After Steve Bishop was diagnosed with a bad ticker, good-guy Jim Glaza threw a bash at his mountainside villa near Monument for Steve February 29, 2008, with Jenny cooking ratatouille and cassoulet. Assigned to ward off ominous portents were George and Diana Pupich, Duck and Mary Waddle, Wayne and Barb Kendall, Bruce and Caryl Mosier, and "The English Patient" and tennis star--(former Academy tennis player Steve starred in doubles with Gerry Stack). Duck Waddle gave the benediction with unprecedented aplomb, sending Steve racing off to his surgery full of friendship and warm stuff. The first operation was performed by open-heart surgery, removing the aortic valve and replacing it; later, a second operation repaired the carotid artery. Dr. Mark Douthit, world-renowned and well-known Boulder, CO surgeon performed the successful changes to Steve's plumbing. So when I (Rosie) got a telephone call from Steve July 2^nd, he was again at the Glazas, this time with martini-in-hand and enthusiastically attributing the success of both operations to the February ratatouille and the potent and powerful prayers of Mr. Waddle. (R: There's a message in there somewhere . . .)

In May there was a reunion of 'C-123s in SEA--The Early Years' folks held in Fairborn, OH next to Wright-Patterson AFB. 1960 grads Jim Bujalski, Dave Sweigart, Aaron Thrush, and J.T. Smith were in attendance . Ron Deep also dropped by to say, 'Hi,' but it wasn't possible to get all five together at the same time for a single photo. The photo below is a composite (read, fake) generated by J.T

Ben and Hideko Furuta took a Baltic sea cruise of 12 days, first stop Warnemunde, Germany, then a train to Sachsenhausen Labor Camp (formerly East Germany), and Berlin. "I again saw many of the sites we visited during our summer trip to Europe in 1958," said Ben, "like the Russian Memorial a few blocks from the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, remnants of the Berlin Wall, and the commercialization of 'Checkpoint Charlie' (now a souvenir venue for tourists). The apartments of Stalin Allee have been 'prettified,' and the whole of Berlin is now so modern; the changes in these 50 years are unimaginable." Ben and Hideko also visited Moscow and saw Red Square and the Kremlin.

Ben and Hideko

Friendly Fire. The DC area's Ralph Lalime and Tony Burshnick gather at Starbucks most Fridays, sometimes joined by Jerry de la Cruz--their meetings, which include cigars, are dubbed "StarGars" . . . Fires were perilously close to his Santa Barbara home, and Goose Gulbransen wrote that "We evacuated to Mammoth Lakes, where we stay for family vacations. The fires were 20 miles to the northwest, made interesting sunsets, and we lost electricity one night. You're not in trouble 'til the DC-10 arrives!". . . George Pupich recently introduced himself to Troy Calhoun (AFA, '89), Falcon Football Coach, and Troy's immediate response was: "Alex's Dad! So happy to finally meet you!" (George, football star from our era, had to be proud that son Alex now merits some football fame on his own)--Alex Pupich (AFA '97), is with the California Guard C-130 outfit and has been on his second tour in Afghanistan at Bagram Air Base--On 07/21/08, Alex called George from St. Johns, Newfoundland after "departing Afghanistan and on his way home. He arrived yesterday (July 22nd) and was in great spirits," said George.

"Ina and I went to the New Zealand and Australia Forward Air Controller Association reunion in Canberra, Australia," wrote Dale Thompson. "We combined that trip with a 2-1/2 week tour of both countries, then a week in Canberra with the FACs, who flew in support of US combat units in Vietnam. In addition to the banquets and tours, we participated in the Anzac Day sunrise ceremony and mid-day parade. The patriotism we witnessed was extremely impressive. The photo shows me leading up the combined countries' forward air controller groups. We were actually in the water four hours that day seeing incredible things, in addition to the boat trip out and back. Some other highlights were spending our anniversary with a champagne toast at sunset on Ayers Rock, snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, boat trip through the fiords and Milford Sound, visiting Mount Cook and the glaciers, exploring a number of beautiful cities like Sydney and the wonderful hospitality of the FACs in Canberra."

Dale Thompson leading FACs in Canberra.

There is some very sad news to report: On June 16^th, 2008, Frank and Faye Gorham lost their oldest son in his aerobatic plane--the one in which he holds an FAA air show waiver. The aileron control linkage bent and jammed during a high stress maneuver near Panama City, FL, and he ordered his passenger to bail. There was not enough time for Kevin to get out. (R: From the June '08 Web Column, you'll recall that Kevin is shown in the picture promoting a local air show two years ago). Contributions to http://www.precisionavjet.com

More (Mostly) Friendly Fire. "I'm an ordained minister of the Gospel and an insurance agent with Bankers Life and Casualty Company," writes Charlie Folkart, who lives in Fairmont, WV . . . In March, Dean Bristow had open-heart surgery for coronary artery problems (NotAm to Dean: We know you're a doctor, Dean, but, you just might want to call Steve Bishop about his "ratatouille and Waddle cure") . . . Doug Rekenthaler's medical history: "I've had two heart attacks (one in Moscow), broken leg, broken ankle, two cataract operations, and a right hip replacement" . . . George Luck's one-year old grandson, River Luck of Kansas City, MO, represents the 10^th generation of Lucks in the U.S., from England in the 1670s to Virginia and then Georgia in the 1850s, through the present . . . Jerry de la Cruz's AFA diploma shows a "Degree in Public Affairs." Anyone else get one of those?

For those who track such things, I have prepared a list of classmates who entered with us in 1956 with previous military experience. That list contains the names of 18 who were in the military prior to coming to the Academy--go to www.usafa.net/1960, and click "Artifacts." One of the many interesting stories is that of Ken Alnwick: "I was a non-prior service A3C draftsman in the AFRES 514th Troop Carrier Wing, Mitchell Field, Long Island, NY (C-118) while still in high school and during my year at Stephens Tech in Hoboken, NJ. At Stephens, I was also in the USAF ROTC program. My 'A' in ROTC kept my GPA above 2.0 when I tried the second time for an appointment to the Academy (I was an alternate for '59). I believe I was one of ten or so members of our class to be selected under the 'military service' category.

"In 1954, I was also a member of the Continental Air Command's civilian volunteer Ground Observer Corps, which was formed to supplement what would become the NORAD system. In the evenings, while in high school, I would climb to the roof of the Garden City Hotel and report by phone to a control and reporting center the altitude, direction, and type (multi-engine, single engine) of air traffic passing overhead. This was the same system used by Claire Chennault in Burma during WWII. I wonder if anyone else had the same or similiar introduction to the USAF?"

We received this photograph and message 07/19/08:

WE'RE ENGAGED! RICHARD* AND MARILYNN!

Class History Book: Send War Stories to Ken Werrell at kwerrell@radford.edu and Humorous Stories to Vic Yoakum at Vyoakum@comcast.net.

Final Roll Call: Sandra Bristow, wife of Dean Bristow, died June 15, 2008. Ted Stumm died May 25, 2008 in Jacksonville, FL; his body was cremated, and the Interment Ceremony will be held at the USAFA Cemetery October 3, 2008.

* That's Richard Farrior Meyer, Jr., of East Fairhope, Alabama