Palpitating PiRep from Bob (Sky King) ODENWELLER, who's finishing his TWA career in the B-767/757: "First time since 1960 I've flown two engines (T-37). In the 5th Squadron I got brief time on a B-36 and when flying B-52s had the Hound Dog missiles, the engines of which we could fire up for a total of ten. Not too many still flying have flown two different 10-engine aircraft!" Never content with Andy Warhol's brief allotment for only 15 minutes of fame, Bob recently received the American Philatelic Society Luff Award, and the Federation Interna­tionale de Philatelie (U.N. of stamp collecting) gave him their F.I.P. Medal--he wins this quarter's What I Am Famous For Award! Opera ­singing daughter Liesl had her New York debut in the lead role of Gounod's Faust and then went to Albania in April. Bob's book on Samoa had four years serialization in the Collectors Club Philatelist, wife Jane's companion book to the Iliad and the Odyssey is at the bookstores, and daughter-professor Joy's husband is waiting for an appointment as pro­fessor of anthropology to join her at the U. of Minnesota. (RC: talk about high-achievers--this family must finish the N. Y. Times crossword within 10 minutes and in ink! While here I am, still trying to conjugate the ebonic verb "mother" as preparation for my G.E.D. exam!)

Now segue from philatelic to philanthropic for a day in the life/times of Duck (nickname James Edward) WADDLE and wife, Mary, who have quietly been performing good deeds long before Colin Powell promoted volunteerism. After retiring as a colonel in 1985 stationed at Warner ­Robins AFB, and since 1991 while program manager for Rockwell Interna­tional in Shreveport, Jim has given new meaning to the terms Pro Bono Publico and Noblesse Oblige through his involvement with a church ­building project in Russia for the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. As project managers, the WADDLEs have been utilizing a Russian contractor to construct the first-ever Methodist Church built in Russia for a congregation meeting in a building that was formerly a Communist Party Propaganda Center. Thus far it's meant a total of 18 trips to Moscow and then 1,000 miles further east on Trans­Aero into the Ural Mountains to Sverdlovsk (in Cyrillic that's Yekaterin­burg), which is Yeltsin's hometown, where Gary Powers was downed, and the dividing line between Continental Europe/Asia. (Scribe: must be quieting for Jim to return for his job with Johnson Plumbing Co. in the Springs, which is owned by his son-in-law and also employs their two sons.) This is only the short version--so, if you wish an extremely in­teresting conversation, sit down with Duck and Mary at our 40th reunion! Nice work, nice people.

The Beltway Bandits of D.C. had yet another bash, this time at the home of George and Evie ELSEA, celebrating--"be still, my foolish heart"--USAFA FOUNDERS DAY! Some comments: Leon GOOD­SON quit working to ride motorcycles; Bill TAYLOR was leaving to join Kitty in Dallas and then on to Tucson for a vacation; Bill and Fran HOD­SON recently had their fourth grandchild; and Jerry DE LA CRUZ had one of his paintings (not a nude) accepted in a juried arts show and got honorable mention. Bob BADGER, Al and Gale JOHNSON also attend­ed the party. RG HEAD and friend Carole recently vacationed in Great Britain. He spends a third of his time in San Diego helping the Navy keep gunnery ranges compliant with environmental regulations, son Tim graduated in May from OTS and is now at Laughlin for pilot training. (Richard's brother James is a physics prof at AFA, and on a sad note, their mother died 6/2/97 in Colorado Springs.) Les QUERRY's never ­gonna-work-again, and he spends his time enjoying those five grand­children and taking trips to Europe; Joe HIGGINS and Sue's sec­ond granddaughter arrived in December and they just returned from their daughter's wedding in Walnut Creek, CA; Ken and Judy ALNWICK just went "around the world" through Frankfurt, Tel Aviv, Moscow, Gobi Desert, Beijing, Seoul, next go to the UK and France; Dick SEXTON and Sally have placed the Springs on the top of their retirement "short list;" Norm and Liz HALLER just had their 12th rug-biter baptized, and traveled through Indianapolis, Ohio, Woods Hole, and Boston; Tom and Mary Ellen BURKE welcomed granddaughter Bridgett in January, Tom spends lotsa time at Buckley near Denver; John MACARTNEY and wife, Lorna, visited Key Largo in March, where Mac flew an ultra-light with pontoons (the plane, not him).

May 26, 1997, will be a day to long remember (as in: where were ye when JFK was shot?), because of George (Serbian Sam) PUPICH's Sur­prise Retirement Party at Doolittle Hall, held to recognize his 30 years at Delta and 60th birthday, all masterfully orchestrated by wife, Diana. (Scribe: allow me to tell you the true story of his departure from Delta which involves his dog Snot, who always flew with George. 2001 flight sophistication has produced systems managers controlling computers which fly planes on their own, and when our handsome/jut-jawed Cap­tain PUPICH even tried to touch the controls, Snot--nickname Puss--would simply bite George's hand, at which point George would have to feed Snot. Delta found out about this, and this is the truth. Most­ly).

At his party, George wore a natty '70's polyester leisure suit and ap­peared refreshed following his daily testosterone shot and having undergone a recent tummy-tuck. Our classmates who attended were the JOLLYs, WARACK, CLERs, YOAKUM, GLAZA, Deke JOHNSON, BOYINGTONs, KALEYs, BIANCUR, SCHWANK, General and Generalesse YATES, and the Dale THOMPSONs of Austin. The "roasting" of George (Triple Threat, Stud Horse, Lead Foot, Golden Toe) was MC'd by Dale THOMPSON and accomplished by the dislikes of '61ers Randy CUBERO and Bob BRICKEY (who presented him with the Sword of Damocles-which clearly displayed a Toys-R-Us label), Dave PHILLIPS ('59), Ben Martin, and virtually all of those 136 relatives and wanton churls who spoke throughout the long night (which was about two hours longer than the entire Battle of Midway).

Lowlight of the evening was the presentation by Professor-Doktor Someavitch of the Serbian Higher Institute of Technology (acronym: S.H.I.T, for short), who bore an uncanny resemblance to Daniel JOHNSON. Deke, er-uh, Dr. Someavitch delivered a superb treatise on Serbian history (that didn't take long), the PUPICH family's many con­tributions to their rich cultural heritage (took less than a nano-second), and Serbian saints and Nobel Prize winners (none, maybe fewer). Of par­ticular interest was a fabulous fable about George's ancestors who played soccer against their crosstown rivals--the Magyar Magpies. As the festivities ended, George was observed outside propped beneath the plinth of Pegasus enjoying his "Senior Moment" and humming the fifth verse of the Air Force Song. Seriously: Neat tribute, George!

Another May celebration took place in the Springs for Tony BURSH­NICK's departure from the AOG Board--started with cocktails at Jock-­of-the-AOG SCHWANK's home which accommodates wife Hope's col­lection of miniature elves (oxymoron?), then to the O-Club; BURSH­NICKs, WARACKs, CLERs, Mary WADDLE, SCHWANKs, BIANCUR, and GLAZA. Dinner included your four basic food groups--alcohol, grease, sugar, and caffeine--during which Jim GLAZA dropped one of his glass eyes into the olive bowl. The lovely ladies thence repaired to the lounge for Cubanos and Cognac whilst the guys followed to watch the entertainment provided by the TWO Karens, one playing "Lady of Spain" on the harmonica while the other (Karen) simultaneously twirled six dinner plates and danced the Macarena. (RC: some of this is true.)

NOTAMs. Bob WEINAUG works for the Social Security Administra­tion in D.C. ... Ken WERRELL just retired and recently got his book "Blankets of Fire" published--it's about bombing raids on Japan in WWII ... Russ MACDONALD retired in 1988 as professor of air science at Virginia Tech, lives in Blacksburg, VA managing rentals for college students, completed the 1996 USMC Marathon and is training for this year's run ... Dean BRISTOW's now in Duke University's Executive MBA Program ... Attending the Air Force's 50th anniversary in Las Vegas April 23rd were the: JOLLYs, VAN INWEGENs, GOODYEAR, DIVERs, WHITFIELD (a Marine?), GLAZA, BIANCUR, BOYINGTON, LOH, THOMPSONs, MOSIER, CREW ... Presidential Consultant Ron YATES was recently elected to the AOG Board ... Karen and I visited our daughter Brandy in Boston in July after she and her husband presented us our third granddaughter (we have two others by son Scott). Our T-shirts proclaim: Betcha Our Granddaughters Can Beat Up Your Grand daughters! (Eat Your Heart Out, HALLER)! And as you read this, Karen and I will prob­ably be in the Sandwich Islands, where I'll do some serious wahine­ watching while Karen munches on those teeny little umbrellas in her Mai ­Tais. Mahalo, Kahuna Keiki. CAVU.