Jim Alexander’s name is the first in our alphabetical roster, and it is only fitting that he leads off our next decade. Jim stays busy with his two avocations: model trains and golf. He volunteers at a local train museum and tends to his private collection of 100 pieces of rolling stock and some 40 engines. He lives on Dog Leg Lane in Seneca, SC (of course), and usually gets out on the course three times a week! He remembers fondly when he, Tony Burshnick, Don Singer, and Herb Eckweiler would sneak off to avoid upperclassmen and play pinochle. He was also one of the first of our class, along with Andi Biancur and your scribe to participate in Air Commando operations in the early “advisory” operations in Vietnam.

Deke Johnson has been living in a senior community center in Nampa, ID (near Mountain Home AFB) for some 5-6 years. He lost his spouse, Sally, some time ago, as did his friend Marci Hill. Both were residents at the same facility, and they became engaged and were married in Boise on 16 December 2019. Greg Boyington was there along with Deke’s son, Derry, and many of his Daedalian cohorts and other community residents. The reception at the center was deemed “one for the ages” with a live swing band and all the food and drink the 400 attendees could handle.

Deke, Marci, and Derry Johnson

Thanks to a colleague from the UN and his own M.D., J.D. credentials Dave Reed has been able to spend several months recently at the United Nations Geneva and N.Y.C. while observing sessions of the World Health Organization and the Human Rights Council. He notes that although the UN has many justified detractors, it was encouraging to see different nations (unfortunately often without the USA) sitting down and talking with each other in an effort to resolve issues peacefully rather than militarily. This summer he and his colleague are hoping to get permission to present a small “side event” at the WHO meeting pointing out that encouraging contraception worldwide–as women’s’ groups request--would address the underlying cause of global warming–rampant overpopulation.

Andi Biancur has been working diligently with Cadet Squadron 35 (the Wild Weasels) to assist them in their efforts to create a “break room” in the squadron dedicated to the Wild Weasel legacy and ethos. He is aided in this effort by the Wild Weasel Association which is attempting to identify USAFA grads who flew that mission and, perhaps, identifying any 35th Sq. grads in that group. It is also possible, as the single-seat F-35 matures, that the Wild Weasel mission will become another tool in the F-35’s mission set, thus making the efforts of the 35th Sq. all the more important. Furthermore, Andi has been appointed to be the 35th Squadron’s Professional Ethics Advisor.

Reb Guillot is currently a resident in an assisted living facility on the outskirts of Tucson, AZ. After a long struggle to get into the Department of Veteran Affairs Agent Orange protocols, he has recently been given the VA’s 100% disability rating, backdated to his initial 10-15% post-retirement assessment. Full treatment protocols for his Parkinson’s-like symptoms are now in place. Reb wishes that he had gotten into the program sooner and recommends that all of us who experienced Agent Orange exposure should become acquainted with the VA’s new evaluation programs ASAP. He is also working with Martha McSally to raise awareness of the continuing need for support for those now aging veterans who may have residual effects from exposure to Agent Orange.

Ron Deep goes to the gym every day, solves questions on Quora.com from students around the world, writes code using the Python language, watches movies, and stays virtually connected to the world events. We asked him for some new puzzlers, which he has provided. The full set of 30+ puzzles, questions and answers will be found on the class website under “Checkpoints” NOTAMs.

Ron Deep and Don Wolfswinkel

Here are some samples:

Cryptogram
K WKX 7RY 34KXN3 PY2 XY4rRSXQ

Math

1. Compute the probability that a drawn card from a deck of 52 cards is either a Club or a 7.
2. If the sum of four consecutive numbers is 38, what is the mean of the largest and the smallest of the four numbers?
3. Which is more? Paid $100 per day for 7 days or $10 per day but doubling each day for 7 days?

Identify who said

1. Keep calm and carry on.
2. You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.
3. If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right

On Dec 8, 2019, Roy Jolly celebrated 50 years of sobriety. While many achieve success with Alcoholics Anonymous, few remain active with AA for such a long period. Because his achievement is so rare, the local AA folks had to special order his 50-year level coin.Roy had a special reception (complete with strolling strings) before his weekly meeting and, best of all, the Governor of Utah declared December 8 as Roy Jolly Day.

Roy Jolly

Our newest author is Jerry Farquhar whose book In the Sky, a Retired Captain Looks Back Over Fifty-nine Years, La Maison Publishing, Inc, 2019, traces the evolution of the commercial aviation industry and some of the foibles he encountered while amassing 26,000 hours at the controls of different aircraft.

Al Johnson has been battling the effects of a stroke for the past eight months. Despite some setbacks, he is now living at home with Gale at his side. He took a spill a few days before Christmas, but he was back home on Christmas Eve and is well on the way to recovery. I joined them there. My job was to prevent the geese from fertilizing his lawn, Al’s job was to give orders, and Gale did all the rest

Dean Bristow has recently retired from practice at Mountain View Hospital in Payson, Utah. At his retirement ceremony he said, “I had rewarding careers in medicine and the Air Force. My wife and children bore the load that goes with those careers. It was considerable! Still, I’d take the same path if I could do it all over again. There is no greater privilege than serving the USA and those who need physical and spiritual assistance”

Jim Glaza, recently returned from a Nile tour, reminds us that the formal portion of our final class reunion will take place on the 1st through 3rd of October 2020. Sign-up lists and other information will be forthcoming from the AOG and may be found on our website.

Rosie and Karen Cler have been spending time in Maine with their daughter Brandy and her family and enjoying the scenery. They do still prefer the warmth of Florida, and, of course, there is Spring Training and the Gulf Coast League that require their attention. In between times, they volunteer at the local library and a large food pantry. Despite a fairly busy schedule, they still manage to get in a good walk each day at a nearby lake.

Sadly, during this reporting period, Charlie Waterman and Jim Clark flew West to join our classmates who have gone before them. Their obituaries can be found in the “Gone, but Not Forgotten” section of this magazine and on our class website.

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There is more that would not fit into the space avaiable for this article. You may read it in the Checkpoints NOTAMs Section HERE.