CLASS NOTES seen since we were roommates in Southern Shores, NC, over the summer following graduation. (Holy shnikee, we are getting old fast as nuts!) Jon updates that he “just re-married on Oct. 3rd to the lovely Justyn Haskell (Manley). I inherited her two children, Shanelle (15) and Blake (12). I have a 13-year-old son, Grant, who has been living with me for the past several years. We all reside in Park City, UT, where I work in the medical device business for Medtronic. I also just recently reconnected with Todd Washington and Billy Waters, who also work for the same company. I’ve attached a couple of pictures from our small wedding on the beach in San Diego.” Mike Kirkmire reports: “The kids are in a new school this year, and their activities are keeping us busy. We’ve been converted to BSU football fans (many of our friends graduated from there) and have traveled far and wide to see them (including the 2007 Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma).” Mike Starling writes: “Neil Hennigan and I completed the Marine Corps Marathon Oct. 25th in Washington, DC. Neil hustled a 3:15 and I, a 4:46 (I was on rugby run time). Great linking up with him and my younger brother, who lives there. Looks like I’m going to depart my current post as operations officer for Special Operations Training Group to be the executive officer for the 26 Marine Expeditionary Unit both at Camp Lejeune (so, no move) sometime this spring with a deployment later this year by amphibious ships and likely Central Command AOR.” Lt. Col. Jon Lester e-mailed Andy that after leaving his civilian job in February, he “promptly volunteered for involuntary activation here at MarForCom. Got 18-month orders and am
Class of 1992: Todd Washington, left, and Jeff Zeigler enjoying a round of golf during the Texas vs. Colorado football weekend that Zig hosted.
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here till 30 Sept. 2010 as the Mission Assurance officer. I was in CLNC back in the spring … UniBrow [James Cherry] is here in the ROPP with us, and Rob Ritchie is a CTR with MFN down in NO.” I’ve re-connected with David Bradley through Facebook, and he lost no interest in big bikes. As to his photo submission, “Dave of Thunder” explains: “This is me and Capt. Josh Powers ’04. He is the company commander for A Co. 3-187 Fort Campbell, an infantry rifle company in the 101st Division. I did a motorcycle ride to raise combat money for his company back in July. If you join my group or befriend Pancakes Alpharetta [on Facebook], you can see more photos from this event.” Thanks for all the feedback, Brother Rats. Please make note of my new e-mail address (rvalaw@gmail.com), and keep the updates rolling in. Best regards … Adam
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Bill Cox
Hard to believe … by the time you guys read this, Thanksgiving and Christmas will have come and gone, and we will be well into 2010. As always, I hope these notes find everyone in good company, health and humor. First, my standard housekeeping blurb about pictures. Currently, each class is allotted space for five pictures, unless it is their reunion. They must be 300 DPI quality or better and should be maximized in size (height and width), so that they can be published. I do send all the pictures I have to VMI and “extra” pictures can be found online. Go to www.vmi. edu, then to Alumni Agencies and look for the Alumni Review. There is a link for additional photographs. And now, my standard plea for updated contact information: the last e-mail I sent out had tons of invalid addresses. Also, almost every day, I get something back from the USPS for an incorrect address. If you can’t update your information online, send it to me directly, and I will pass it on to the I. And now, onto the news: Starting with local news, the Lynchburg chapter continues to sponsor a lot of events in the area. One of the recent ones on Aug. 18th was the annual Rat Send-off. I ran into Andy Joyner, Mitch Copenhaver, Tray Petty, Tom Kent and Paul Meadows there. Everyone is doing well. There were over 100 alumni at the function, and it was a grand occasion, as usual. Tray Petty is still working for Giles & Moore and traveling everywhere. Mitch Copenhaver is in real estate and said he is still fairing well, although, like the rest of us, he is hoping for an economic upturn in the very new future. Tom Kent is with Buffalo Air as
a senior engineer, and Paul Meadows continues to do well with his own IT company. Meadows was trying to pawn off some tickets to the Bristol race; that guy has an angle on everything. I had a long talk with Brian Adams while I was looking for a new job. He is a recruiter with Tyges International out of Williamsburg. BA handles placement around the world in manufacturing; I recommend checking out their Website at www.tyges. com. BA spent seven or eight years with Northrup Grumman before signing on with Tyges. He sounded well and successful. Scott Coleman dropped me note from Texas, where he is a NASA contractor and has been since 1998. Hard to believe – a real rocket scientist like Coleman emerged from our class. Craig Eubank passed along a great article about a company of his brother’s men seizing a cache of weapons in east Central Afghanistan. His brother is the battalion commander, Special Forces battalion, 82nd Airborne. This fact just served to remind that we are all impacted by the war(s) on so many levels. It also reminded me how stressful life was when my own brother (Ned ’89) was serving overseas in Afghanistan. I think of our men and women in uniform each day and of all those whose lives are changed because of their service. Thanks, again, to all serving; I am proud to know you guys. Sills O’Keefe took time out of a busy, and I mean busy, schedule to say hi via e-mail. Sills is getting married. So, needless to say, he is about to experience some major changes in his life. Congrats, Sills. Tom Michalow sent me an update on his political campaign and recent election. He lost the election but only by 10%. For someone new to the arena, I think it was a great showing. As Tom said, he crushed his opponent where he was known but didn’t have great enough name recognition in the larger area to carry the election. Tom is considering running again in four years. I say, go get ’em, Tom. You made us proud with your showing. Lincoln Swineford touched based from Richmond. He had just completed running the Richmond Half Marathon. While Lincoln was running, I was eating donuts and watching Spongebob with my daughter. I felt lazy for a second but then got another cup of coffee and felt much better. Lincoln saw Casey Cox who was also running in the marathon, but Casey was running the other way, and they didn’t get a chance to speak. Lincoln got together with Darin Ramsey, Don Spears, Weeda, Rusty Smith and Kevin Morris for drinks in Richmond, as well. I bet that turned out to be an interesting evening. I have talked some to Rusty Smith, and we are getting together in Richmond in February at the Sons of the Revolution dinner and having a big time. Lincoln talks to Cameron Briody every now and again and says Cameron is doing well in Key West. Lincoln also said his wife, April, and three girls are all doing well. Keith McGee sent a great update, which I
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