CLASS NOTES need a stiff drink; take a couple … I sure did. Actually, we really shouldn’t be that surprised; after all, man walked on the moon 40 years ago, and Glenn Newcomb became a missionary. However, this monumental news is still in the category of “John Hart is a Dallas Cowboys fan” or “I heard from Louis Rucker” or “Marc Moquin quit drinking” or “Gordon McKinley has gone back to graduate school” or “Jim Agostini voted the straight Democrat ticket” … you get the picture. I think I speak for all of us in saying that we can’t wait to meet Mrs. Gitchell and get to know the lady who pulled off this feat. Congratulations to the bride and groom. Whew, after just writing about it, I think I could use another drink. I got the news second-hand from Scott Wagner, just as we were settling in to an afternoon dove hunt which we enjoyed with BRs Wayne Fuller and Tim Spivey. Speaking of deployments and harrowing circumstances, our favorite son of Africa – Michael Laban – checked in with his usual colorful update. BR Laban reports that he is back at home after spending most of this year (2009) so far on contract in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). I will apologize for the lengthy quote, but Michael’s description in his own words is better than any paraphrasing I might feebly do. BR Laban writes, “The DRC is the worst place I have ever been to in the world. It was more fun being shot at in Iraq. We spent the first two months waiting to get vehicles, which were driven down from Sudan, across the Rwandan border into the DRC. And it was all bureaucracy. We were in Bukavu, and Rwanda was 4 km away; I ran there for exercise. When the vehicles arrived, we set off. Three teams to do Katanga Province. My team had the most south bit, all along the Zambian border. 3500 km, three months, saw 16 head of cattle, two UXO, no mine fields and sheer corruption on a scale not experienced before. David Livingstone died some 150 km across in Zambia, and the place has not changed since he was there, except all the wildlife is dead. Working through Mozambique and even Somalia, you could see the roads and railways destroyed in the conflict, the power and telephone lines blown down, the ruined buildings. But not the DRC. They never had anything in the first place. But it is a very wealthy place. Wealth, as in having resources. The resource curse. They spend so much time fighting for control of the resources that no one actually developed them. No one dares to ‘build’ anything, as the next regime – whoever arrives with raw physical power – will just take it. So, you can see the mineral wealth is there, but even more so, the land is there, with good soil and lots of surface water (just amazed us Zimbabweans that there
2010-Issue 1
was so much surface water in the middle of the dry season) but no crops in the ground, not even fields waiting to be planted. Only 16 head of cattle (and they were all on the Zambian border) and people using chickens as bride price. So, it is good to be home (which still has massive problems and a serious tyrant who will not hear people say he is a loser and must go), and I am not working (did I ever?) but have enough to not worry about that for ... a few more days ….” I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am always in awe and mesmerized by the updates from our BR Laban. Godspeed, Michael, and keep making us proud, Brother Rat. Well, it may not be the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but BR Tom McCarthy doesn’t consider his current duty station as a garden spot. Tom is still in the Army, presently at Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX. Despite the name – Fort Bliss – Tom assures us it is not. BR McCarthy is planning on two more years in the Big Green Machine until he retires. Who, in their wildest dreams, would ever have imagined in 1986 that we’d even be having a discussion about Tom McCarthy’s 20+ year Army career??? If you’d written that into a screenplay, no one would have believed it. Nevertheless, God Bless you for your service, Tom. In the “that’s no surprise department,” Jake Spivey ’85 kindly passed on a blurb from Lacrosse Magazine about a young lax player from Memphis, TN, named Blake Lively. In his profile, young Mr. Lively noted his role model as his coach – Steve Anderson – a former VMI player. We shall expect great thing from this lad, not the least of which will be no lying, cheating, stealing or tolerating those who do. Thanks for representing us well and letting the Institute be heard from in west TN, Steve. BR Anderson will be pleased to know that his former roommate, Pat Farrell, is likewise still talking the talk and walking the walk. In late October, the Richmond Times Dispatch did a feature article on our boy, Boxhead, delivering a lecture about ethics in business and in life to students at Deep Run High School in Henrico County. The article quoted BR Farrell, citing the VMI Honor System and how it is a good blueprint for personal conduct. Pat appeared on behalf of the Junior Achievement program that encourages business executives to share their experiences with impressionable students. I will not use this forum to discuss the potential shortcomings of the Junior Achievement selection process. Just kidding, of course, but I didn’t want BR Farrell to get a case of the big-head. Oops …. And speaking of the Spivey brothers, our favorite Spivey – that is Spivey, TAW – is now the commander of the Chesterfield Police SWAT team. Can we agree that, to be a SWAT team member or commander and be willing to
bust through the door into who knows what, must take a special kind of nut? I mean, someone who is about half-cocked anyway? Then, I believe we can all agree that when the Chesterfield folks chose our BR Spivey, they picked the right guy, didn’t they? Within a month or so of his appointment, the Richmond paper reported an incident with a stand-off with some bad guy, and the Goat and his boys went in to get him. Final tally was one bad guy assuming room temperature. To which BR Spivey commented “pointing a gun at a police officer is a bad thing to do.” I don’t know about y’all, but I’m just glad he’s on our side. On another note, when he is not corralling bad guys and shooting up the place, Tim has been certified as a Division III lacrosse referee. Hopefully, his worlds will never commingle when some kid points a lacrosse stick at him. Speaking of lacrosse players, I’ve made mention before of young Tyler McCullough – son of our favorite townie state trooper wanna be – Todd McCullough. Just to refresh the memories of you old geezers, Tyler was deemed as a “potential walk-on candidate” for VMI, so he decided to heed Horace Greeley’s advice and “go west, young man.” Tyler accepted a full lacrosse scholarship to the U.S. Air Force Academy (he’s a third classman this year) and made their lacrosse travel squad as a freshman. That’s not bad for a “potential walk-on” caliber player, is it? Before we leave the service academies altogether, a quick check of the U.S. Naval Academy football roster lists “Brye French” as a freshman linebacker. Brye is, of course, the son of our own Jon French. Well done to these outstanding young men and the old codgers who sired them; at least, we think they did. And on that note, I’ll bring this edition to a close. Here’s a few names, just to see if they’re reading these notes. Where, oh where in the world are … Rich Weede … John Rapacki … Glen Ralston … Henry Ingram … Tom Kardos … Mike Davis … Al Miller? Take care, BRs, and keep in touch.
’87
Ernie Edgar
Brother Rats, as I write this for submission to the Alumni Review, the past week marked Founders Day and the Institute’s 170th birthday. And we thought we were old! Well, with two sons of ’87 in this fall’s matriculating class, maybe we are. And no, I’m not kidding. The award for first kids into the Corps (at least as far as I know – if there are/were any others, please let me know!) goes to Mike Dawson and Denis Kiely. Mike
121