63/63 CLASS NEWS
’63: John and Sylvia Detweiler, Bob Hudspeth, Jim and Sandy Stageman
Since the collision, the Last Call page for Bill Fitzgerald on our web site has been updated with a note from his daughter, Lynda, and an article from a Montpelier, VT, newspaper about Betty Fitzgerald and how she has personally supported the ship, her commanding officers, and her crew for many years. I highly recommend that you read it by visiting the Last Call section at usna63.org/classmates/last_call and clicking on Bill’s name. John Detweiler sent this news of a 12th Company “Micro-Reunion” this June. M On June 10, Bob Hudspeth, Jim and Sandy Stageman, and John and Sylvia Detweiler held a 12th Company Micro-Reunion at the Oregon Veterans Home in Lebanon, OR. Bob, who as a Seabee played too much in the Agent Orange saturated dirt in the DMZ, is now a resident of the home. Nebraska resident Jim was traveling through the Pacific Northwest after visiting his son in Salem, OR. Sylvia and I now live 20 miles west of Lebanon in Corvallis. Mike Moore brings us some history and news about Bill Stewart. M My ’63 classmate and close friend Bill Stewart moved to a Memory Care Community in Santa Barbara, CA, recently. I thought this would be a good time to pass along some information about him and his active duty service in the Navy. We attended high school together and were roommates in the 11th, then 15th, Companies until I left the Academy in the spring of 1962,
having declared myself as a married man. After a short stint as an Engineering Officer on an LST out of San Diego, and having every request for transfer denied, a request was finally approved, and Bill went to Vietnam as a Naval Gunfire spotter with the Anglico (Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company) Team in Pleiku. He was proud of his gold Marine Corps-Navy Parachutist badge. Bill once told me he lost several Marines on his Anglico team and I came to understand that he saw a good deal of combat. He rarely if ever spoke of it. I was once in his apartment in Imperial Beach and saw a crossbow and a shotgun mounted on his wall with a bamboo machine gun sight. When he quizzed me, I was glad I knew what each item was. I took the bamboo sight down and began chipping off some mud, which I commented on. He corrected me, saying it was blood. I asked Bill where he got it, he said he took it away from a guy who didn’t need it any more. He once told me in a letter, written in the 60’s, that he had flown over Hanoi the night before (I seem to recall this was a “ride along” for him) and noticed their lights were all on and he found it hard to believe that they were losing; if so, why would they keep their lights on at night? He became very close with, and an admirer of, Harold “Hal” Moore, of the 7th Cav, and the 1st Cav of Ia Drang fame. Bill told me that he helped resupply radios to Moore’s beleaguered troops in the Battle of Ia Drang .
78 SHIPMATE • SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2017
He understated his contribution. Bill rode in the back seat of an observation aircraft and tossed radios out as they rode at low level over the elephant grass. I think they repeated that several times. For those who might want to contact him, Bill’s mailing address is P.O. Box 691, Summerland, CA 93067. In an email, Bill’s daughter, Susan, told me, “I am so impressed by his service and I am honored and proud that he is my father. I have been intrigued going through his personal military paperwork, photos, slides, letters, certificates, etc. There is so much more I wish that I knew about him. I know he made a large impact in regard to serving his country, his community, and of course his family.” Few among us knew about Bill’s noteworthy Vietnam service. Thanks to Mike for sharing this information. Susan’s comment that there is much more that she wishes she knew about her Dad reminds me of similar sentiments I have heard expressed by children of other classmates in recent years. Please visit the Current Biographies section of our web site at usna63.org/elb/ currbios.php to review, update, and add to what you have already included there. If you have not submitted anything about yourself, this is the time to do it. Submit your content (including photos if you wish) and changes to our Webmaster, Steve Coester, by email at: scoester@cfl.rr.com .
’63: sons Kyle Harken and Chris McAnally
The documentation of important, or simply interesting, information about ourselves for our families and the permanent record of the Class of 1963 becomes more important as the years pass. To emphasize this topic, here is a repeat of some text that appeared in our August 2017 Shipmate column. M Steve Coester has compiled a list of more than 300 of our classmates who served in the Vietnam theater. As he did this, he received many summaries of their Vietnam service. You can see the list and summaries in the “Pride and Tradition – The Class in Vietnam” section of USNA63.org. If your name is missing, contact Steve by email — scoester@cfl.rr.com. These latest additions to the Pride and Tradition section of our web site join the growing number of classmates’ personal narratives already there. Steve has compiled 44 of these accounts into a growing digital book that is already 344 pages long. It is an up close and personal glimpse of the Vietnam War and life at and after the Naval Academy. It is posted with the list and summaries mentioned above in the “Memories” section of our Traditions page at http://www.usna63.org /tradition/#USNAStories. We have learned that the digital book will soon be added to the “Tell Us Your Story” section of the USNA Alumni Association’s web site. I hope you’re planning to attend our 55th reunion, in San Diego, 25-27 October 2018. Hotel reservations in