso was in a
truck company. In July 1970, I married Ann Welch and three weeks later I was in Long
Binh, Vietnam. That year would be the last time we were ever separated during my
military career. I was assigned to the 446th Trans Co, 6th Trans Bn that was responsible
for moving cargo from the Saigon port to the depots at Long Binh. The last six months I
was a convoy commander. Larry Sanford was assigned to the battalion and Chuck
Kitson, George Buley, Tony Caruso, and Wally Pienkos were assigned to the 7th Trans
Bn also located in Long Binh on TC Hill 2.
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Not knowing what I wanted to do when I returned stateside, I went Voluntary Indefinite
and requested an assignment close to home. I was assigned as the Bn Motor Officer, 1st
Bn, 18th FA, Ft. Sill, OK. After two years, I accepted a Regular Commission and
commanded the 471st Trans Co. In June 1974, I attended the Advanced Course at Ft.
Eustis and remained an additional five months to complete my Masters. I had no official
duties during the day. I just had to go to class four nights a week. Before graduation, I
requested an assignment in Germany and was assigned as the Transportation Officer,
Central Army Group HQs, in the Heidelberg/Mannheim area. This was the wartime
headquarters for all NATO land forces in Central Europe. The headquarters consisted of
U.S., German, Canadian, and French officers and soldiers. Reading the biographies of the
German officers in regards to their WWII units and battles was fascinating. I never got
used to the 15 minute morning and afternoon NATO breaks that the soldiers were
allowed during which time they could drink beer.
After that assignment, I was assigned to the 180th Trans Bn, Ft. Hood, TX, where I was
the S4, S2/3, and XO. In January 1982, I attended the Armed Forces Staff College,
Norfolk, VA. The student body consisted of members of all the services, foreign officers,
and civilians. The goal was to assign as many officers as possible to a position in the
sister services. My first two assignment offers were with the Navy in Key West and
NATO Naval HQs in Norfolk. My third assignment offer was a year in the Training with
Industry Program with United Van Lines at their headquarters in MO. After declining 13
assignments, the assignment officer called and said “Chuck, if you decline this next
assignment think of the worst place I can assign a transportation officer.” Needless to
say that caught my attention. Even though I had told him I did not want to attend any
more military or civilian schools, he informed me that I was going to the British Army
Staff College for 16 months.
The first four months were at the Royal Military College of Science near Oxford. In
January '83, I, along with 120 British and 59 foreign officers, began the staff course on a
campus adjacent to Sandhurst Royal Military Academy 30 miles west of London. Ann
said this was the best assignment we ever had. Since we were already in Europe, the
family decided after graduation to cross the channel and request an assignment in
Germany. I requested to be assigned to the headquarters in Heidelberg or one of the two
Corps. I was assigned as the Chief, Plans and Operations Division, G4, 7th Corps HQs,
Stuttgart, Germany. At the end of that assignment I was informed that I had been selected
to command the 180th Trans Bn, the battalion that I had been assigned to five years
earlier. After two years in command, I remained at Ft. Hood as the Assistant Chief of
Staff, Transportation, 13th Corps Support Command. I then attended the Army War
College in Carlisle, PA. After graduating, I was assigned as the European Plans Officer,
J4, The Joint Staff. After the three years, the assignment officer called and said I had to
take a short/unaccompanied tour or retire but he would be generous and let me retire one
20
year out and assign me to Officer Personnel where I would review OER appeals and sit
on re- look promotion boards. I was within 24 hours of retiring when he called and said
he had a one year-only assignment for me as the Assistant Chief of Staff, Plans, Military
Traffic Management Command in Falls Church, VA. The assignment lasted three years
and I retired as a Colonel in 1997.
After retirement, I worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers as a Transportation Consultant.
In October 1999, I accepted a position as Supervisor of Bus Operations, supervising 750
school bus drivers and 150 bus attendants, for a northern Virginia school district. I
finally retired in December 2011.
In retirement I volunteer three times a week, visit my sons, Charles, a Criminal
Defense Attorney, in Georgia, and John, a retired NFL player, in Virginia, and now
since Ann retired in May after 34 years with the Department of Defense, we will
continue our travels. In my spare time, I do family genealogy research and have
identified and documented 32,300 ancestors and descendants of our families.
As I read your emails, I am truly amazed at your recollections of our OCS days. I too had
many fond memories. In an earlier email, I believe Dennis Gehley was correct when he
said “We were a Band of Brothers.” Yes, for 23 weeks we were a Band of Brothers just
trying to cooperate and graduate. And we did!
Kent Epeneter
A Very Short Recap on the Last 40 Years for Kent Epeneter:
Upon graduation from Engineer OCS, I spent 3 years stationed at Fort Ord, California, as
the base housing officer. (I know, tough duty, but someone had to do it.)
After my discharge from the Army, I went back to the Midwest, and started a 25 year
career in the greeting card and giftware industry. This career took me to Seattle in 1981
and the San Francisco Bay area in 1995.
In 1997 I took an early retirement and moved to Central Mexico (an area located
approximately 50 km South of Guadalajara.) It took me about 6 months to realize that I
was too young to retire, so I started a business in Mexico exporting to the United States
furniture and accessories. In 2000 I returned to the states and located in Mesquite,
Nevada. This small town is approximately 80 miles Northeast of Las Vegas, where the
Nevada, Arizona and Utah borders meet. From Mesquite I continued to work my
exporting business till I once again retired in 2008.
I am married (and as she says, to my last wife) and have two children, one of whom
is deceased.
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I got a call “out of the blue” from Kit. What a total and complete surprise.
What I got most out of OCS and my years of service in the Army, was the amount of
confidence I gained in my abilities. Entering the Army and basic training, I was not a
very confident young man. But those years taught me that if I applied myself, I could
accomplish things that before I never would have attempted.
Leo Fronza
I grew up in Pottsville, Pa. with Leo Daley. We both graduated from Penn State and
together signed up for Artillery OCS. We both went to Ft. Leonard Wood for Basic; Ft.
Sill for Advanced and Ft. Belvoir for Engineering OCS. After graduation I was assigned to
Ft. Lee for Quartermaster training. Upon completion, I was assigned to Ft. Sill, Ok. and
then to Chu Lai, Vietnam. In Vietnam, I was with the 80th support group out of De Nang,
assigned to the 57th Transportation Battalion in Chu Lai. I was in charge of supplying the
food for the 23rd Infantry Division, aka, The Americal Division. I received an early
discharge in June 1971; married, Joyce, my wife of 48 years; and thanks to the GI Bill
achieved an MBA, with a concentration in Health Care Management, from The George
Washington University. My 40 year healthcare career consisted of 7 years at Nassau
County Medical Center, East Meadow, N.Y. and 33 years at Elmhurst Memorial
Healthcare, Elmhurst, Il. The last 20 years as President & CEO.
Joyce and I are blessed with 5 children(1 girl & 4 boys), and 13 grandchildren (7 girls & 6
boys). Our grandchildren range in age from a newborn to a 19 year old college
sophomore.
I retired in June 2011 with the opening of our new $500M replacement hospital. We are
enjoying retirement with good health, the flexibility of time, family, golf, our lake home in
the north woods of Wisconsin, and travel. Our travel has been special. Each year we take
one of our children and their family on a memorable vacation to such great places as
Alaska, Hawaii, many European countries and the Galapagos Islands. It has been a joy for
us to have these shared experiences with our family and see the world through the eyes of
our grandchildren.
Life is good, and I am excited about re-connecting with our OCS classmates.
Dennis Gehley
I had a suspicion, based on Joe Boyle's recent email to me, that I would be hearing from
you. Thanks for reaching out. Also, thank you for your offer to supply a copy of Steve's
22 Hotel journal, class graduation photo, and graduation program. I am an anal-retentive
22
type who saves these type of memorabilia and already have one of each.
It is hard to describe how good it felt this morning for me to see your name and the
names from that long ago period, March - August 1969, when man first walked on the
moon and we were there in the billets to watch it on black and white TV on a Saturday
night at 22 Hotel, if memory serves me correctly. Or not.Since our commissioning in
August 1969, life for me has, indeed, been almost 100% good. Except for the part
where my wife of 38 years died of cancer in 2008. How sweet it is, 44 years after our
commissioning, to know that I am still connected with Dan, Jim, Leo F., Walt, Frank,
Chuck, Craig, Bob, Larry, Phil, Joe, Ray, Stephen, Jim W., Jim P., Leo D., and Billie.
It will take a few days (or weeks or months) for me to collect and submit my thoughts
about 22 Hotel and its aftermath. For the time being, suffice it to say that I went from
Ft. Belvoir commissioning in Finance Corps August 1969 to Finance School at Ft.
Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, IN, followed by 2 years in Heidelberg, Germany,
at Central Finance and Accounting Office, Europe, then Headquarters, US Army, Viet
Nam, Deputy Chief of Staff, Comptroller, October 1971 - March 1972. After 5
months and 3 weeks in country RVN, I was 1 week shy of qualifying for R&R and all
that that entailed. I went home to my wife and daughter rather than catching a disease
in Thailand. After Viet Nam, I returned to work as an auditor for the federal
government for 37 years and retired in January 2006, shortly before my wife was
diagnosed with cancer.
For what it is worth, I remain in close email contact with one John G. Grega from our
Hotel 22 class. John and I frequently share email and every few years get together on the
East Coast while he visits Mom and the New Jersey Mafia. John's contact information
follows.
By the way, I just happen to live in Springfield, Virginia, about 5 miles from Ft.
Belvoir. I enter Ft. Belvoir about once each month when I go to the officers' club for it's
weekly dinner and dance. My wedding reception was on August 16, 1969, at the Ft.
Belvoir Officers' Club. For those of you who may be interested, the OCS billets have
long since been demolished. The OCS training classrooms have been demolished. For
those of you at some distance from Ft. Belvoir, the only area that remains from our
1969 OCS experience is the PT field. No bleachers, no structures, nothing other than
the huge expanse of land that we used to run around. And around. And around.
Thomas Gilbride
Once more, thanks to Chuck Engelberger's efforts we have reconnected with Tom
Gilbride. After OCS Tom went voluntary indefinite, served one year in Korea along
with his new bride and returned to the States with their first son. Tom said his oldest son
was made in the U.S.A. and assembled in Korea. Remaining service time was spent at
23
Ft. Benning, unfortunately serving under a commander having unorthodox military

leadership such as hitting on wives of junior officers. After leaving the Army Tom
worked in hospital supply management and now being retired Tom does voluntary work
with his church and other charity organizations. Unfortunately, Tom's wife passed away
two years ago leaving him with a wonderful family of three sons and three grandsons.
Tom is very happy to be reconnected and is looking forward to attending our 45th
reunion and asked to pass the word that he is currently having problems with his email
service.
Frank Gorski
After OCS I went the "voluntary indefinite" rout for The ECOM labs at Ft. Monmouth
New Jersey. I sent the next year and a half traveling around the country testing the radio
systems on various Military Vehicles and Aircraft for the effectiveness of the secure
communication equipment. I had to travel to find specific vehicle and as a result got to
visit a lot of bases in a lot of different states.
Then I received orders for Viet Nam and was assigned to the US Army Depot, Da Nang
in 1971. I believe it was XXIV corps . I was responsible for the management of the
contracts the total approximately 6 million dollars. Traveled throughout the country as a
result of the assignment. Released from the service in March 1972.
Worked for T&B Ansley as an Engineer that designed and made flat cable for the
computer industry. Moved to Los Angeles California for 5 years and then Florida for
5 years for the company. In 1981 moved back to Pa and went to work for
Pennsylvania Power and Light as a Engineer in the marketing department. I ended my
career as a Metering Supervisor in the Scranton Area.
Retired early at age 60 and spent the last ten years Fishing, Hunting, Golfing, Traveling. I
am busier now than when I worked.
John G Grega
My story began when my French grandmother sent my mother out to bring this skinny
American soldier in that looked like he needed a decent meal. The rest is history as I was
the first American child born in the L’Anse-Vata beach Naval hospital, then a Quonset hut
now a Club Med location, in Noumea, New Caledonia, South Pacific. My war bride
mother carried me along with the other dependents in a 3 week Pacific crossing aboard
the USS Rutledge to San Francisco and then by train to New Jersey. Speaking only French
and stuck on the train between Farmingdale, NJ and Farmingdale, New York my uncle
rescued us by driving his Model A Ford onto the rail road tracks at Woodbridge, NJ;
stopped the train and took us off and delivered us to my father’s family on the farm. You
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may well imagine who or what they thought my father was bringing home from the war in
the South Pacific, until we got there.
Anyway I grew up in NJ and joined the US Army out of college. I was inducted at Fort
Holabird, in Baltimore at the same location my dad was inducted, did my basic and AIT
training at Fort Dix, NJ and joined the Engineer OCS class of 22-Hotel -69 at Fort Belvoir,
VA. After OCS graduation and commissioning I was assigned to the Transportation
Officers training at Fort Eustis, VA and then to the 305th Amphibian transportation
Company at Fort Story on Virginia Beach. I am pleased to report there were no hostile
invasions while I was stationed at Virginia Beach, and one of our official duties was
providing life guards for the bathers. Someone had to do it! While there a Navy ship
collided with and took a span out of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge which was quite
entertaining to watch from the Officers Club. In Vietnam I was I was assigned to the 544th
Medium Boat Company at the Port of Chu Lai, (attached to the Americal Division and
later the 277th S&S) which the Army Transportation took over from the Navy. I succeeded
a naval officer by the name of Roger Staubach as OIC of the Chu Lai Sand Ramp.
Everything with his signature disappeared. The 544th’s claim to fame resulted from its
participation in an operation into Laos and the panicked removal of Agent Orange from I
Corp. I was awarded a Bronze Star for something but I’m not sure for what. Maybe it was
for the challenges of operating a stevedore company bolstered by McNamara’s “100
thousand” that truly could not chew gum or march at the same time.
After Vietnam I traveled and wandered a bit most notably a three-month adventure to the
Panama Canal Zone and a drive up through Central America with Geret De Piper. Alaska
on my way to and from Vietnam intrigued me and I took a job with an American
transportation company that would get me there via Seattle. Nine years into that adventure
and my seven-month pregnant bride and I took a transfer to Asia. After two years in
Seoul, South Korea and six years in Taipei, Taiwan we returned to the USA with two
children (one made in Alaska and born in Seoul the other “Made in Taiwan”) and four
containers of furniture. We shuffled from Charleston, South Carolina to New Jersey, then
to Salem, Oregon and then to Seattle, Washington eventually resettling in Alaska for the
last 20 years and now to Allyn, Washington as my wife, Professor Tricia, retired from the
University of Alaska and I retired from the transportation industry, and now major in
amateur comedy, wine cork collecting and grand parenting.
Our daughter resides in Portland, Oregon and my son and his family reside in Ann Arbor,
Michigan. God help us as we will now have seven lawyers in the family and don’t need
another “Donny Brook Fair” at the next family reunion.
So if anybody reads this and decides they want to visit, I am easy to find, as I am the only
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Grega in the Allyn phone book and located at the 150 yard marker on the 6th fairway at the
Lake Land Village golf course.
Charles Grubert
This evening we reconnected with Charles (Charlie) Grubert. Charlie signed up for the
indefinite voluntary program, spent two months as TAC Officer, was assigned to MP
company and spend his entire military service at Ft. Belvoir. In civilian life Charlie
retired from the FBI after 30 years as an agent and over the past several years had his own
investigation company in Mountain Top, PA. where he currently resides. Charlie has
three children and six grandchildren.
Franklin “ Cam “ Johnson

Cam received his commission in Quartermaster, attended QM school at Ft. Lee, received
orders for Graves Registratopm which he did not want so he volunteered indefinite and
assigned to Ft. Devens stockade as a drug counselor, afterwards went to Vietnam
stationed in Da Nang distributing supplies. After leaving the Army Cam worked with
the Massachusetts Vocation Rehabilitation, private rehab institutions and the remaining
13 years with the Veterans Administration, now retired Cam lives in Oceanside CA
along with wife and family. Like all of us Cam is thrilled to be reconnected.
James Karusas
James received his commission in MI, stationed at Ft. Devens, deployed to Korea in
August' 69 for 13 months and finished his service time at Ft. Carson in May 71. In
civilian life James spent 37 years with Coors Brewing Co. retired in December 2008.
James resides in Ft. Collins with his second wife and has one son from his previous
marriage. Again, like all of us James was totally surprised to be contacted and happy to
be reconnected with us fellow smacks and looking forward to attend our 45th reunion.
Kilby Lawson 'Kirk' Kirkland (1946-2011)

Kirk was born in Marianna, Florida and graduated from Samford University and later
received a Masters Degree in Education from Columbus State University. He was a
teacher.
After OCS he served in the Transportation Corps and left the Army as a Captain.
He volunteered with the Ms. Georgia Pageant Board, with the Buick Open Golf
Championship and with River-fest. He also served as President of the Columbus State
University Alumni Association.
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When he died he left his wife of 41 years, Sandra, and a daughter, Jessica.
He is buried in the Fort Mitchell National Cemetery in Russell County,
Alabama. (from Kirk's obituary written by Don Atwell)
Charles 'Kit' Kitson

After graduation I maintained contact with Dan Waterman and James Quimby. Over the
past few years the three of us along with our wives have gotten together...first in Hawaii
where Quimby lives, second time in Vegas and our most recent gathering was in 2011 on
an Alaska cruise. In December we made contact with Leo Fronza the missing link of the
Hard Core Four, the four shortest smacks in the company. On parade days in order to
even out the rear of the parade formation at least one of the Hard Core Four was
dismissed and remained back in the barracks.
After OCS I went to QM school at Ft Lee where Pienkos and I shared an apartment, then
to Transportation school at Ft. Eustis. Before deployed to Nam I was stationed at Ft
McClellan in Anniston, Alabama where I met my wife and we will be married 42 years
this coming December 24th. I was stationed at Long Binh with the 7th Trans. Battalion
assigned to the 534th Trans. Co. running convoys (our goals were mileage and tonnage).
After about six or seven months later the company was deployed to the Mekong Delta
which made Long Binh look a resort. Returned to the world in July' 71 and spent the next
30 years in the men's apparel industry managing facilities producing men's tailored
clothing and the last ten years doing real estate.
Life has been good to all the comrades I have reached out to...we have been very
fortunate. Leo Fronza said he believes his Army's leadership experience contributed to
his success...I believe he is right.
So with our OCS sign off... LAY - HOOOOLD – HEAVE
Stan Lapidow ( 1944-2011 )

When called about an OCS reunion – so many memories came flooding back to me.
The military had been such an important part of the life that Stan and I shared. In 1968,
the military and OCS were a very scary time in history.
After Stan graduated from OCS we were stationed at Fort Devens, MA until 1972. Stan
was with the Engineers at firstt and then was transferred to head up the Education
Center. In those days, there were servicemen that did not have high school diplomas. In
1972, we came back to New Jersey. Stan worked for Johnson and Johnson and Carter
Wallace Pharmaceuticals before become the Manager of Environmental Health and
27
Safety for the New Jersey State Department of Treasury. It was during this time also
that Stan received his MBA Degree and Ph.D with a specialty in Environmental
Engineering.
Stan retired from the New Jersey State Department of Treasury but remained active with
the New Jersey National Guard and the US Army Reserves. During his 33 year career
with the Reserves and Guard he has been deployed with Special Operations Units to
Operation Desert Shield, the Haiti Conflict, and the Bosnia and Kosovo Campaigns. He
often joked that we stayed married so long because he was actually away from home for
a total of 11 years – a long time considering he was in the Guards/Reserves on a part
time basis.
We have 2 sons and a daughter. Our son Jonathan works fulltime for the NJ National
Guard. He is trained as a helicopter pilot and had a tour in Iraq. Our daughter Becky is a
lawyer and a part time NJ Guard person. Becky was also on active duty for 4 years. She
had a tour in Afghanistan. Our son Michael is co-owner a job placement business and
hires many retired or former service people.
Stan enjoyed spending his free time driving his beloved (refurbished) Army jeep
around town and was active with the Central Jersey Motor Vehicle Club. He also
enjoyed spending time with his family, going to the shooting range, and relaxing by the
beach or pool. He is greatly missed by his family, friends, and community.
Bill McCue
Bill McCue is a lawyer in Oklahoma.
Bill Mills
In May of 1967 I graduated with a BS from Ft. Hays University and was unable to get a job
besides a government one because I was I-A in the draft. So I took a job with USDA as a
Processed Products inspector where my wife and I moved to Ripon, Wisconsin. We spent
six months there, and then I was sent to Eustis, Florida, to grade orange juice. After six
months there, I was sent back north to Owatonna, Minnesota, to grade beans, peas, etc.
After three months, I was drafted by the U. S. Army and sent to Ft. Leonard Wood,
Missouri, for basic training. From there I was sent to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, for AIT. It was
while there that I decided I didn’t want to be a “buck private” so applied to Officers’
Candidate School at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia. After that I went to Quartermaster Supply
School in Ft. Lee in Richmond, Virginia. From there I was sent to Ft. Sill again where I
was in supplies before being sent to Long My, Vietnam, in June of 1970 for nine months
before they closed it down. It was there I was awarded the Bronze Star for the highest
location accuracy in Vietnam (97%). From there I was sent to Qui Nhon for three months
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and while there I was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Upon coming home from Vietnam in
June of 1971, I got out of the Army and went back into civilian life. I was a Quality
Control Supervisor for Boise Cascade in Kansas City and then took over as Plant Manager
for Boise Cascade in Denison, Texas. After three years and the death of my father-in-law,
we decided we wanted to go back to Kansas so I took a Plant Manager job in Liberal,
Kansas, for Tradewind Industries. From there I became employed with Betts Baking
Company out of Hutchinson, Kansas, as Regional Sales Manager. We started our own
business, Southwest Tires, in Liberal, Kansas, in 1986 where we stayed for twenty years.
All three of our sons learned how to work there, but none of them wanted the business
except our son-in-law. However, he passed away from cancer so our interest waned; and
we sold in 2006. As soon as we sold, I was hired by our competitor to be an outside sales
person which is what I’ve been doing since. For four years I was a salesman for Key
Energy Services as well. I enjoy being out in the work force and selling. God has been
good, and we have four children and spouses as well as 12 grandchildren. We’re active in
our church, Fellowship Baptist, where I serve as a Bible class teacher and deacon. Our
travels consist of going to visit our children...Michael in Austin, Texas; Douglas in
Nashville, TN; and our USAF military son, Lt. Col Jonny Mills, who just moved from
Vandenberg AFB in California to Kirkland AFB in Albuquerque, NM.
Ray Murray
After completing OCS and receiving a commission in the Quartermaster Corps, I
attended the Supply Management Officer Class at Fort Lee, VA. Holly and I then
headed out for our two year tour in Germany. My first assignment was as Platoon
Leader, Deputy Director of Maintenance and Depot Shops Officer (a Major’s Slot) at
Nahbollenbach Army Depot in Idar Oberstein. I was assigned to convert thousands of
rifle racks in Europe from securing M-14’s to M-16’s. The high priority and condensed
time frame led to a lot of command attention including a visit from and briefing for MG
Joseph Piecklik, Commanding Officer of Material Command Europe. After completion
of the project, he requested that I become his Senior Aide–De-Camp at MATCOM
Headquarters in Zweibrucken, Germany. General Piecklik was nominated for his third
star and assigned as Commanding General at the Army Tank Automotive Command in
Detroit, MI. I was promoted to Captain and accompanied the General to Detroit as Senior
Aide-De-Camp where I completed my Army Service. During my stint the stint in
Germany our son, Erik, was born at Landstuhl Army Hospital. I have so many humorous
stories and learning experiences to share from my years at Nahbollenbach Depot and as
Aide-De-Camp but space does not allow for them here.
After the Army, several former military officers and myself were recruited by Aetna Life
and Casualty for management positions. After four very happy years at Aetna in Saratoga
County in Upstate N.Y., my parents, brother, and myself started a Propane Equipment
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Distribution Business in Lee in the Berkshire Hills in Western Massachusetts. I held the
positions of VP Sales, President, and later Chairman. My brother and I purchased the
balance of the business from my parents in the early 1990’s. We currently employ about
75 people at three locations in the Northeast and Midwest.
One of my favorite activities has been the 15 year involvement in the National Propane
Gas Association, a 3,500 company member trade association with Headquarters in
Washington, D.C. I served as Treasurer, Vice Chairman, and Chairman, as Convention
Committee and Distributor Section Chairman and on the Executive Committee. The year
as Chairman involved substantial US and international travel for Holly and me. We were
very grateful for this opportunity to serve the industry and people that helped make our
company a success.
Historically, our entire family has been committed to a life of Community Service. I
served in a variety of roles including Board Member, President, Treasurer, Trustee,
Fundraiser, and Chairman for many of our local organizations including the United
Way, Housing Development Board, Savings Bank, Hospital and Health System,
Community Development Corporation, Boy Scouts, Golf Club, and local Public
Broadcasting System. Holly and I have also been very active in the First
Congregational Church in Great Barrington, MA where we live. Holly served as
Christian Education Director, Sunday School Superintendent, and as a long time
Deacon. Among other jobs, I have been Lay Leader, Chairman of our Capital Fund
Drive, and currently serve as Moderator.
I am also very active with the local VFW and American Legion Posts including
participating in their Honor Guard for parades, special events and providing
Military Honors for Veteran’s funerals. Holly and I have been married for 46
years. We love spending time with our three grandsons (one more grandchild on the
way) at our home in Great Barrington and in Truro on Cape Cod. I still love to ski
and play golf and especially enjoy working on our woodland property, pruning and
maintaining the many species of trees. In closing, I can’t emphasize enough the
huge positive impact that OCS and the members of my platoon had on my life. I
have always felt that we had an exceptional and unusually strong class filled with
excellent leaders. The way this reunion has come together is a perfect example of
that. We look forward to seeing everyone in August.
John Nystrom
What a surprise being contacted by Jim Quimby after having no contact with any 22
Hotel classmates for almost 45 years. I have subsequently been asked to provide an
overview of my life since those memorable OCS days so here it is:
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Following being commissioned as a 2nd LT QM Corps in August 1969 I was married

later that same month to my first (and only) wife Barbra. We honey mooned on the
Cape Hatteras National Seashore (how would two young mid-westerners know August
is hurricane season). Not long after I reported to Ft. Lee, Richmond, VA. for QM
school; Barbra accompanied me and taught special needs elementary kids in Colonial
Heights, VA.
After Ft. Lee I was assigned to Sharpe Army Depot, Stockton, CA. Eighteen months at
Sharpe (working on the movement of wartime materials between the States and Viet
Nam) past quickly and I received orders for Nam. Most memorable extra duties at
Sharpe included making death notification contacts with army chaplains, and MIA visits
to assess and coordinate spousal support. Needless to say, when I departed for Viet Nam
from Travis AFB in July 1971 I was ready for anything and everything.
I vividly recall a very long flight to Nam, nighttime arrival at Tan Son Nhut AFB in
Saigon and in-country processing like it was yesterday. I was assigned to the US Army
procurement Agency Viet Nam (USAPAV) as a contracting officer. Home base was
Saigon where I was paired with an army veterinarian. Together we were responsible for
administering subsistence contracts, to supply food for US and VN troops. We spent
most days traveling to food processing facilities and army base camps throughout the
country (I Corp to Can Tho and all major points between). We checked on items such as
compliance to ice potability and mold free bakery goods standards. I was promoted
tocaptain during my tour, and returned safely home several months early as President
Nixon accelerated troop withdrawals in 1972.
Upon arrival in N. California to the Oakland Army terminal I opted out of the army, and
immediately started taking grad school classes at UC Berkeley (my former daily shaved
OCS head soon sported shoulder length hair). With Barbra still teaching to pay our bills I
graduated with an MBA in marketing. I found the job market to be very favorable to
grad students with military officer training & experience; with several good job offers I I
accepted a sales & marketing position with Ford Motor Company in Denver, CO. I didn't
know squat about the car business but given our love for the outdoors Denver sounded
great to Barbra and me. We thoroughly enjoyed biking, hiking, skiing, rafting and
mountain climbing in the Rockies. Our only child (son Andrew) was born in Denver.
Little did he (or we) know he would move five times before his 10th birthday; however a
strong connection to Montessori schools and sports teams helped him (and us) through
the job transfer relocations. We were able to settle long enough in LA for Andrew to
attend Jr high and high school there, and he eventually graduated from UC
Berkeley. Andrew is now married and has two young sons (grandsons Maximo and
August).
Following 10 years with Ford I was able to parlay my acquired automotive knowledge
31
into a management position with Datsun (later to become Nissan). A career of almost 30
years with Nissan included assignments as regional sales manager, Director, Marketing
(Nissan Division) and Director Operations (Infiniti Division). Eventually 40 years in the
highly competitive auto industry was enough for me so I elected to retire in January
2011.
Barbra and I have decided to stay in Diablo, CA (50 miles east of San Francisco) where
we have now resided for the past 20 years. I spend quality time on the golf course where
we live, play tennis several times each week (doubles with the old farts), and attend local
VFW activities. Barbra volunteers with several organizations and vigorously supports all
N. California environmental groups. We participate together in Diablo Country Club
functions such as bocci league and charitable events. We also take an annual spring trip
to Hawaii to stay with close friends, and travel frequently to Portland, OR. to visit
family.
I look at the prospect of catching up with "old" OCS comrades as an interesting
and rewarding adventure.
Jim Proud
Kit, It was great to speak with you yesterday and have very much enjoyed the e-mails
you have forwarded tonight. You asked that I share my memories of OCS, what I did in
the army and what I have done since. Steve Wing's journal is a great resource for all of us
and is far better than any of our individual recollections. As you mentioned to Joe Boyle,
I have a photo taken on a trip to D.C. and another photo of the two of us before going out
on an ambush mission to disrupt some march of another class. I guess the TAC officers
arranged all of that and Joe and I were just having fun.
My Army career was pretty much a non-event. After Fort Devens for four months, I was
assigned to a small post 50 miles north of San Francisco and on the coast west of
Petaluma. It was called Two Rock Ranch station. The place was one large antenna field
so we could listen to any radio traffic around the Pacific rim and elsewhere. [I think that's
all declassified by now] I was able to go into San Francisco 4 nights a week and received
a masters degree in public administration. I served there with Mike West who then went
to Korea. You may remember that Mike was a highly rated volley ball player in
college. When he arrived in Korea he tried out for and made his division team. He then
spent a year traveling around the orient playing volley ball.[war is hell] My post closed in
June '71 and is now a Coast Guard training school. I have visited it twice on trips to the
bay area and the memories were good.
You may remember that I had finished one year of law school before my draft board
used its influence to have me sign up for OCS. After the army, I returned to the
Villanova law school and graduated in 1973. I started to practice with a firm in Media
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and remained there for 23 years. My area of specialty was local government, sewer
authorities, zoning boards and the like. In 1996 governor Tom Ridge nominated me for a
vacancy on our county court and the senate confirmed that appointment. 1997 I ran for a
ten year term as required and again in 2007. I had mandatory retirement at the end of
2015 because of my 70th birthday earlier that year. I decided to return to a law practice
and have very much enjoyed working 15 or so hours a week doing arbitration,
mediation, receivership, solicitorship, board of directors,etc. work. I very much enjoy
that activity rather than being a senior judge as that term is defined in our county. I have
4 children and 7 grand children, the oldest of whom is fifteen. My oldest child lives
close by, my second and only daughter lives in Boston, my third lives in Brooklyn and
my fourth lives in Charlotte, North Carolina and is a Civil Engineer.
I look forward to seeing those who are able to join for the 50th reunion. See you there.
Philip Putnam
Putnam signed up for the indefinite voluntary program and got assigned to an
ammunition plant in Ohio for 18 months, participated in the Kent State protest, deployed
to Nam in ' 71 as OIC of inventory control of 175K tons of ammo at Long Binh and
retired from IBM after 34 years.
Jim Quimby
First of all, kudos to Chuck Kitson as a number of years ago (nine I believe), he was able
to track me down and I met him in Edgewood, Maryland, during my 40 th high school
reunion. Now, he seems well on his way to contacting the rest of H-22. Since August,
1969, it has been my good fortune to have seen Waterman, Fronza, and Kit. Leo Fronza
was here in Hawaii a few months ago, and Kitson, Waterman, and myself, have been to
Vegas together with our wives and on the Alaskan Inside Passage Cruise. My 50th HS
reunion is next May near Washington, DC, but I would much prefer to see the guys of H-
22. By the way, regarding Leo, he has a street named after him in his town AND a wing
of a hospital. He is too humble to mention that so I will brag for him. Kitson was a CEO
and Waterman has his own accounting firm. All 3 very successful beanheads.
Immediately after OCS graduation I recall getting ordered to Korea as soon as I was
finished with Supply School at Fort Lee, Va. I was not Vol Indef and just rolled the
dice, I was just going to go wherever they wanted me. Craig Carothers was my
roommate in a rather sleazy trailer park near the post. When I reached Korea they put
me on a helicopter to a camp that supplied the 2nd Inf Division with vehicles, weapons,
and other equipment repair and parts. (702 Maint. BN).
The BN Commander promptly sent me to a company just below the DMZ and we
33
supported a Cav troop and the Infantry units on the DMZ. My job was to run the Tech
Supply and the Shop Office where all of the vehicle repairs were scheduled and handled.
We had a great bunch of NCOs, Warrants, and troops. They really were a competent
bunch and a good group of wrench turners. I remember shortly after arriving at the
company there was an alert and no one had shown me how to get onto the radio net
when I was the officer on duty for the camp. The Cav Lt. Col came by and was not too
happy. Fortunately, after that we always got along and he was very happy with our
support for his tracks, jeeps, etc.
The Warrant Officers named me as an honorary warrant and a member of Warrant
Officer Protective Organization. I was the only LT in the BN to receive that “award.” I
did not know Luc Quinson was on the DMZ doing his thing or I could have seen him as I
would cross into the zone all of the time to pay our guys or to see my Motor Officers
from the various Infantry companies. For some reason I also received combat pay which
I thought was odd. The Korean troops we had with us were very STRAC and good
mechanics too. Great soldiers. I would sometimes see their First Sgt. slap them right
across the face. The very first night I was in the camp the Koreans put on a tae kwon do
exhibition that was almost frightening how deadly their bare feet were. Needless to say I
extremely impressed.
After 13 months in Korea I was offered an opportunity to go to Europe. I foolishly
turned that down but decided to settle in Hawaii which I had first visited when I was in
the 10th grade and living in Japan. I met a Japanese/American girl in 1978 and we were
married in 1980. I have now been married for 33 years. Susan got pregnant once,
miscarried, and after that I was told by a fertility specialist that I was shooting blanks.
So, no kids, but I look at it as God’s will. Early on I could not afford adoption. Sue is the
best thing that ever happened to me.
I had no idea right after the Army on a career so I attended a Veteran’s job fair and got a
job at First Hawaiian Bank. After about 3 years or so it seemed boring and jobs were
scarce here so we decided to move to California where things were booming. It was
fortuitous that I decided to go into hospital sales and took a job with Travenol Labs,
which eventually morphed into American Hospital Supply, and is now Baxter
Healthcare. I had various jobs such as Territory Manager, Training Director, Division
Manager, and back to Territory Manager (which is the best job of all—at least to me.)
My specialty was selling intravenous supplies that are used extensively in hospitals as
some of you may know.
I lived a few different places on the mainland with the company and eventually my
parents moved to Hawaii and since Sue’s parents were born and raised here we decided
to move back and I was lucky to have the company help me move. Her mom is 89 years
old and still driving; both of my parents are deceased.
34
I retired from Baxter and then, once again, needed something to do so for the next 10
years I assisted people with disabilities obtain employment, services, etc. I was not a
trained social worker but just learned from my coworkers. One year ago yesterday I
retired and we have a lot of things to keep us busy. I take a different type of exercise
class almost every day. One day it might be yoga, Pilates, body fit, weights, zumba, or
whatever. I do it all at the YMCA. The only daytime TV I allow myself to watch is an
occasional sports show. We are in a West Coast Swing Dance club (just started learning
that), do Meals on Wheels, volunteer at our Church’s Farmer’s Market, take a theology
class, go to University of Hawaii sports, and I like stand up paddle boarding.
I did not really want to retire as I am very healthy but when they kept cutting our staff it
just became too stressful. I sort of envy those of you still working, the main thing is to
just keep moving. I am very hopeful that we can have a reunion next year. As much as I
do not like flying we will make it!!
Luc Quinson
For Luc Quinson to list his US Army assignments (which will follow) doesn't explain
his relationship to “serving his nation”. I am an immigrant, came to the USA at age
two, naturalized at age twelve. My father’s father was a French Infantry Captain,
gassed in WWI. My father served as a Reserve Artillery 1st Lt in the French Army
during WWll and became a POW for five years because even though the war was lost
he chose not to abandon his troops, having had several opportunities to get back
home free and clear before capture. My three older brothers all served in the Armed
Forces of the USA. One branch of my French relatives have for generations been in
the military; I have one cousin who is a retired Four Star in the French Army and his
brother is a retired Three Star Admiral, their older brother was taken prisoner by the
Viet Min at Dien Bien Fu and retired a LTC. So to serve is in my genes: Duty, Honor,
Country; or as the French might say “Noblesse Oblige”.
Basic & Advanced Infantry Training (AIT) at Fort Dix NJ – MOS 11B10, light weapons
infantryman.
OCS, Commissioned as an Engineer
Supply Management Course, Fort Lee VA – My feeble attempt to get a position as
S4, didn’t work.
Platoon Leader, Second Platoon, C Company, 2nd Engineer Battalion, 2 nd Infantry

Division, DMZ Republic of Korea
Directorate of Personnel & Community Activities (DPCA), Army Engineer Center,
35
Fort Belvoir VA
God Bless America and all those who serve honorably protect us from those within and
outside our borders who wish to diminish Her greatness!
In 1968 when we graduated college, had we had our service behind us we would have
been golden for finding a job; not so in early 1972. My degree is in Foreign Affairs and
I am fluent in French. I had originally thought of International Banking since one of my
older brothers was enjoying a very nice lifestyle in that profession. The few banks that
showed interest were not offering the international route and the salary was two thirds
of my Captain’s pay.
I got an interesting offer from Bethlehem Steel for their “Loop” course; a one year
training program where with a combination of classroom and plant/product training over
a year’s time you are prepared for a career. I started in June of 1972. Ultimately I was
assigned to the Pittsburg sales office as a salesman.
In 1977, at the ripe old age of 30 after five years with Bethlehem Steel, I came to the
conclusion that it would take another ten years to get a promotion. I took an opportunity
with a company undergoing a turnaround based in Claymont Delaware, Phoenix Steel
Corporation, that was controlled by a European cnglomerate. I started as the Assistant
District Manager of Sales in the New York Sales office. Nine months later became the
youngest District Manager of Sales in the industry and was appointed to Pittsburg, the
worst performing office in the company. Knowing Pittsburg clients and the industry well
I managed to turn the office around making it the largest sales district at Phoenix Steel. In
1979 I was promoted to the home office and held two positions: National Sales Manager
with responsibility for all sales offices. The second position was that of Plate Product
Manager, the major product of the firm. Though our American team had dramatically
improved sales, quality and production, it was a time of super high interest rates (half our
debt was short term the balance 1983 Delaware bonds at a low rate) and the Europeans
had not properly structured things; in 1981 I saw the writing on the wall and started
looking.
In 1981 I was offered the position of National Sales Manager for the Tube and Steel
Division of the Titan Industrial Corporation in NYC. Titan was a closely held family
business. That lasted two years, sadly I had a direct boss who had come from the light
bulb business and second guessed all of my decisions. When I resigned the owners tried
to get me to stay but I had made my decision.
I went to a firm called Eisenberg & Co, USA Inc that had offices worldwide, mostly
under the name United Development Inc. (UDI), the owner was based out of Tel Aviv.
Eleven of those offices were in the People’s Republic of China and I was hired to handle
PRC imports of steel. That lasted a year because there were quotas imposed on steel at
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the time and the PRC fell into the “all other” category. As I had predicted to my bosses,
all our imports wound up in bonded warehouses. To make a long story short I managed
to shut down that business only loosing twenty percent of what my bosses had expected.
Because of that save, I was brought into their main American business: export of
technology to the PRC. I had the opportunity to see China go from underdeveloped
Communism (everyone in Mao suits with few consumer goods) to a limited capitalist
economy. The Chinese are most interesting but any American who does not understand
they are still Communists, even today, and the military control things, is naïve. By 1988
I was tired of spending six to eight weeks at a time in the PRC working six and a half
days a week every quarter. I decided to change careers for a more sedentary existence.
I remarried after being single for almost eleven years and got into the financial planning
business: insurance and investments. I successfully did that for the next twenty-five years
until the spring of 2013 when I decided to semi-retire and move to Boynton Beach
Florida where I currently reside.
Life is good in the Sunshine State and it is good to get away from New York State
taxes and its other ills.
Larry Sanford
I arrived in RVN in August, 1970. I was assigned to the 563rd Trans (later designated
the 63rd Trans) This was a medium truck (5 ton tractors and flat bed trailers) unit and we
were mostly line haul out of Long Binh. Initially, our company location was on the north
east side of Long Binh (I think) in some really primitive buildings. They had started out
as wooden frames with tents over them. Over time, sheet metal roofs were added, along
with some wood siding applied directly over the tents. They were pretty waterproof, but
more cockroaches than seemed possible. If you turned on a light at night, the whole floor
would move. If something wasn't in a can, they would eat it by morning (including my
pipe tobacco).
Later we moved an area close to the 6th Trans Battalion HQ. I'm confused as to TC Hill
I and II. We used a similar term to described the convoy staging area below the main
Long Binh headquarters, but I don't recall that name in relationship to where we billeted.
I remember seeing Buley shortly after I arrived, but believe he was injured in a fall off a
trailer, and I thought he got sent home. Caruso was in the same officers billet I was in
after we moved to the 6th Trans area. I don't remember Kitson or Pienkos from RVN.
That time in my life is pretty much a blur. The first 5 or 6 months, I think I ran a convoy
every day except for 2 days when I had some medical tests. (I had some sores on my legs
(insect bites) that wouldn't heal and they initially thought I had diabetes.) Somewhere
close to 6 months in country, I got a new CO. He had been an NCO, and received a field
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commission some years earlier. He was a great guy and my life improved considerably
after he got there. I'm not sure how he did it, but he got Jim Krasnicki (the other Lt in the
company) and I rotating Sundays off the convoy schedule. From that point on, I mostly
had a day off every two weeks.
I don't recall the name of the XO who gave me a hard time about coming home. My
recollection is that he was new to the unit and was probably just trying to prove how
gung ho he was.
Do you remember the big sign the 6th Trans put up next to the gate bragging about how
many miles we had run without a fatality? I think it had been up one day when one of my
drivers killed an ARVN on a scooter, right at the gate in front of the sign. Since then, I
have always believed those kinds of signs are a very bad idea. Sort of like giving a finger
to the clouds in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Great to hear from everyone. I was so surprised when I got the call from Kit.
Larry Sanford UPDATE – September 17, 2019
When I prepared the earlier biography, I guess I assumed the requested information related
to military service. Anyway, I’ll start this time beginning when I returned to the States in
1971.
Almost immediately after returning from RVN, I started law school at Washburn
University in Topeka, Kansas, and was determined to quickly complete my degree and get
on with life. Two and a half years later I had completed law school, was studying to take
the bar exam and was also working as an assistant prosecutor in a small Kansas county
close to where I went to school. Later that spring (1974) I started work as a corporate
lawyer for farm equipment company then headquartered in south central Kansas.
Although I have changed employers a couple of times since, I have always worked as a
general corporate lawyer. Although my career is clearly winding down, I still serve as
general counsel for a very successful mid-sized manufacturing company and have found it
quite hard to retire. Sometimes my experience as a junior officer in the US Army proved
valuable in my corporate career. Just like in the Army, “additional duties” also come your
way as a corporate lawyer, and during my career I also served as a registered lobbyist,
headed a large Human Resources department, supervised a flight department, and headed a
team responsible for Business Development (acquisitions and divestitures).
Although Kansas was always the place I considered home, in 1995 I moved to Colorado as
part of a corporate relocation and have lived here since. Given my hobbies, Colorado is a
wonderful place to live and I continue to be an avid skier, hiker, fly fisherman and
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motorcycle rider. (I also enjoyed hunting, but have kind of timed out of that and am now
mostly a clay target shooter.)
Some of you are aware that I missed the last reunion because my then wife was being
treated for metastatic melanoma. Although the treatments for melanoma have been
gradually improving, all of that came too late for her and she died in 2015.
It was a dark time in my life and it would be fair to say I assumed the best part of my life
was over, but the future is hard to predict. The following spring I met a recently widowed
woman about my age in Durango, Colorado who was not only a great skier, but also liked
to fly fish. What are the chances. Anyway, the door opened to a wonderful and exciting
new phase of my life and we are now married and living just north of Durango in what has
to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. Between the two of us, we have an
amazing extended family and lots of travel opportunities.
Pryor Shaughnessy
Again, thanks to Chuck Engelberger we have reconnected with Pryor Shaughnessy.
Pryor received his commission in MI, went volunteer indefinite. After 4 months at Ft.
Holabird he was in Colorado for a hear and a half a MOS 9666 wearing civilian clothes
conducting background checks, 4 months at Ft. Bragg before being deployed to Vietnam
in August '71. He returned in August'72. After leaving the military as a captain Pryor has
made a sales career in the flooring/carpet industry and is still active in the industry with
Mohawk Carpets. Pryor and his wife reside in Englewood CO.
PS: Pryor was one of the last remaining US Army soldier in Cam Ranh Bay as this
large military installation was being turn over to the South Vietnamese. Also, he is
the third Vietnam veteran among the group having health problems caused by Agent
Orange.
Ed Svitil
After graduation from Upsala College (1967) entered Boston University Law School
and fairly soon discovered that the law and I were not compatible. Facing induction as
TET ’68 was underway, decided the better course was to take the delayed entry into
the OCS program, and raised my hand on 12 April 1968. After all, with a year or so in
basic, AIT and OCS with a year stateside to follow, SURELY the war would be over!
After AIT at Ft. Dix the “green machine” managed to lose a few of our 201 files so some
of us spent weeks on post police call, NCO school and something called the
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“Commandant’s School”. All I remember from that was the SFC in charge spent most of
the day telling us “the Commandant is not pleased”.
Finally made it to Ft. Belvoir in March as Benning School for Boys had all its classes filled
(darn it) and spent the next 180 days with y’all enjoying the Northern Virginia
countryside from various angles (front leaning rest, running, low crawling, etc).
Highlight of my life to then was pinning on 2LT bars. As the Corps was full of
lieutenants was branch transferred to TC, and active duty assigned to HHC, 714 th
TBROS&DE, running trains around the Ft. Eustis Military Railroad.
Orders for RVN arrived and off to sunny southeast Asia, assigned to the 264 th Trans Co in
DaNang. Worked mainly in the port of DaNang although did take a trip or two to Phu Bai
(“Phu Bai is ALLRIGHT!) and spread some of that red dust on my boots and pants to
look like a real soldier. After DEROS was “persuaded” to leave active duty, go for an
MBA at nights, and eventually was hired by the Mobil Oil Corporation. Former junior
officers were much in demand as the WWII and Korea vets were all retiring and
someone had to hold work formations. Mobil was a great company to work for and sent
to to various places in the US in downstream operations (Long Island, Brooklyn,
Albany, Newburgh, Scarsdale and Fairfax HQ). Assignments in operations involved
business trips to our locations throughout the US and one overseas job in Nigeria
opened a door to some 12 years overseas (Guam, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and a bunch of
visits to everywhere in Asia).
After being “merged” with Exxon the company culture changed somewhat and after 30+
years decided that it was time to leave Houston and go into the consulting end of the
business in crisis management and media relations. Jobs in Qatar, Nigeria, Abu Dhabi
and Russia were rewarding and challenging. Spent 10 years trying not to get arrested or
in trouble and managed to succeed (although coming close after passing through a
radiation sensing screen in Sakhalin after one of those medical procedures to check your
arteries – but that’s another story).
Along the way did manage to pick up that MBA and continue my service in the reserves;
28 in total, branch transferring back to Engineers, graduating C&GSC, commanding
three companies and assignments in all the “S’s” ex S-1 (S-4 of the 98th Inf Div (Trng)
was the best – my property book consisted of 15 DI hats and two typewriters), and
finishing as the DEH in the 2122nd USAG and then a C&GSC Instructor in Guam.
Married with three kids, owned seven houses along the way, traveled to all seven
continents and 60+ countries. Consider golf, scuba diving, travel, photography, model
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trains, volunteer work in the schools and dog rescue groups sufficient to occupy much of
my time. Just in case that gets slow also work in the movie and television business that
shoots here in Georgia as an extra – watch for me in Flight and 42, among others.
After a lifetime of living in the Northeast and overseas, finding that Georgia has a lot
going for it, including not much snow (ice doesn’t count and at least I don’t have to
commute to work every day). Still root for any New York team except the Mets but if
Seaver was still pitching for them would have to consider it (at least when they play the
Red Sox).
Joseph Tavares
Retired Civil Engineer from Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Construction Division and lead facilitator assigned to the Quality Assurance Section.
Over thirty years of construction, management and supervisory experience. In 2000 and
2004, revised and approved final versions of Construction Quality Management for
Contractors training material including video presently in use by Corps and Naval
Facilities Command worldwide. BSCE from Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY and
MSCE from University of Florida, MBA from Iona College, New Rochelle, NY.
I was drafted by the army in the summer of 1968 and enlisted in August of that year.
Although I had completed AFROTC as a pilot, I applied for Army OCS and agreed to
Vol Indefinite. After basic at Ft. Leonard Wood, I moved on to Ft. Sill for Artillery AIT
and completed Ft. Belvoir Combat Engineering OCS on Aug 8, 1968. As a 2nd
lieutenant, I was first assigned as NY District Corps of Engineers congressional liaison
at West Point but, before I began, I requested a transfer to the New York District Office
where I was a military project manager for 2.5 years. In August of 1971, I was deployed
to HQMACV as a member of the Construction Directorate and responsible for all in-
country airfields, General’s liaison with the Brown & Root – Morrison Knudsen JV, and
construction officer within the Capital City School District.
Occasionally, I flew to locations inside Vietnam to complete a report or suggest

contingency plans in the event that Nixon called a cease fire. It never happened. In Feb
1972, I left Vietnam and mustered out at Ft. Hamilton, NY and restarted civilian life with
a local construction company in Mamaroneck, NY. Over the next four years, I completed
my MBA and moved on to join the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a Federal
corporation in Washington, D.C as the technical officer. It was an exciting position
which allowed me to travel throughout the U.S. and Central America. It was also the
period during which I met the love of my life, Maddie, and we married in 1980 and
settled in Falls Church, VA.
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In a few short years, I was recruited away to join AFIA Worldwide, then CIGNA
Worldwide in New York City. It was a heady period for me as I dealt with multi-million
dollar contracts, and often quoted by major newspapers and magazines as the manager
for political risk and expert credit risks, a hardly-known field that was enormously
important to large international companies and banks. I traveled extensively to London,
Brussels, Paris and other European capitals. I also established trade financing programs
in S. Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Lebanon. My son, Matthew, was born in 1982
and then my daughter, Diana, in 1985. It was a wonderful, fulfilling life for me. I had
everything one would want in life. In 1986, I opened my own international consulting
and insurance agencies in Charlotte. The business environment was difficult for a small
start-up but cash flow was good and I continued on until 1991. I then closed my offices
and joined Rollins-Burdick-Hunter, now Aon Corporation, as VP for large accounts in
Jacksonville, FL. I then moved on to join the Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District in
1994 serving as civil engineer until my retirement in August 2013.
I served on the board of directors for the YMCA, Episcopal Children’s Service, Girls
Inc., Boys Scouts and International Resource Center of Jacksonville, and as member of
the Mayor’s Task Force for International Development, Mayor’s Economic Summit,
President’s Task Force for International Construction and Engineering, president of
The Executive Club of Charlotte, NC, Charlotte and Jacksonville Chambers of
Commerce, numerous task committees and strategic planning committees for county,
State, Federal, and not-for-profit agencies and as volunteer. I have been a volunteer,
and committee chair for 23 years with the United Way of Northeast Florida.
I enjoy traveling abroad and visiting my children and friends.
Keith Tygum
Again, thanks to Larry Baxter for providing contact information for Keith Tygum.
Keith received his commission in CE, went voluntary indefinite, stationed at Ft Ord
with the Combat Development Command, deployed to Vietnam in August ' 71 assigned
to MACV in the ll Corp, returned to the States in February ' 72. After leaving the
service Keith continued his education getting a degree in architecture, worked with
several architect firms and now retired residing in Pomona, CA with his wife.
Dan M. Waterman
After our OCS 22 Hotel graduation on 8/8/69 I enjoyed a two week leave before
reporting for duty at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. During the two week leave my wife,
Sandra (Sandy) and I were married on Saturday 8/16/69 and spent a few days
honeymooning in the Branson, MO area which consisted at that time only of two shows
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and maybe four motels (unlike today).
During the branch and location assignment preference conference with Lt. Dawson, we
discussed my decision to choose CE rather than TC and my first choice of location for
Ft. Leonard Wood, MO, he asked “why in God’s name are you choosing Ft. Leonard
Wood, MO”, I explained that my bride to be and I lived 30 miles from Ft. Wood, and
since we were going to be married on 8/16 we preferred to be close to home before our
probable separation during Viet Nam service. Lt. Dawson stated that I would have a real
good chance of being assigned to my first choice since nobody else wanted to go to Ft.
Wood. He was right. I reported for duty on Monday 8/25/69 and was assigned to a CE
AIT unit as a training officer. After four months or so, I was assigned to the Brigade S-4
as Property Book Officer. I received orders for Viet Nam during my 10th month at Ft.
Wood. We moved Sandy home where she and Buffy (our dog) were going to live with
her parents and begin her elementary teaching career, while I was deployed. After a 30
day leave, I reported to Ft. Lewis, WA and got on the “Flying Tiger” plane the next day
for the journey to Viet Nam after refueling in Alaska and Yokota Air Base Japan. I
remember landing during the middle of the night at Cam Ranh Bay. As I recall, the first
steps for processing in was to brush our teeth with “high powered fluoride” (as we were
told), being issued uniforms and then the officers were assigned an M-16 and a 45 pistol,
before getting a bunk assignment and getting to bed.
After a couple of days processing and checking the assignment postings, I found out I
was being assigned to the Da Nang Support Command. The Spec-4 processing my paper
work didn’t make me feel any better by noting that Da Nang was “north from Cam Ranh
Bay”. After a C-130 ride north to Da Nang and more processing, I was informed that I
would be assigned to the 26th General Support Group with the logo of “The Northern
Most”, which wasn’t sounding appealing. I was further told I would be assigned to the
26th Group’s POL depot on Tan My Island was due East of the Old Imperial City of
Hue, as a security officer. After another C-130 ride “North” to the 26th Group’s
headquarters at Phu Bai and reporting for duty, the Executive Officer, Lt. Col. Lumkin,
informed me that my orders to go Tan My had been changed and they were going to
assign me to a sector of the Phu Bai perimeter as OIC. That sounded better than going
“north”. Phu Bai was a fairly large military base which was home to the 101st Infantry
Headquarters, the 26th Group, a Medivac unit, Graves Registration Unit and an air field.
The 26th Group’s area of responsibility of the perimeter was located at the south end of the
air strip, consisting of twelve two man bunkers along “the wire”, a command post bunker,
hooches for the guards, NCO’s and a two person hooch for the OICs, myself and one other
LT. The OICs were on duty for 12 hours each, one day and one for night; then each month
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we traded night for day. We also had a bull dozer and a 2 ½ ton truck to use for bunker
repairs and maintenance. The perimeter duty wasn’t too bad except for what seemed to be
monthly mortar and/or 122 mm rockets incoming. If the incoming had hit within our
sector, we had to send a detail out to map the impact location, determine the direction of
fire and then report the info to base defense. On my 24th birthday (8/14) I
decided we would test fire one of our defense systems (a monthly SOP; fire something
like a claymore mine, flares etc. and then replace the next day). After contacting base
defense and receiving permission and timing, we fired off a fougasse placement
(consisting of a 55 gal drum of JP4 and two claymore mines) to celebrate my birthday. It
worked perfectly and lit up the wire.
Sandy and I communicated by the three methods available at that time; by letter writing,
recorded cassette tapes mailed back and forth and MARS calls. I looked forward to
receiving a letter and seeing the two “X’s” on the backside of the envelope; one
represented a kiss from Sandy and the other a kiss from Buffy, our little dog. It was early
September 1970 and I noticed three X’s on an envelope; I couldn’t get it opened fast
enough to find out the explanation for the 3rd X; Sandy explained, we were going to be
parents! I just remember feeling joy and happiness and then crying because it dawned on
me that I wasn’t going to be able to be with her to help her through this part of our life.
Most of our communicating from that point on centered on our pregnancy and the
doctors reports etc.
A couple of months later, during November, I was reassigned to the 26th Group
Headquarters as the CO of the Headquarter Company. The previous CO was a Captain,
whose tour had been completed and due to the shortage of Captains, they decided to fill
the vacancy with me. It was a great experience for me and besides the normal duties and
responsibilities, I had the opportunity of overseeing an MPC Conversion Operation for
the company, which consisted of accounting for all MPC (military pay certificates)
turned in by all personnel, then taking the MPC to the 101st Finance office, exchanging
it for the new MPC, then distributing it to the personnel the same day. Needless to say,
the compounds were all closed that day and no civilian employees were allowed on base.
You should have seen the locals offering cartons of cigarettes and other medium of
exchange through the fences, trying to get GIs to take their MPC to get exchanged. I’m
sure some GIs made a little profit that day.
Also during November I had received approval for my requested RR to Hawaii in

January 1971, however, after Sandy had informed me that the doctor at Ft. Wood didn’t
think she should make the trip due to the pregnancy, I decided to cancel the RR to
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Hawaii. It was about this time that the RR policy had been changed so that you could
take 10 days stateside rather than two weeks RR to Hawaii, Australia or Thailand. I
applied for the 10 days home at the due date which was around April 1st. During late
December, I got to go to the Bob Hope Christmas show at Camp Eagle.
Sometime during late January we were informed that an operation called Lom Son 719
or Dewey Canyon II was about to begin and that our headquarters company,
transportation, maintenance and supply companies were going to be relocated to Quang
Tri (farther north near the DMZ) in support of the ARVN’s into Laos to hopefully cut
off the Ho Chi Minh trail and supply line to the NVA build up along the RVN and
Laotian border. While in Quang Tri, I got to see how the different branches and units
work together and in support of each other toward a common goal. There were so many
units moved to the area for this operation, that our unit, like many others, lived in large
military tents, slept on cots and used helmet liners as sinks while in Quang Tri. We also
observed cobra gunships engaging the enemy just outside the wire of our perimeter. I
became even more impressed with the military units and personnel that “get up close to
the enemy in performing their duties” while in Quang Tri. Even though some labeled
people like me as “REMF’s”, I applaud their up-front efforts and think of them as
heroes.
I’ll never forget the 14th of March, 1971 (Quang Tri time). I received a Red Cross
message that said, “Congratulations on the birth of your daughter; baby and Mother are
doing fine!” The message had been sent shortly before, of course from Ft. Leonard
Wood which was March 13, 1971. Our daughter, Melanie Anne had arrived and all was
well. Everything was working out just fine. The Lom Son 719 operation ended in late
March and our unit was back in Phu Bai. I left on my 10 days stateside leave. Melanie
was about 3 weeks old when I arrived home. The time just flew by and I couldn’t believe
it was time to go back; leaving Sandy and a month old daughter was tough! Remember,
this was 1971. We had the protesters, deserters, and generally what appeared as a
country against the military making noise. To this day, I don’t know how I made it, then
I remember what helped me. It was the discipline I received by being in the military and
especially OCS training that teaches one to complete the mission the best you can.
I got back to Phu Bai and of course was “homesick” for a while, but the ten weeks or so
went by slowly it seemed, but by late June I was on the “Freedom Bird” to Ft. Lewis,
WA. I think Ed Svitil was on the same plane with me. We didn’t get to talk, but just
nodded when seeing each other while deplaning. Since June 1971, my life can be
summarized as follows:
July 1971 – Dec 1974 Staff auditor then supervisor MO State Auditors Office
Jan 1975 Commenced public accounting career
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May 4, 1976 – Matthew Justin (Son) born

Nov 22, 2000 – Granddaughter Madison Paige Stephens born
Dec 30, 2004 – Granddaughter Avery Brooke Stephens born
May 2009 – Wife Sandy retires from teaching 3rd grade
Oct 2009 – Finally got to take Sandy to Hawaii (had to cancel RR in Jan 1971); met up
With Kitson’s and Quimby’s in Honolulu – Great week!
Sept 2010 – Met Kitson’s and Quimby’s in Las Vegas
May 2, 2011 – Grandson Cy Matthew Waterman born
Sept 2011 – Met up with Kitson’s and Quimby’s on Alaskan cruise
Aug 2014 – OCS 22 Hotel Reunion
Sept 2014 – High School 50th Reunion
Since our 45th OCS Reunion in 2014 we have met up with the Kitson’s and Quimby’s
on our second trip to Hawaii. We had the opportunity to show the Kitson’s the life style
of the not-so-famous at the Redneck Rivera in Florida. Last fall we vacationed in the
northeastern US with the Kitson’s who introduced us to B&B’s, as we marked off the
“states to visit” on our bucket list.
Aug 16, 2019 – Sandy and I celebrated our 50th Anniversary with our family in the
same place we spent our honeymoon 50 years prior, Branson MO.
Sept 30, 2019 – I retire as an active licensed CPA after 48 years in the profession. I plan
to consult periodically with the Waterman & Associates, LLC accounting and tax
practice now headed up by my son.
Oct 1, 2019 – Departed on our trip to Arlington, VA for the 50th OCS Reunion.
James Wickerham
This evening I connected with James Wickerham the biggest smack (by stature) in
our class. James has very little recollection of OCS days at this time, however. I
believe reading The Days of 22 Hotel journal will jar his memory. James went voluntary
indefinite, served in Germany and left the Army in August 1972 with the rank of
Captain. In civilian life James worked in the construction industry nationally and
internationally including two years in Iran during the mid 70's. James is now retired and
lives in Spring, Texas along with his wife.
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Mike West
After graduating from Earlham College in Richmond, IN in June, '68, and being told on
job interviews that no job offers would be made until I had taken care of my military
obligation, I decided to enlist. After Basic at Ft. Dix and AIT at Ft. Polk, I ended up at Ft.
Belvoir as one of the last two bean heads enrolled in 22-H. Most of the daily events
detailed in Steve Wing's history of 22-H have faded from memory but I do still recall the
dummy grenade range at the time we were supposed to turn white. I was nominated to try
to knock the TAC's cap off the grenade target stake with a dummy grenade. On the third
try the grenade actually hit the cap and the stake. A 22-H letter was submitted to the TAC
shack to request the cap as a company trophy but the request was denied. Oh, well.
My wife, Sandy, and I got married on August 16, and proceeded to the Cryptologic
Officer Basic course at Ft. Devens, Mass. in the Fall of '69. I had gone Vol Indef and,
amazingly, got all my choices of Military Intelligence, Army Security Agency, West
Coast. Along with Jim Proud, I was assigned to the Army Security Agency Field Station
at Two Rock Ranch, near Petaluma, CA. I had a variety of assignments there, including
being CO of the Operations Company and then later of the HHQ Company.
Unfortunately, after a year and a half there, the Army chose to close the post and later
turned it over to the Coast Guard. We left there in July, 1971 and I had just enough time
left for an overseas tour. Instead of gong to Viet Nam as I expected, I was assigned to a
plain clothes Army Security Agency liaison-type job in Seoul, South Korea. Small staff,
jeep to drive, interesting city and job. Even better, I got lucky by finishing my time in
Korea and the Army by playing on the Eighth Army volleyball team in the Pacific Area
tournament in Thailand. I ran into Joe Boyle there, right before we both headed back to
the US.
Eventually, I hired on with a division of Eastman Kodak in Kingsport, TN in the Traffic

Department. After four years there I was transferred to a new Chemicals Division plant in
Batesville, AR in 1977, where we still live. I retired from Eastman in 2001, after
working in Purchasing, Traffic, Warehousing and Logistics. Then, I spent 8 years as
Operations Director and Safety Director for a long-haul refrigerated trucking company,
and finally retired for good in 2010. Days now are filled with woodworking, working
with Habitat for Humanity and attending grandkids' soccer and basketball games. One
daughter and her husband live in Batesville with a 4th grader and a 9th grader. The other
daughter and her husband live in Vermont and have a daughter who graduated from TCU
last May and another daughter at Butler.
I'm looking forward to seeing others from 22-H in a few weeks.
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Steve Wing
Following our graduation I remained at Ft. Belvoir for the Engineer Officers' Equipment
Course, part of my 'vol-indef' agreement. That October I was assigned to the HQ and HQ
Company of the US Army Engineer Command, Europe, in Frankfurt, Germany, serving
as the XO, based in a former German Army compound, and wearing fatigues. This was
somewhat like the real army. Paid our enlisted troops in cash from paper bags. After 18
months I was assigned to the HQ as a project manager, looking after the facilities aspect
of the expansion of the Armed Forces TV network in Germany. The HQ was 1/3 US
Army, 1/3 DOA civilians, and 1/3 men and women from Germany and elsewhere. Very
un-Army really. Saw Ray Murray (and Holly) who was stationed a few hours away.
Tried hard to see Europe and enjoyed what I saw.
Offered an 'early out' in 1972, I raised my hand. Married Gunvor, my wife of 47 years, in
Bergen, Norway, that May and began grad school at the University of Massachusetts in
Amherst in September. That program in landscape architecture had a lot in common with
OCS: long hours and deadline pressures. But I loved the course work and the comradery.
I worked in two Landscape Architecture firms and a multi-disciplinary firm in
Connecticut until being down-sized out of the latter one in 1991. Became self-employed,
somewhat reluctantly, but have never looked back. My website,
www.stephenwinglandscapearchitect.com can give you a sense of what I do. Most of my
projects are in Connecticut and Westchester County, New York. Have also done some in
Massachusetts.
Gunvor and I bought our place in Milford, Connecticut in 1979 and raised our daughters
here. Both girls are in health-related careers. I have 'paid back' as a volunteer with a
tree planting group, our cemetery association, the Ct. Board of Landscape Architects, and
the Ct. Agricultural Experiment Station.
Three grandsons (11, 4-1/2, and 3) are a blessing. We like to travel (Norway is a regular
destination); we have taken the oldest grandson on spring break trips to London, Paris,
and Berlin. Had interesting 'walking vacations' in Spain and Portugal, chased my Irish
roots in Donegal, and made a pilgrimage to Range Creek, Utah where my grandfather Joe
Wing ranched in the 1880s. I'm very grateful that our class has re-connected and am
looking forward to the 50th reunion. The 45th is the only reunion I've ever attended.
Robert Woodbury
Hearing from you and it brought back a lot of memories! I had not made contact with
anyone in our company since I left OCS. I too went to Ft Eustis and Ft Lee after OCS. I
then spent a year in Ft Riley Kansas and then went to "big muddy". I was married at the
48
time, but since then I have been married two more times. Three is enough and now I am
a confirmed bachelor. I spent 28 years in education in different positions, but I decided
that it was enough. I spent the next 11 years working for L.L. Bean. Now I am
completely retired and enjoying life. It is good to talk to people that were in OCS
because it is hard to explain the program to anyone who was not there. They think that
you are embellishing stories or simply telling a lie. I still think that I left with more
discipline tours to do! I still remember walking in that square with all my gear. I think I
spent every Sat. and Sun. walking tours. I still think that is was one of the most defining
experiences of my life. I'm really pleased that Kit and others are making the effort to re-
connect 22 Hotel.
Woody ( Miss Kim Soo Mee)
p.s. Kit learned that Woody served as a General's Aide while stationed at Long Binh
in Vietnam. Woody lives in Maine about 100 miles from Tac Officer Dawson.
49

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BIOGRAPHIES 22 HOTEL 1

Larry Baxter – Addendum: 17 Sep 19

Sincerely, Larry and Kathy Baxter

Joe Boyle – Addendum – 18 Sep 19

Our best wishes to everyone in Class 22-H.

Richard Brennan (12-23-1945 - 12-9-2013)

Obituary for Richard "Dick" Sexton Brennan

(From the Houston Mercury)

John Brownell (1942-2005)

of fun racing up and down the tributaries off of the Bay.

Loren B. (“Casey”) Casebeer

Ft. Benning, unfortunately serving under a commander having unorthodox military

Franklin “ Cam “ Johnson

Kilby Lawson 'Kirk' Kirkland (1946-2011)

Charles 'Kit' Kitson

Stan Lapidow ( 1944-2011 )

Following being commissioned as a 2nd LT QM Corps in August 1969 I was married

Platoon Leader, Second Platoon, C Company, 2nd Engineer Battalion, 2 nd Infantry

Larry Sanford UPDATE – September 17, 2019

Occasionally, I flew to locations inside Vietnam to complete a report or suggest

I enjoy traveling abroad and visiting my children and friends.

and maybe four motels (unlike today).

Also during November I had received approval for my requested RR to Hawaii in

May 4, 1976 – Matthew Justin (Son) born

Eventually, I hired on with a division of Eastman Kodak in Kingsport, TN in the Traffic

I'm looking forward to seeing others from 22-H in a few weeks.

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