I find it hard to believe that three months have passed since the last quarterly newsletter. I also find it hard to believe that in March I will be 29 for the fourth ­consecutive time. Nevertheless, it is that time again, and, hopefully, I can provide each of you with some new and interesting facts about what's going on in ’60. First, however, I would like to thank the individual who so kindly responded to my petition for cards and letters. Such genuine compassion will not go unrewarded, I’m sure. Things aren’t really that bad, since I did receive a large number of calls that should be added to the list of what was, in fact, two letters. All communica­tions were sincerely appreciated, and I encourage the remainder of you to use whatever means you'd like, but to please let me hear from you on occasion. On to the first letter.

Linda GLAZA writes that Jim's at Udorn in F-4Cs and that he really enjoys the aircraft. She adds that she and Jim now have 5 children, 4 boys and 1 girl, and that they're hopeful there's a future doolie in the bunch. Linda also says that Jim's old roommate, Don ALMANZAR, is at Udorn flying H-43Bs. This is Don's third tour in SEA, and we can well imagine that they've all been busy ones. There's no doubt in my mind but what the current tour has been, since Don was re­cently awarded an Air Medal for rescuing 21 seamen from a ship that had run aground in heavy seas and was in danger of breaking up. The press release would have you believe that Don may be the first man in 2000 years capable of walk­ing on something other than dry land. However, even when the ar­ticle is reduced to the nitty gritty, what remains is more than enough for one to conclude that this was no ordinary feat. Add our congratulations, Don, to those of General Books who made the award.

Reb GUILLOT was at the Academy in December to participate in Career Counseling Day for first classmen. Reb is still at Nellis, but he in­forms me that he's no longer an F-100 fighter weapons instructor. As part of the latest cutback in military spending, the F-100 Fight­er Weapons School was recently--and without notice--closed down. Needless to say, it was pandemon­ium for most of the instructors. One notable exception, as could be expected, was Reb who simply performed a wifferdill to the right, got himself checked out in the F-4s and will finish out his tour at Nellis as an F-4 fighter weapons instructor.

Nels DELISANTI tells me that COC is in somewhat of a bind, and he's seeking your help. Out of 40 AOCs, only 7 are Academy grads, and sev­eral of those are due to move on in the not too distant future. Consid­erring the fact that 11 classes have graduated, I think you'll agree that number should be substantially higher. So, why not do something about it and volunteer? If interested, call Nels at extension 4594. If not interested, call Nels anyway and let him sweet talk you into it. Just look at all that it's done for ­Nels! It’s not every officer who's got his own phone.

The other day, I found out that Tony BILELLO's back in the Air Force. The truth of the matter is, he's been back in a blue suit for two years. And what a two years it's been! Tony got orders for Vietnam last »ear, and in early October, as is custo­mary, reported to the Philippines for jungle survival. At one point in the program, trainees had to descend a cliff at night by means of a rope. Well, as Tony was doing just that, he suffered a shoulder separation and, unable to hang on, fell 250 feet. Miraculously, he survived the fall, but not by much. Tony spent the next 2 1/2 months in the hospital at Clark and then was airmailed back to Seattle in plenty of time for Christmas with Carol and the children. He's now on convalescent leave but expects to be back at 100% to include flying in a month or two. By the way, Tony says a 250-foot fall is guaran­teed to postpone a SEA tour, but he doesn't recommend it unless you've been to Fort Benning recently.

Ken BIEHLE writes that he, Carol and the 3 boys are really enjoying life at Wright-Patt, where Ken's a KC-135 driver. Ken spent the sum­mer at U-Tapao refueling fighters and running into old friends, in­cluding Jim ANDERSON and Mike LOH. He says he also got a chance to gas up Don THURMAN a few times but kept forgetting to give him his Green Stamps. In addition, Ken tells me he planned a big blow out in November for all KC-135 pilots in our class. However, John KUENZEL couldn't make it, and, not wanting to drink alone, Ken called the whole thing off. Speak­ing of John, who's now at Grissom, Ken brought it to my attention that he's in a class all by him­self. John's been in KC-135s since October '61 and has more time in the aircraft than anyone else in the class. What this means is that John holds the record for passing JP-4. This is a meritor­ious achievement to say the least, but one which in view of the fair­ly obvious pun that can be made, I'm not certain John or anyone else really wants to claim.

Last time, I said that Hardy LEBEL was on his way to check out in A­-37s. Things didn't work out. At England, they were unable to lo­cate a shoehorn big enough to get Hardy into the airplane, and so they gave him the choice between having his head amputated or going to Hurlburt. I know you’re all aware of how much Hardy wanted to fly the plane, and so you'll prob­ably be surprised when I say he chose Hurlburt, but that's what he did.

The Class of ’60 lost a close friend when Don Usry, a ’60 West Pointer who went to the Air Force, was killed in a T-33 accident at Peterson Field on 25 October. Many people will remember Don as the lonesome end who, in Yan­kee Stadium in '59, caught the pass that made it 13-13. However, for many of us in '60 who over the years became good friends with Don, he’ll be remembered for a great deal more. At the time of his death, Don was a math instructor and a volunteer freshman football coach at USAFA. On the night of the accident, Don was re­turning from a scouting trip of Stanford preparatory to November's game at Palo Alto. Our heartfelt sympa­thy goes out to his wife, Maggie, and their two children.

No new gains or losses at USAFA, but the situation is about to change. Ron DEEP is finishing up his masters at Purdue and is due to arrive as an EE instructor in February. In addi­tion, George HINES is due to return at about the same time. George has been working on his PhD at Syracuse, but for the past four months he has been doing dissertation research in Greece, Ethiopia and Uganda. For the life of me, George, I don't quite see the connection between Uganda and cadet motivation, but then I got very poor grades in psychology. On second thought, you might say there was one new arrival since the last newsletter. Don and Joan STEVENS had their third child on 25 November, a boy they named Christopher Sean. Jerry and Kathy GIRARD recently left Holloman for Nellis where Garboon will attend the F-4 FWS before going to Phu Cat. Still at Holloman, how­ever, are Greg and Loretta BOYINGTON, II who recently announced the birth of a son, Gregory Boyington, III. On the other side of the state, Charlie and Kathy LIGGETT are at Albuquerque where Charlie is an ROTC instructor at the University of New Mexico. Chuck says he's been very fortunate so far. Activists have burned his office down only twice.

At Nellis, it looks like the F-111 is loosing some good people. Deke JOHNSON, though still there, has left the flight line for a job at Wing, while Ron PATCHETT checked out altogether for an AFIT assignment at Wright-Patt. Back East, Denny HANEY is still at SOS. Denny's not repeat­ing the course, but for those who may have lost track, he's been one of their instructors since '67. Gerry GAMMILL is now at Eglin. Gerry was recently awarded 3 DFCs for heroism while navigating NC-123s in Vietnam. Another recent DFC recipient was Al JOHNSON who was awarded the medal with oak leaf cluster for heroism as a navigator aboard AC-47 gunships out of Da Nang. As far as I can gather, Al is now stationed at Lindsey AS in Germany. Out West, Jeanne BRUSH says that she and Jack are having a wonderful time basking in the smog of LA, while further north Bob NEWSON has finished Stanford Business School and has a business consulting agency in Palo Alto. Meanwhile, back at the center of the universe, Dick SCHEHR is here assigned to the 14th Aero at Ent. And, finally, Charlie and Merci THOMPSON recently made a pilgrim­age to USAFA. Charlie's at Wright­-Patt in the chopper-SPO business but feels its time to move on and would like to join me and the others as a guru here at Sky High.

On the war front, Pete KING is in F-4s at Cam Ranh until next summer, and George FRIES has moved from Maxwell to Pleiku, where he's navigating some of those special models of the C-47. Tom BURKE finally got some orders and is now flying O-2s at Bien Hoa. Back in ’67, John GIFFEN decided he was getting too broad across the beam, so he gave up navigating for Thuds and is currently at Takhli. Marty RICHERT is in helicopters at Da Nang in a unit that has received two Presidential Unit Citations, while further north, Bill GILLIS has deployed in his F-106 from Dover for six months in Korea.

In the airline circuit, Charlie UPTON is flying 727's for American but was recently transferred from Buffalo to Boston. He and Bonnie now have two children, 1 of each, and are thoroughly enjoying their decision to go commercial. Brian KALEY is also enjoying life with American. Brian is flying out of Springfield, Mass., but, as of last month, he and Carol are living in Brookfield, Conn. Carol says that, on weekends, Brian moonlights as the Bloody Red Baron in an F-84 for the Mass ANG. As for the latest with TWA, Bruce MOSIER is in Kansas City, but he commutes to Sioux City during his time off to fly F-100s for the Iowa Guard. Ed HAERTER is temporarily there in Kansas City upgrading to copilot but will be returning to Chicago upon completion of training. Roy JOLLY just fin­ished his check-out program at Kan­sas City, and he and Barb are now on their way to San Francisco

I want to close by telling you that last year's homecoming was a tremen­dous success in every respect. Twenty-two grads from '60 were here, and there would have been others had it not been for bad weather and an AF alert. However, next October's homecoming, being our 10th anniver­sary, is the really big one for us. So start saving your shekels and making plans to attend the big bash now. But 'til I get to see you then, don't forget to write.