The USAF Academy and the AOG have announced the winners of the AF Academy Distinguished Graduate Award for 2009 and they are General John M. Loh, Class of 1960 and the Honorable Heather A. Wilson, Class of 1982. They will receive their awards at the Academy Founders' Day Dinner in April 2010. Loh's 35-year military career included a tour as Air Force Vice-Chief of Staff and was followed with his assignment as the last commander of the Tactical Air Command, where he successfully led the transition to Air Combat Command. Following his retirement, General Loh continued to share his expertise through service to a variety of organizations, such as the National Academy of Sciences, National Security Board of the Sandia National Laboratory, Air Force Academy Falcon Foundation, Armed Forces Benefit Association and the Boy Scouts of America. He has also been involved with the Academy as a senior reviewer of the Honor Climate Assessment Task Force, guest lecturer in the Aeronautics Department, and member of the Superintendent's Senior Advisory Board.

"We enjoyed plenty of travel last year, with visits to kids and grandkids in Seattle and the DFW area, plus a two-week tour of the Southwest showing some old Scottish friends the sights," wrote George Elsea, from Lampasas, TX. "We took a two-week side trip to Ireland during our summer in Scotland, where we have a home. Evey's grandmother came from somewhere around Galway, so we spent most of our time on the West Coast of Scotland. We're looking forward to seeing you at the reunion."

"The Annual Christmas Day Motorcycle Ride is postponed pending more clement weather," read the caption. The postmark was Norman, OK, suggesting that the photograph's perpetrator (R: Don"t bother to dissect that phrase) was avid cyclist Gordon Flygare. Could his 2004-BMW R1150RT cycle have been inside, warming up?

Across the country in Tennessee, it was left for JT Smith to come through, cycle-wise, that is: "We went on our 33rd annual New Year's Day motorcycle ride on January 1, 2010. It was Diane's first ride in a year, and it went well. She wasn't supposed to ride for a full 12 months after her knee-replacement surgery, but she wanted to keep her annual cycling tradition alive. We're now home 'til May, when it's off to Ireland and Scotland for a couple of weeks (we missed those countries during our Germany assignment). Also, we recently attended a function in Nashville sponsored by the All Academy and ROTC Parents' Club, which was a formal dinner dance. Met some of the current "Zoomies" from the Nashville area--It is apparently an annual event, but this was our first opportunity to attend, since we've been traveling during January these past few years."

Prior to that New Year's Day ride, JT and Diane Smith travelled to India and Bhutan: "India is a grossly overcrowded, filthy, hot, noisy place with insane traffic on crappy roads (R: With descriptions like that, who needs a travel book?), and a few spectacularly beautiful places. We had stays in Kolcata (aka Calcutta), Delhi (New, Old, Other), Jaipur (Amber Palace--home of Maharaja of Jaipur and his many wives), Ranthambore National Park (Tiger Reserve--didn't see one, a Tiger, that is), Khajuraho (Kama Sutra carvings on the Chandelas temples), Agra (Taj Mahal--see photo), Varanasi (aka Benares) famous pilgrimage destination for Ganges bathing and cremation, and Sarnath (where Gautama Buddha preached his first sermon marking beginnings of Buddhism). Bhutan, on the other hand, is a delightful place in the foothills of the Himalayas with friendly--mostly Buddhist--people, nice mountains, relatively sane traffic on equally-crappy-but-interestingly-twisty roads (built by Indian contractors). We arrived at Paro and then went to Thimphu, seeing their unique national animal, the Takin, and observed traditional dancing at the Dzong (Palace). From Thimphu, it was across the 10,000-foot Dochula Pass to Punakha where we visited more Dzongs and Monasteries. Then back to Paro, visiting a national museum and climbed the steep mountain trail to the Taktsang Monastery 3000 feet above the valley. We had a great view of the Monastery and a few of us made the final climb (one was a lady who successfully climbed Mt. Everest from the China side last year).

"Just got back from a two week condo adventure," wrote Paul Vallerie on November 30, 2009. "Kay and I had a week scheduled at Lake Chelan in North Central Washington State the week of November 7^th, when we found that we also had another week about to expire. Kay went online and found a timeshare the week before in Anaconda, Montana, just outside Butte, and we booked that. We were right next to the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, and did sightseeing in Butte, Anaconda and Phillipsburg, an old mining town which is a Historical City. Driving to Lake Chelan, we went through the mountains of Idaho and Washington, saw lots of fall foliage, and the beautiful colors were really spectacular. The first photo is from the Office building, and the second shows the view from our condo"this is beautiful country."

George Luck reported that "The Northwest Group gathered at Pattie's Egg Nest in Lynnwood, WA, for brunch on Tuesday, December 29^th, 2009, at 10AM, with George Luck, Charlie Diver, and Dennis O"Keefe. We first went to Paul Allen's (Microsoft CEO) Flying Heritage Collection of airplanes at Payne Field. I picked the Spitfire as the one I'd most like to strap on. Then we went over to the old ADC alert barn where Dennis O'Keefe used to stand alert in his F-101 TDY from Klamath Falls, OR. Inside, a local company is manufacturing five ME-262 fighters! The next gathering will be at Hector's in Kirkland on Friday, January 22^nd, 2010 at 1130 hours." Later, George proudly added: "BTW -- I have a new FAA Medical Certificate!" Remember that George had cancer, and his left kidney was removed on July 13, 2009.

Some things just never change, and, only get better with age (lots of age). Such is the case with this photo of Fred and Mary Lou Porter and daughter Pamie, demonstrating, beyond a shadow of any doubt, that Fred and Mary Lou look exactly like they looked back in 1963. (Source: "I found this photo while rummaging through some old albums. Fred was at Edwards AFB at the time," wrote Ben Furuta).

Bringing us back to our "Present Era," Fred and Mary LouPorter's 2009 Christmas card mentioned that "In June we celebrated our 50^th anniversary (a year early) with a beautiful train trip on the Southwest Chief to Los Angeles and then up the coast on the Coast Starlight to Seattle. We sailed from there to Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan, Alaska and Victoria, BC. Fred continues to teach at all three universities and he still loves it! He has been working on a fascinating project at the Academy on the UAS (Unoccupied Aerial Systems--used to be called UAVs--miniature pilotless vehicles). I am still on the Vestry at Grace and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. This is also my 8^th year as Mentor Mom for the parents" group--actually, parents from four churches. In May we adopted a six month old Maltese Poodle named Bailey from the Humane Society--that makes three dogs, two parrots and four bears."

The Colorado Springs' Group met at Champs Sports Bar on December 1, 2009. The major item of discussion was preparation for our 50^th Reunion, to be held 29 September-3 October 2010. There were twelve in attendance, and in the photo, that's Jim Glaza, Jim Bujalski, Tony Bilello, Dick Sexton; Middle Row: Andi Biancur, Fred Porter, Jack Brush, Duck Waddle, Jock Schwank; Back Row: Pete Roe, George Pupich, and Denis Walsh. Following the luncheon, Tony Bilello took Jim Bujalski, who had never seen the Heritage Trail, on a short tour. "There is now our first memorial on the trail, put up by the Class of '89 for LtCol Kevin M. Shea, USMC. We lost Kevin on 14 September 2004 in a mortar attack in Fallujah. Kevin was a chopper pilot with the USMC's 9th Communications Battalion in Iraq. My photo is not a good one of the memorial (morning sun would be better), but it's very nice and a fine tribute.

The Life and Times of Dale and Ina Thompson near Boerne, TX in 2009's: Dale broke his ankle in February . . . Grandson Kyle Walker brought five fellow medical students to the ranch over Spring Break . . . Andi and Carole Biancur visited in April . . . Dale and Ina went in May to granddaughter Lindsey Grosvenor's graduation from U. of Texas'sister Caitlin's graduation from high school in June; Dale's family gathered in Lawton, OK for mother's 90^th birthday; George Pupich visited the ranch, and grandson Jared spent a week . . . September--to DC for reunion of the 18^th TFW (44^th squadron), and C-Springs for a reunion of the 20^th TFW, also saw the AFA-TCU football game in 20 degrees of ice and snow"Week in Granby, CO fishing"Dale III and family, and Ina's daughter Karen Roland, came weekends and grandson Brett came for Christmas"December 31^st in Ft. Worth for the Armed Forces Bowl with AFA playing Houston.

Our Academy beat the Houston Cougars 47-20 on December 31^st at Ft. Worth, TX in the Armed Forces Bowl. What a game! AFA ran 402 yards, time of possession 41:03, both team's second half kickoffs were returned for touchdowns after just 29 seconds playing time--our return was for 101 yards, and we intercepted the nation's leading passer, QB Case Keeney, six times. Andi Biancur said that "It was a real ass-kickin'. We had two running backs (Tew and Clark) run for over 100 yards, Warzeka returned a kick off for 101 yards---an Academy record. We ran "trick plays" and balanced our running game with effective passing. Troy Calhoun ("89) coached a masterpiece, and our defense allowed only one offensive touchdown by the 23rd ranked Cougars. We were joined in the hotel by '59ers Phillips, Rosanes, Millers, and Cuberos ('61), with whom we enjoyed New Year's Eve dinner. After dinner, Carole and I spent an enjoyable time with four of the players: Ben Cochran, Chris Thomas, Kevin Fogler, Luke Hyder and their families. It was great to share their excitement and pride." At the game from our Class were Andi and Carole Biancur, George and Diana Pupich, Ina and Dale Thompson, Denny and Liz Haney, Jim and Jeanette Glaza. However, George and Diana, '59ers Dave Phillips and Eddie Rosane, Randy Cubero ('61) and their wives, "all sat in the box during the game with none other than Hunter Ennis---the 1958 TCU quarterback," says George. "The TCU bunch and some of us on the '58 team have stayed in touch over the years. Hunter had an oil and gas business and has become well known in TCU circles. It was so much fun to have these TCU guys howling with delight as USAFA did their thing! Our defense played the game of their young lives, and Tim DeRoyter, defensive coordinator, did a masterful job of mixing the "looks." We dropped 7-8 into coverage and irregularly brought the linebackers. I had a beer with tight end coach Ben Miller after the game, and he said the wind was not a factor." (Sad note: "Our departure for Fort Worth was delayed a day, so that we could attend the services for Mike Quinlan's ('61) wife, Susan. She passed away on Christmas Day," said George).

Here are highlights during 2009 for Jim and Mary Waddle's year: "We continue our busyness with church, choir and Gideons, plus little theater for Mary. Mary is in her second term as President of the United Methodist Women, and in October, she designed costumes for the production of Oklahoma. We traveled to Columbus, OH for the Gideons Convention in July; while there we visited Richard and Susan Paston--Richard was First Sergeant of the 5^th Fighter Squadron in Minot AFB while Jim was Squadron Commander in 1978-79. On the way back to Colorado, we stopped in Lawrence, KS to visit WWII fighter ace Dick Hewitt, 89, author of a book about his experiences--Jim has a limited edition signed and numbered print of a painting showing Dick strafing a Nazi train. In February and March, Jim flew to Kenya on a team of 23 Gideons from eight countries, visiting Nairobi, Nakuru and Mombasa, visiting 1,199 schools to provide New Testaments, distributing 440,958 overall (see photo of Jim telling Kenyan students about the New Testament, and the second photo with Kenyan students holding their new Bibles). Our son Larry and wife Lori (they have three children: Erika, Melanie, and Fred) became "empty-nesters" when son Fred headed to Ft. Lewis College in Durango (R: Didn"t Jim Glaza's daughter, Shari, go to Ft. Lewis College?), playing lacrosse for the Ft. Lewis Club. School teacher Lori coordinates a program called AVID, helping students prepare for a college prep course. Lori recruited "Grandpa Jim" to work with 6^th graders one hour a week as an AVID tutor. Granddaughter Erika graduated from Northern Colorado in May, and Lori's parents came from Florida for Erika's graduation, and grandson Fred's graduation from Air Academy High School. Melanie transferred from CSU to UNC in preparation for becoming a teacher. Our daughter Emily and husband Rick are in good health, as are the children"Ricky and Molly have good jobs; Molly celebrated her 21^st birthday December 14^th, Tommy is a high school senior this year, and Sally a sophomore. Our son Rob and wife Patty had their first grandchild in July, when Chris and Courtney had a beautiful baby girl, Chloe (that's the first GREAT-grandchild for us!)"

Folk artist James Walter Clark of Ft. Worth, TX came through Sarasota and visited the world famous Ringling Art Museum on Saturday, October 31, 2009; we met for lunch at the tony Treviso restaurant for a little fine dining, and Jim briefed me on his whirlwind tour of various artistic objects at some of Sarasota's more prominent mansions.

"Here is a picture of my three-year-old grandson, River Luck (10^th generation Luck born in the U.S.), taking his first steps out of his wheel chair after his November 2008 brain bleed experience. This effort represents months of therapy, learning to crawl, stand and to regain his balance," wrote George Luck. "River attends a special pre-school and gets therapy from a rehab center and training from a facility for the visually impaired. His mother, Jennifer, is an account rep with a health insurance firm, and his father, Mike, a KU graduate, is a manager in the Africa Section of the Kansas City Zoo. River is a happy little guy with spirit and wears a medal given to him by one of his Dad's friends who raised over $3000 toward River's medical bills while running the Green Bay, WI marathon. He still faces challenges talking, swallowing, and vision; the background of his difficulties are on this website: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/riverwallaceluck."

"This morning (December 17^th), Ralph Lalime, Jerry de la Cruz and I went over to spend time with Mike A. Clarke," said Tony Burshnick. "Overall, he is doing pretty well. The knee is coming along fine, and he is able to control the swelling in his legs. He is still taking medication and does have problems with his vision. Glasses will not do the trick, and he is working with Johns Hopkins to get relief. He is able to get around without a walker or a cane, but he has to be careful of tripping, since he can"t see the hidden hazards that outside walking will bring." (In the photo, that's Jerry, Tony, Ralph and Mike (A).

The January 12, 2010 luncheon of those great DC-60 men is chronicled in the next edition of Class News in CheckPoints Magazine (March 2010)"(However, here are some additional photos taken at that meeting, just so you can see for yourself how great these gentlemen look!).

"Eve and I invite all our classmates and their ladies to join us for a Dutch Treat Luncheon "Celebration of Marriage," with recognition for those having their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2010," wrote Frank Mayberry. "Join Eve and I at 11:30AM on Wednesday, September 29, 2010---just prior to 50^th Reunion Registration. We"ll lunch at the Colorado Mountain Brewery across from the Academy, which has a nice dining room and extensive menu. All classmates and their wives are welcome.