AOG Magazine Class News
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The big news this issue is that Tony BURSHNICK has picked up the ball to put a Class of 60 Crest on the Class Wall at the Academy. Also, Tom BURKE, bless his soul, has stepped forward to be chairman of our twenty-year reunion committee, and he will use the crew Tony has organized as his field assistants. Here's a message from Tony:
"After informal contacts with a few of our classmates around the country, it was decided that we should start a drive to get the Class of 60 Crest on the Class Wall. It will cost about 2200 dollars. Allowing for attrition, apathy, lost souls and so on, I'm going to ask that each of us contribute whatever he can, but not less than 20 dollars. Jock SCHWANK will be the point man, but we'll need help from all in contacting our classmates. Tom BURKE will work Andrews and DC area, Nels DELISANTI has McChord and Northwest, Bill ZERSEN will canvas SAMSO Los Angeles, Mike LOH has Alexandria, Dean VIKAN has Myrtle Beach, Tom SEEBODE has Travis, Don STEVENS has Maxwell, John KUENZEL has Eglin, Chris WARACK has Norton, Ralph LALIME's got Alaska, Dale THOMPSON Europe and I will cover the Far East. We will essentially be "enforcers" to put the arm on guys who haven't contributed. Hopefully most of you will already have sent your money to Jock by the time this is published. So if you haven't done so already, please get your check in the mail right away. We will need help from everyone to contact classmates who have left the service. If we all work the problem, we should have the crest up for our twentieth reunion. If there are any funds left over, we will use them to defray reunion expenses. Please make your checks payable to The Class of 60, AOG Fund and mail to LTC Jock Schwank, c/o Association of graduates, USAF Academy, CO 80840. (It's tax deductible.) I'll give you a status report via this magazine. As J.D. keeps saying, let Jock hear from you."
I might add that Tony, who by now is in place as the Commander at Yokota AB, Japan, has already ordered our crest--so we do need to respond ASAP.
Here's a picture of Gary SHEETS receiving the 1978 Air Historical Foundation Award for his thesis at AWC. Gary is now at the Pentagon drawing up plans for a follow-on manned bomber. The B-2?
Ed HAERTER wrote a letter this winter while snowed in at his farm near Chicago. Ed flies for TWA as well as the Air Force Reserves (KC-135s). His son Chris will join the USAFA class of 1983 in June, and Ed and Nancy are planning their year around parents' weekend, football games, Christmas leave and so on. Ed was plugging the Reserves and he mentioned John PEEBLES is Group DO for the Toledo Air Guard, Bruce MOSIER is driving A-7s with the Sioux City Guard, and Bruce recently had a near miss with Tony BURSHNICK who was flying a C-141 at Red Flag. Roy JOLLY is still flying Thuds with Reserves at Tinker, and Bob RAGER has a M-day colonel assignment.
Here is a recent photo of John SCHIRA, one of our colonel-selectees. He is an aircraft maintenance officer at Langley.
Howie and Linda WHITFIELD, Russ and Barb MacDONALD, plus Anne and I hosted a Class of 60 party at the MacDonald's home in Woodbridge, Virginia last February where I took these pictures.
Norm Haller, Mike Clarke, Liz Haller
Quickies: Gary GULBRANSEN, who flies for Pan Amarican has moved from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, where he says he is “closer to LAX and up to my ass in avocados.” Charlie LIGGETT has moved to Fairfield, California—Travis, I guess. Also new at Travis is the Vice Commander of the 60th MAW, Tom SEEBODE. Mike J. CLARKE is a student at Monterey. Jim PEEL has PCSd to Dover where he is flying C-5s. Van VAN INWEGEN is going from AWD to the Pentagon as is Russ MACDONALD. Yours truly, John MACARTNEY is returning to the Academy again after a year as a visiting professor (?) at The National War College.