CLASS NOTES media can be to keep up with everybody. As always, stay safe, be well and all the best to you and your families! 95, 95, 95!
’95
Thomas A. Brashears
As many of you may already know, I have chosen a new career path and now find myself here at VMI as the associate director of financial aid. I will still continue my duties as the public address announcer, and at least now, I won’t have to run up and down the highway from the D.C. area for each game. I encourage each of you to drop me a line or give me a call if and when you’re in town. Before getting into the regular updates, I wanted to pass along some information from the Alumni Association. The following is the text of an e-mail from Bob Heely ’69, president of the VMI Alumni Association, to all of the class agents: “Each of you received a letter authored by John Sollock ’08 making numerous allegations about issues at VMI. This letter is full of misinformation and, in some cases, outright false statements. It appears the letter was sent in an effort to further some unknown agenda. Gen. Peay ’62 will address the points outlined in this letter with the Alumni Association Board at its meeting September 1314. I will report to you, Gen. Peay’s comments, after the Alumni Association Board meeting. In the meantime, I ask each of you not to forward this letter to your Brother Rats. Let us get all the facts before jumping to any conclusions.” My sincere apologies to Jeff Wright as I failed to mention a very important recognition in our last notes … a hearty congratulations to him and his lovely bride on the birth of their child. Andrew Steven was born on December 31, 2012, just in time for the tax deduction! Jeff still works as a civil engineering manager for a consulting firm in the Philadelphia area and just finished completely renovating his house just in time for the new kid. Again, congrats, Jeff! Brian Kellner forwarded me an e-mail from Dave Johnson about donating to the Greg Wright Scholarship Fund: “You’re receiving this e-mail and form to offer you an opportunity to provide support to the VMI Greg R. Wright Scholarship Fund. No pressure, rather this is my attempt to broaden exposure to Greg’s fund managed by the VMI Foundation. (Enclosed find an EFT form to the VMI Foundation.) All you need to do is fill out this form, sign it and return it with a voided check. Place an asterisk behind the amount and somewhere below in the space write that you
2013-Issue 4
’96
Dan Williams
Class of 1995: The Bernard and Brashears families got together at the world famous Pancake Pantry in Nashville, Tennessee, for some great food and fellowship during summer 2013. want it to be credited to the Gregory R. Wright, Jr. 1995 Scholarship. That will ensure your money is allocated correctly.” Please send the donation to the attention of Tracy Akers at the VMI Foundation. The address is P.O. Box 932, Lexington, VA, 24450. Let’s get the word out and really build this fund up. I also want to recognize the many Brother Rats we have now in battalion command, and there are several, scattered around the world … Kendall Clarke, Buddy Meador, Andy Johnson, Larry Burris, Arie Richards and Shannon Lucas to name a few. I know Chris Wills is headed back to Fort Leonard Wood to assume battalion command sometime soon. If I missed you, let me know so you can be recognized. For all you Charlie Company guys, ran into Alex DeVarona ’93 in Nashville this summer. He just left battalion command and is now a regimental tac at West Point. I know Matt Reiner still shudders at the sound of his name … flashbacks from Cadre Week, I guess. Also, while in Nashville, Jill, our kids and I got together with Mike Bernard and his family. We enjoyed a great meal at the famous Pancake Pantry. The Bernards are doing well and looking forward to heading back to Haiti around Christmas for some mission work. I’ve had regular conversations with several BRs on Facebook recently including Jeff Godby, Benji Bird, Bradley Coleman, Bill Eger, John Brooks, Mike Johnson, Gary Bailey, Noel Gorospe, Joe Doyle, among others … what a great tool social
Peter Segersten
Hey, Brother Rats! I hope everyone is enjoying the summer with family, friends, and loved ones. Stephen Johnson checked in from San Diego. Stephen is currently the XO of the USN’s HSC23 wildcards and is a SH-60 pilot. Stephen says, “Kris and I are doing well out here in San Diego. Personally, I miss Lynchburg and being in Virginia, but I guess you can’t complain about San Diego, except the politicians and the fact that it is still in California. Patrick just started his year of second grade and has his first girlfriend. Elliot started K5 this year, and he seems to not like the fact he has some homework when he comes home (writing his name and practicing letters). Typical 4-year-old I suppose. Life at HSC-23 is good. We spent about two weeks at the beginning of July at Nellis AFB supporting a deploying SOF team with insert/extract and close air support platforms. It’s always fun flying up there, but knowing some of the guys may not be coming home from deployment this time next year always puts a little shadow over it. Looking forward to seeing you
Class of 1996: Sophia Belle Hoff was born at 6:19 p.m. on May 17, 2013, at the Loudoun INOVA Birthing Inn. She weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20 inches long at birth.
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