CLASS NOTES I spoke with Jim McCoy recently while he and the family were on vacation in Colorado. He told me to make up some cool things that he could be doing, but I reserve that honor for those who choose not to respond to my request. He did tell me that he had the opportunity recently to get together with his brothers, Jason ’97 and Ken ’96. Glad to hear everyone is doing well. Also, for any of you on Facebook, we have seen the reemergence of Mike Richardson. I was beginning to think that the year I lived with him was a dream, and he was really a figment of my imagination. I heard of sightings not unlike the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot. Now I know he does truly exist, and he has been there all along hidden in the shadows, lost in cyberspace only to emerge now. I am planning a drive to Fredericksburg soon to enlist his help in creating a class database system to organize all the various data sent to me in bits and pieces. Glad to see you have not changed, Mike. I have the original Brother processor in case you need to publish any papers. I had the honor of attending Hernan Barrero’s retirement ceremony at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia. It was very impressive to hear the Marines in attendance speak such high praise of Hernan. Also in attendance were Brian Collins, Chris Gros, Dustin Devore and Nathan Rush. There was a party at Hernan’s following the retirement, but unfortunately, I had a prior engagement. I am sure a good time was had by all. I spoke with my co-dyke Pat O’Neil via Facebook the other day. He started O’Neil Engineering Service a few years ago, and the company is growing. He and Lauralee are looking forward to building a house in the Powhatan, Virginia, area starting in 2015. I also reached out to Easy Rider; he is back in Fredericksburg and working at U.S. Army
Class of 1995: Jeff Wright with baby daughter Elizabeth Anne, born Aug. 12, 2014.
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Intelligence and Security Command at Fort Belvoir. He informed me that he is a grandfather. I knew he has been acting like a crabby old geezer, but I didn’t know he actually was one. Jennifer and I had the pleasure of catching up with Chris and Penny Gros for dinner. We met in Fairfax Circle and had a great evening out. The food, company and conversation were nice, and believe it or not, we were well behaved. Mike Reymann sent a message out on Facebook that he was in Seattle, Washington, and writing screen plays. He let me know that he has two indie horror films in pre-production. Good luck and hope to see your name on the big screen. Khanh Nguyen and I also were reunited on FB, and he let me know that he and his family live in Centreville, Virginia, and he works at the Patent and Trademark Office. The furthest contact has to be from Nimit Suwannarat, who wrote from Bangkok, Thailand. Nimit is the deputy regimental commander of the 1st Field Artillery Regiment. I have also been following Nimit on FB, and it’s good to see that he and his family are doing well. When I first spoke to Doyle about taking over as your class agent, I had a thought of the first project that I wanted to take on. I wanted to make sure that our brother rats who have died had a brick to memorialize their names in front of barracks. Sam Gillespie and J.R. Teal both have bricks, and I wanted to provide the same for our other BRs who are now with us in heart and mind. I worked with some BRs, and I’m proud to say they answered the call without hesitation. Danny Felty donated a brick in memory of Hammond Story, and Andy Mulcunry donated a brick in the name of Phong Ha. Brett Wilkinson donated a brick in the name of Jake King, while Sean Lanier donated a brick to the memory of Noah Stoyko, and I donated a brick in the name of fellow F-trooper Dewayne Witt. I am in conversations with the Alumni Association and am told that the bricks should be in place before the fall reunion weekends. Many have asked about doing a mini reunion at the Citadel game with a cookout like we did at the five-year reunion. I would like to invite the families of our lost BRs to attend the cookout, as well. We have, and will remain to have, the tightest bonds of any class that has ever resided in barracks. I truly believe that we have solidified that claim through this gesture to make sure that every BR has the opportunity to be memorialized with a brick. Pat O’Neil sent the following: “Our brother rat, Jake King, died Feb. 14, 2013, with his wife, Brandi, by his side. Jake was a caring friend, husband and father who enjoyed spending time with his wife and four children; Lillian, Jacob, Claire and Virginia. Jake was a genuine person with a positive outlook on life. With his happy demeanor, Jake left a positive impression on all those around him. Jake was a good husband and father who is deeply missed by his family and friends.” Housekeeping notes, if you are on Facebook,
please stop by the page set up by Buzz Lucas: VMI Brother Rats, Class of ’94. This has been a good way for guys to reach out and pass info. I sent out a message that VMI found a limited number of old yearbooks that date back to the ’80s. If you are interested, please call Monika Dickens in the Commandant’s Office at (540) 464-7325. The books are $25 each with a $10 shipping fee, and they will only be available for a short time. Please take a minute to go onto the alumni website (www.vmialumni.org) and follow the link to the “Ranks.” Please register and update your information. This info would help me greatly to get info out to you as I get it. Also, please feel free to drop me an email at classagentvmi94@gmail.com to let me know any news or ask any questions. Last, I am asking for each of you to do one simple thing over the next few months. I’m asking each of you to consider donating something to VMI – even if it is just $10. Our class ranks one of the lowest in participation of any class since the ’70s; we had only 29 brother rats give to VMI last year. I do not wish to beat the drum and beg you for money at every turn, but each of us should be able to give something. Hell, give $1.00 and at least our class participation numbers will go up. I need to start getting a head count of who thinks they will be attending the Citadel game/mini ’94 reunion. I am planning on trying to do a cookout behind the stadium as we did for the five-year reunion. More details to follow. Always, Pig
Thomas A. Brashears
’95
Dan Williams
I’m writing these notes as matriculation for the Class of 2015+3 is nine days away. It really is hard to believe how fast time flies. Twenty-three years ago, we began our journey as a class with just a bit more than 400 students. The class entering this year will have more than 500 of our nation’s finest young men and women. It should be an exciting year on all fronts, especially since VMI celebrates its 175th birthday! I have heard from a few BRs over the last few months. Mike Paxton sent me a note that said he’s looking forward to and planning on being here for the 20th Reunion in April 2015. His quote to me was, “I didn’t mean to be all anti-social for the last decade, just keeping busy winning the War on
VMI ALUMNI REVIEW