CLASS NOTES Paul Munson reports that a Rat in the incoming mass will be awarded the first issuance of our Class of 1987 Memorial Scholarship. I echo Paul in thanking everyone for making this a reality. I hope to get some info and a picture of our Rat, and I’ll be sure to pump him/her up with the lore of our Class. As I wind this up for another edition of the Alumni Review, please keep in touch with all the details of the things you are doing and the places you are going. I look forward to passing all that on to our classmates! … Ernie
’88
Drew MCKone
By the time you are reading this, it will be autumn so, Happy Fall! It seems like yesterday that I was writing the last update for our notes. Three months don’t seem to last as long as they used to! The summer has gone pretty quick with no major events. I spoke with Lt. Col. Mark Arboneaux who is still on active duty with the Marine Corps working in Chicago with the TACC Battle Staff. Mark is the Operations Officer and will end his current tour of duty in September. He’ll be entering the Indianapolis job market. So, keep him in mind if you have any interesting prospects! Mark indicated that Jim Tuemler will be retiring after twenty years on active duty and reserves with the Marines. Mark also indicated that Chris Goff moved to Hawaii in July to take command of 3rd Battalion 3rd Marine Regiment. Semper Fi and good luck to Chris, Mark and Jim! I spoke with Frank de Venoge earlier this summer. Frank was busy with the start of his new career with Pfizer. Frank will be representing one of their more famous “blue pills”… let the jokes begin! Frank also indicated that the time had come to end the Mark Wilson Memorial Race. Frank and many others have worked tirelessly to keep the event going in Mark’s name. Most importantly, the race served as an annual reminder to Mark’s family of how special he was to his friends, Brother Rats and the VMI community. Thanks for your dedication and commitment to our friend! Frank provided this update: “After a 13-year run of raising money in the name of Mark Wilson, the organizers and family of Mark have come up with a new opportunity to keep Mark’s memory alive. Mark was tragically killed on Dec. 4, 1995, as a Navy Seal at Camp Ripley, MN, leaving behind a wife and 10-week old son. Things have changed for Anne Wilson, as she married a friend of Mark’s, a current active Navy Seal, who had
132
gone thru BUDS with Mark back in 1994. Mark Schafer and Anne were married last October, and after having lived in Richmond for the last 13 years, Anne is back doing what she does so well, serving as a wife and also mother to young Mark, who will be 13 in September. Mark Schafer, Anne and young Mark are now living in Monterey, CA, where Mark S. is attending the Naval Postgraduate School after having recently served several tours overseas. Over the years, the proceeds from the Mark Wilson 5k run have gone to two different scholarship mechanisms to VMI in his name. The past several years, proceeds from the run have gone directly to the VMI Foundation, specifically to the scholarship at VMI that is in Mark’s name. The founders of the race and Mark’s family intended to fully fund this scholarship through this ongoing tribute run to Mark Wilson. With the run no longer in existence, an opportunity to continue to meet the intention of funding Mark’s scholarship is still there. Mark’s father and mother, Glen and Evelyn Wilson, have been working diligently to ensure both VMI and all potential donors are advised of this change and to encourage donors to continue to give to the Mark R. Wilson ’88 Scholarship at VMI. The VMI Foundation continues to exhibit leadership in assisting the Wilson’s endeavor, and this is where all of you come in. On behalf of the Wilsons and the memory of Mark Wilson, we ask your continued participation in the ongoing effort to fully fund the Mark R. Wilson ’88 Scholarship at VMI. The scholarship is currently a partial award for a deserving student. Our goal is to make it a full scholarship some day. There will be more information on ways to get involved coming directly to you soon. Donations can always be made to the VMI Foundation in Mark’s name via the scholarship. In the Spirit, Glen Wilson, Evelyn Wilson, Frank de Venoge, Gordy Fox and Mark & Anne Schafer.” Kevin Washington checked in to give me his new e-mail address and to invite me to join his LinkedIn group. Sorry, Kevin! When I clicked to accept the invite, it told me I wasn’t the intended recipient! Kevin wrote: “Drew, I guess I am one of those guys who has not provided an updated e-mail address. I had been in contact w/ Mike Wood and Tim West and almost made the 20th, but as you saw, not quite ... I saw the class photo and figure if I do not make the 25th, I may not be able to recognize too many BRs. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!” I also received this note and the attached picture form Lew Sigmon’s parents: “Mr. McKone, It was good to read about the Class of ’88’s reunion at VMI in the Alumni Review. Our son, Lewis III, was mentioned in the column.
He recently passed 20 years in the USMC and service to our country. We thought that we would pass along a photo that they sent us from a famous site in France where the German’s coined the term ‘Devil Dogs’ for the Marines. He, as have the others in your class, has represented the Institute with pride. As parents, we are ever appreciative of how the Institute helped shape his character and career. What a great place! Sincerely, Lewis Jr. and Sondra Sigmon.” I think the sentiments expressed by the Sigmons are indicative of the impact VMI has made on all of its graduates as well as the families that supported us through our four (sometimes five) years at the “I.” Since receiving the note, I have also heard from Lew who checked in from Europe: “Hey bud! It has been much too long since I have spoken to you! Sorry for that. We are in Stuttgart, Germany, where I am working in the U.S. European Command J4 (Logistics) as an exercise planner. We have tried to take advantage of being here in Europe and travel as much as we can. We have three great kids, Kendall, 11; Mason, 9; and Jesse, 6. They are all active in sports, Scouts and school. We are due to leave Europe in the summer of 2009. We are hoping to get back to the East Coast, probably back to Camp Lejeune. Since I just passed the 20-year mark in the Marine Corps, we are starting to think about life after the Marine Corps. I have not had a chance to make it to any our Class reunions. With kids being born or living outside of the Continental U.S., it has been hard to make the events. I am looking forward to getting to come up for some football games and weekends back at the ‘I.’” I received a surprise note from Shelton Davis who lives about 40 minutes from me in Montgomery County, MD. From the sound of it, it would appear that Shelton has been very busy since graduation! Good luck and safe returns from Iraq! Shelton wrote: “I wanted to drop you a line and let you know I am still alive and kicking. Sorry I could not make the reunion. I had to write a brief for the Surgeon General that had a deadline of that Saturday; moreover, I found out about the brief on Thursday night ... Anyway, all with me is well. I live in Sandy Spring, MD (probably about 30 minutes from you). I’ve been pretty busy since my days at VMI. Currently, I am the Chief of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation service at both Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Medical Center (so, I’m pretty centrally involved in the care of all the guys who are amputees), and I’m one of only a handful of docs on active duty who is board certified in Pain Management. So, as you might imagine, I am pretty busy. I am getting ready to head out the door to Iraq for about
VMI ALUMNI REVIEW