If you happened aboard Holland America's 935-ft cruise liner the U.S.S. Westerdam leaving Ft. Lauderdale Jan. 30th, 2005 with 1,848 passengers and stop­ping in Cozumel, Georgetown, Montego Bay, and Half Moon Cay; returning on Feb. 6th, you'd no doubt have seen William John Kornitzer Jr's family--Bill's children Linda Kollross, Stephen and Bill Konitzer III, Bill's wife, Linda, and all seven of Korny's grandchildren. What a neat family reunion!

Fifteen Kornitzers on the High Seas

John Peter Gonsky and wife, Nancy, celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary with a 10-day cruise on that very same U.S.S. Westerdam June 20-30th, 2005, stopping in Copenhagen, Talinn (Estonia), St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm and Visby (Sweden), Warnemunde (Germany) and Arthus (Denmark). John Henry Huhn, Brian Grant Kaley and I were at John's wedding to Nancy Fitter in Northampton, MA. June 18, 1960 at St. John Cantius Church (the story of our post-wedding events you don’t want to hear--but, if you must, it involves a 2 a.m. altercation in Northampton, with the well-lubricated owners of a Triumph TR3-A, Jaguar XK150 and MGA coupe racing hell-bent around ... and around ­the town square with the wedding's bridesmaids precariously ensconced atop the seats hoisting bottles of champagne; an ensuing car chase by the local gen­darmes; then, a formal escort out-of-town by the Chief Magistrate: "Don't come back no more!" Formal charges were never filed, and all records of the incident have been expunged from the Commonwealth. At least, that's our story; and we're sticking to it, as the late-great Seal Huhn would say).

Fast backward with me now then to that wedding ceremony itself, during which the priest--Father Szymczyk--must have invoked the passage: "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1 to Noah, or somebody else pretty high up on the biblical food chain). John presumably took those words literally, judging by the count of his 21 clan members: That's Nancy's mother with Nancy and John in the center, their four children and their spouses and all 10 of those lovely grandchildren in the photo. Nice family, John.

The Gonsky 21

And now the final installment of "The Boys from Iowa," those All American Jack Armstrong types who wore John Deere baseball caps and oft betray their Iowa roots with expressions like "Put the cows back in the barn." Bottom of the 9th, Jock Charles Henry Schwank's in the box ...

"I grew up in Iowa, the son of a football coach (honored in the Iowa High School Athletics Hall of Fame, and Coe College Hall of Fame). I was born Charles Henry, but called Jock from birth--a family nickname that originated from my immigrant grandfather's mispronunciation of `Chuck’. When I received my appointment to the Academy, I legally changed my first name to Jock. I spent junior high and most of high school in Iowa City, where Jerry Stack and I went to the same school, and our folks were also friends. He and I took our entrance tests at Chanute Air Base, and I will always remember the morning of our physi­cal tests, when he woke up with his arm disjointed. So, I had to pull on his arm while he twisted and popped his shoulder back into place!

"The last semester of my senior year we moved and I attended Franklin High in Cedar Rapids. There I met Richard Head, the brightest guy in the class. Our parents became very good friends. The reason I applied for the Academy was that my mother had read an article in Good Housekeeping about 'The Tough­est School in the West'. When we came to the Academy it wasn't long before I was approached by several '59ers--Gerry Elsbernd, CV Miller and Pat Musmaker--who made it very clear cadets from Iowa did not quit. (All of the '59ers from Iowa graduated, all those in '60 graduated, and, I believe, all the guys in '61 from Iowa graduated).

"My rewarding and fun military career was capped-off as Commander of the Academy Preparatory School. A great job, and it was a challenge to instill my favorite saying of `Don't Be Dumb' on a group of 17- and 18-year-olds out on their own for the first time. After retirement, I did a stint as Executive Director of the Team Handball Federation at the Olympic Training Center, three years with Denver Technical College as Vice Chancellor, then VP of Services at the AOG for 12 rewarding years (I served as Board Member, President of the Board and Executive Director while running the Prep School). I now volunteer as Treasurer of The Friends of the Academy Library and on the Board of Pikes Peak-Water Garden Society.

"Son David (40) runs Colorado Custom Decks in Denver, and has been featured in several magazines. Son Blake (39) is a computer wizard with his own successful company and prior to that did a stint in the Army as a 3rd Armored Cavalry Company Execu­tive Officer during Desert Storm and was part of the lead force into Iraq.

"My wife, Hope, is the sister of Neal Reavely, and we met in Big Springs, TX during pilot training. I asked her to marry me 10 days after we met. We have six fishponds in our yard, and over 47 elves in our basement. The elves, along with Hope's art and a host of teddy bears, have led to some interesting parties over the years (imagine: Andi Biancur dressed as a monk and marrying a pair of elves, George Pupich as a Serbian elfin prince, while Rosie Cler was a natural being a Jolly Elf). We own 12 acres on a blue-ribbon-trout stream nestled be­tween a national forest and a wilderness area in Montana (I can't fish the stream anymore because of the slippery rocks—my Peripheral Neuropathy keeps my legs from handling the wading). We visit my parents in Flathead Lake, and return to our hillside garden of peace in Colorado Springs overlooking the Academy: Grandchildren Katrina (10), Jessica (6) and Ashley (14) live nearby. Life has been good to this old Iowa bay" End of the game at The Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa.

Back row: Blake and Christie, Hope and Jock, Jill and David; Middle: Jock's parents, Wally and Helen Schwank; Front Row: Grandchildren Katrina, Ashley and Jessica.

So there you have them - Doug Rekenthaler, Jock Schwank, Don Wolfswinkel, R.G. Head, Jerry Stack, Gary Crew and George Elsea. When our descendants study 20th Century America a thousand years from now upon opening the 2000 Time Capsule, they'll marvel at the timeless durability of the U.S. Constitution, baseball's architectural anomaly at Fenway Park in Boston, and band leader Artie Shaw's 1938 renditions of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine." Now add to that "The Boys from Iowa." All successful, all with thcir whipped cream kind of lives.

(Coming in December--- "The Boys Grew In Brooklyn" - Messrs Walker. Haney and Fries).

MiniSki XV in Salt Lake City from Feb. 26 thru March 5th included Andi and Carole Biancur, Greg Boyington with June and daughter Tiffany, Chuck and Weesee Holman, George and Diana Pupich, Earl and Pat van Inwegen, Vic Yoakum and friend Suzanne, Al Johnson, Jerry de la Cruz and son Greg. Howie Bronson and Ralph Lalime (Les Hobgood stayed in San Antonio to work out on his trapeze).

Old generals are supposed to "Just Fade Away." But not our high octane and multi-talented Ron Yates--still busy consulting for the aerospace industry; working tirelessly on the AOG Board; jet-setting off to the glitzy spas of Europe; and on April Fool's Day, he was presented with the Distinguished Graduate Award at the 2005 Founder's Day Dinner (those are his day jobs). After the picture taking, Ron was seen slipping into blue Spandex tights after placing a purple Ron on his chest, donning a red cape, and leaping off--in a single bound, mind you--to liberate an entire hemisphere of oppressed nations from tyranny (his night job). Distinguished Graduate: You honor our class, Ron.

"All For One, and One For All" (Bob Badger, Bruce Mosier, John McCullough, Andi Biancur, Jim Waddle, Wayme Kendall, our Distinguished Graduate, Steve Bishop, Fred Porter, George Pupich, and Jim GLaza).