CLASS NOTES “Debbie is hanging in there with me – staying beautiful and making me look older when we stand together.” (Anyone who attended our 30th can attest to that!) Their family trip this year was an Alaska cruise which was much enjoyed and they would do again tomorrow. I got a call late in the evening on 10 Nov. Caller ID showed Jay’s name. I get bad feelings about late night phone calls, but as it turned out, it was Jay calling from a Marine Corps Birthday Ball he was attending with one of his clients. He was just calling to wish me a Happy Marine Corps Birthday! What a guy, former roommate and all around super BR! Dan Kornacki completed the Florida Iron Man in November … his third (I say again, THIRD) Iron Man in 12:02:36 … missing his personal record by four minutes. Also in the “can you believe guys our age are doing this stuff” category, Farshad Majidian ran this year’s Marine Corps Marathon in 4:28. That would be his seventh (I say again, SEVENTH) marathon! Bob Morris writes that, following retirement from the Army after 30 years, he and Hank St. Pierre were recalled to active duty by SecArmy! Hank is still the TRADOC Capabilities manager (virtual) at Leavenworth, and Bob is now the TRADOC G-3/5/7 Joint Training Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Operations Integration Center (JTCOIC) Operations Cell director (whew!) in Hampton Roads. He is doing some counter-IED stuff. (Great; Stosh with explosives!) Stosh says that Hank has been through town a couple times and that they had some great sessions at the “Morris Bunker” over cigars, copious amounts of chow and good burbon. (No kidding, he misspelled bourbon! Thinking it must have been REALLY GOOD BURBON!). Stosh later writes to me, and writes, and writes (strap in) … “Just thought I’d pass some battle damage assessment (BDA) of last night’s events in Richmond held at “Code Orange.” Spotts did a great job of setting things up, although there was some initial confusion among attendees resulting from the female wait staff continually referring to him as “their daddy.” “Asa Page was gracious enough to give me a ride up and back to prevent me from being alone on the road or showing up in the wrong state, as is my habit as of late. It was a great time to talk about all of you when you were not around.” (I’ll send you his comments from the recording later and individually.) “Pedro Alvarez is, in fact, alive, not in the witness protection program, and arrives from an undisclosed location, doing undisclosed work for an unnamed employer en route to an undisclosed location. His temporary re-integration into society was only marred by his continual response
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to all questions with, ‘Senator, I have no clear recollection of any involvement with....’ This made it particularly difficult on the poor wait staff attempting to simply ask what he wanted to eat or drink. Spotts fortunately solved it for us all by allowing Pedro to speak through him as his lawyer and so derive protection for ‘plausible deniability,’ should the drink orders come back in some formal inquiry. To prove it was really Pedro, we had a group photo taken with Meade’s high speed Blackberry. There was a touchy spot there also when Meade could not figure out how to actually take and save a picture with his Blackberry ... His only defense being ‘Hey ... I have people who do that for me ...’ Brian Tollie showed up as the guest speaker and provided the most informative professional and personal development lecture the assembled had heard in some time on the tactics, techniques and procedures for ‘safe dating.’ For all, it was a fascinating combination of ‘cheating death meets Thanksgiving,’ as he regaled us with his experience on a blind date one Thanksgiving with a then-recent or soon-to-be-divorced Virginia belle named Lorena (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_
and_Lorena_Bobbitt) and how to avoid losing one’s giblets. We all agreed it was a fascinating addition to Lorena’s history, missing from Wikipedia, so we plan to collectively update that entry. Following many beers, many wings and a large dose of red meat (except for Brian who it seems had a flashback after his talk and would not allow any of the waitresses near him with a knife). Spotts, Tollie and I returned to ‘Shack Spotts’ where his loving wife had wisely secured the children in the main house and all stray farm animals in the barn. Pedro Alvarez produced a rather fine bottle of very old Cuban Rum he had obviously legally purchased from the store at his ‘Company.’ We spent the remainder of the evening (and well into the morning hours) consuming said libations as true Brother Rats who, once opened, could not allow Pedro to get back on the road to occupied northern Virginia, risking an ‘open container in vehicle’ arrest. We shared more than a few hand-rolled cigars. Initial disappointment that they were not rolled on the thighs of a virgin was replaced when I assured them they were rolled (at least in part) on the thighs of a BR. Throughout the evening, Pedro delighted us
The Heritage Captain’s Chair and
Heritage Boston Rocker Solid hardrock maple chairs and rockers bearing the VMI seal on the crown of the chair are now available. The seal is engraved by a laser, and your chair can be personalized under the seal with your name and class year. These chairs must be purchased directly from the manufacturer and are not available in Lexington through the Alumni Association. VMI Engraved Captains Chair .................. $350 PRICES VMI Engraved Boston Rocker ................... $350 Optional personalization per chair ............ $25 Shipping and handling per chair ............... $29 * * For Texas, Rocky Mountain States and West, add $10.00 per piece. To order by American Express, MasterCard or Visa, please call the manufacturer at 978/632-1301. Call weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. (eastern time). Credit card orders can also be sent by mail. Please include full account number and expiration date. To order by mail, write to The VMI Alumni Association, c/o Standard Chair of Gardner, 1 South Main Street, Gardner, MA 01440. Include check or money order, payable to “Standard Chair of Gardner.”
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