CLASS NOTES Speaking of back to normal, Dan Clymore has been given a clean bill of health after his episode, which I chronicled in my last epistle. Dan cannot stop singing the praises of how Ozzie Belcher assisted him and his family through this ordeal. He was also grateful for all the cards and calls of encouragement from the BRs, including Del Ertzner and Willy Funkhouser. Dan said he nearly fell out of bed when Floyd Allen called to wish him a speedy recovery. Floyd’s call really cheered him up, and Dan was pleased to learn Floyd is doing well, too. Dan can also state that doctors still make house calls (of sorts), as BR and neuropsychologist Dr. John Lewis called and checked in on him, and they talked at length. John gave Dan the entire run-down of his situation and even talked to Dan’s wife, Cindy, for quite a while to give her a lot of information. Dan now knows more about his brain than he ever wanted to know. Though he still keeps promising to buy me some beer, I will settle for a pic from Dan’s family vacation in Gay Paris! In other travel news, Dave Kohler completed a pre-Olympics tour of China before the Chengdu earthquake. Dave’s girlfriend, Ms. Sande Snead, accompanied him on this trip,
as well as his brother and brother’s girlfriend. I do not know if they fostered any goodwill and understanding with the locals, because Dave reported they all behaved like a bunch of teenagers. The itinerary included Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai. Highlights of the tour included seeing the Chinese people; bargaining with the vendors; the Forbidden City; rickshaw riding through the Houtongs; mingling with the people in the park near the Temple of Heaven; the Great Wall; Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi’an; an acrobat show; the canals and gardens of Suzhou; the streets of Shanghai; and cocktails on the 87th floor of the brand new Hyatt Tower overlooking nighttime Shanghai. Our very own Bill Jennings has now established the Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Chapter of the VMI Alumni Association. (See picture in the OEF/OIF section of this issue.) Bill is working on a project to build a new base to train the Afghanistan National Army. He is involved in the power plant, the electrical distribution and other aspects of the electrical system on the base. At this writing, Bill is in country working with the construction team on the power plant to make sure that it gets started on the right foot. It is not easy mission, as the labor is local
Class of 1982: Members of the “Provisional” Dubai, United Arab Emiriates, chapter of the Alumni Association were, from left, Dale Davis, John Moore ’93, Aaron Thatcher ’05, Wayne Fuller ’86 and Bill Jennings. Fuller and Jennings are also founding members of the Jalabad, Afgahnistan Chapter. (See another photo of Jennings in the OEF/OIF section.)
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and the equipment on hand is “negligible.” Still, Bill better be careful, as the Alumni Association will come calling to set up events and lean on him to establish a revenue stream. Bill stated he would have more details for me when he returns stateside but requested I buy the beer, as there isn’t any in eastern Afghanistan. While passing through Dubai on his way to Jalalabad, Bill linked up with Dale Davis. Dale is currently the Africa and the Middle East Managing Director for The Global Strategies Group, one of the world’s leading providers of defense, development and corporate risk management services for clients operating in high stakes situations. When not assessing risk and growing business, Dale likes to work out at the gym and track and is sometimes able to go surfing (in the Persian Gulf?) when the tides cooperate. Dale shares that Jeff Roseme jets into Dubai a couple of times a year and they try to catch up when Jeff is in town. Dale has put out the welcome mat for any and all BRs who need a place to stay when their travels take them to the Emirates. Mrs. Kause would like to encourage Dale to hire your Class Agent, in order to put him in risky situations far away from home. Along the lines of doing risky things, George Mayforth writes about his efforts as a triathlete. George and Jack Wainwright stay in contact with one another, mainly through text messaging, to inform one another of their progress in training for triathlons. Of course, Jack is in dreary Boston, Massachusetts, while George trains in sunny Atlantic Beach, Florida. It pains Jack to hear of George’s 80-degree ocean swims in July, as Jack continues to wear a wetsuit in the waters close to the Cape Cod! Jack maintains a fairly active race schedule and enjoys texting George during his AM commute or on a given Saturday or Sunday. Jack likes to text George at 5 AM in the morning. But George can occasionally “one-up” Jack. On Monday, July 7, 2008 at 6 PM, George got on the Ironman Austria website and registered for the July 2009 triathlon, which was sold out in 92 minutes to 1,100 entrants from around the globe. George is one of those 1,100 masochists. His challenge will not be the physical preparation for the race but rather developing a presentation to his wife on how he and three of his friends are going to Austria without their families. Perhaps Mrs. Mayforth would like to encourage Dale Davis to hire George, in order to put him in risky situations far away from home. Also from the Stirring The Pot Department comes word that my Rat Roomie Chris Simmons is continuing his quest to root out Cuban spies in South Florida. Chris has been an occasional op-ed columnist for the Miami Herald, where he writes about the continued danger
VMI ALUMNI REVIEW