July and August will see forty-three birthdays.  Those born in 1923 will celebrate 92 years.  There are 5:
                   Clasgens, J.H. II   4th Co.
                   Forman, M.M.    15th Co.
                   Pickell, E.B.         3rd Co.
                   Riggs, G.W.         21st Co.
                   Robbins, K.M.    22nd Co.
Eight will reach 91, eighteen celebrate 90th birthdays and twelve will move on to 89.

As Betty and I experience the slow decrease of our radius of action we are impressed by those of you who still are “out and about.”  Nan Baughman will be flying to CA for a grand child’s high school graduation toward the end of May, will return to New Bern then, in about two weeks, will fly to Oregon for a granddaughter’s wedding.

John and Toni Fry leave Ginger Cove on June 20th driving to Hilton Head returning in late August.

Roger and Amante Carlquist are attending a reunion in Florida but this time Amante convinced Roger they should fly.

Chuck and Rhona Gorder may be the “travelingest” of the group.  An email from them recently said they would be in Annapolis for Fran and George Goodwin’s inurnment at the Columbarium.  They arrive on July 31st  and depart on August 3rd.  Recall that we have Chuck and Rhona to thank for a San Diego reunion and several Class cruises. 

Scribe’s note: I feel certain that many of you are traveling too, but you don’t tell me about it.

Occasionally a member of the Class will drop off my scope and be “gone”.  This was the case with Warren Ortland after Barbara passed away in 2011.  Finally an email from his stepson, John Morrissey, “found” him for me again.  After Barbara’s passing Warren moved to The Jefferson retirement community in Arlington.  He is still a big supporter of Navy football and the USNA Athletic Association, Admiral’s Row Member.  He recently received a Commendation from RADM Lynch designating him as a Trustee Emeritus for his 35 years in the US Naval Academy foundation.

Warren has no computer but his snail mail address is:
                             CAPT Warren Ortland
                             The Jefferson
                             900 N. Taylor St.
                             Rm 334
                             Arlington, VA  22203
His stepson says he, Warren, would enjoy hearing from Classmates.

I’m writing this during graduation week.  Of interest, at least to me, is that the Washington Post’s coverage was limited, as far as Betty and I could determine, to a photograph of the plebe’s climbing Herndon Monument and the standard picture of the Angles on their low pass over the stadium.  Oh well-- 

Graduation was on the 22nd but the awards ceremonies were done on the 21st and John Fry gave away our award.  I asked John for his comments and here they are:

Standing on the stage in Alumni Hall next to the Academic Dean at the 2015 Prizes and Awards Ceremony the day before graduation, I presented a check for $1,000 to gold star, first class Midshipman Aaron M. Fleming, from Newport Beach, California, graduating first in his class in information technology and winner of our annual Class of 1948 Information Technology Award, for which he expressed heartfelt appreciation to every one of us.

Present at the creation is a term from a different field at a different time, but years ago at a class luncheon at the Army-Navy Country Club our group discussed a further gift to the Naval Academy.  Jim Beggs rose from his chair, addressed his classmates, and wisely proposed an appropriate endowment advancing excellence in information technology at the Naval Academy.  We can be proud the foresight of his proposal and its subsequent implementation produced such positive results.

Since our own graduation, we have witnessed two transformational changes at the Academy: The majors program instituted by Jim Calvert and the inclusion of women.  We’re now on the brink of another transformational change involving the information technology and related communities.  At a National Security Agency trial earlier this year, Aaron Fleming and two of his colleagues won decisively over other U.S. military academies, and a NSA team, in defending the United States against concentrated cyber warfare attacks.  I’m told it was the flexibility of funds from our endowment, some directly to promising Midshipmen for independent research, that accounted for the Naval Academy’s superior performance in this novel, challenging competition.

The capstone of the Navy’s change now under consideration is a new Corps, like the Supply or Civil Engineering Corps, that would incorporate computer science, information technology, cyber warfare, and other related specialty and sub-specialty disciplines into a distinctly new organization.  The multiple new acronyms involved were all mysteries to me, but those are for next year.

Scribe’s note:  Remember that our endowment fund is #824800.  If you want your donation to go to our endowment put that number in the “for” line in the lower left corner of your check.

The following day, the 22nd, the Class of 2015 graduated.  Charlie and Marguerite Heid had a grandson in the class,  Evan Adam Wydra.  Charlie and Marguerite now have three family graduates, one granddaughter a helicopter pilot, one granddaughter now in nuclear power school in Charleston, S.C. and now a grandson.

Let’s back up to John Fry.  John, with the help of Ginger Cove staff, has been running the multiclass Homecomings now for several years and from personal experience Betty and I can say that they do a great job.  John says though that, like our Class luncheons, the attendance has been dropping and he hopes this year’s celebration on Friday, October 23rd will reverse that trend.  There will be Valet parking and printed name-tags for everyone at the entrance 5:00-5:30, an open bar with champagne, wine, cocktails, and appetizers in the Annapolis Room commencing at 5:30, dinner in Friendship Hall at 7:00, with a choice of filet mignon or broiled salmon, with wine, salad, vegetables, dessert, and five senior first class Midshipmen as our guests.  The cost remains at $45.

Rings…..Bob Rawlins recently contacted Bobbi Collins at the Academy about donating a ring.  In case others of you are thinking along those lines Bobbi replied that the only way to donate rings now is to be part of the 50 Year Another Link In The Chain (ALITC) and donate as part of the Bonds of Gold program.  Bobbi says they are currently working with the Class of 1967 and their link to the Class of 2017.  In the future they hope to be able to accept other class years into the program, but currently that is not possible.

Since the last issue I have learned of the passing of three Classmates and four wives:
          Classmates:
                   21st Co.  Corley, F.W. (Hank)  5/2/15 * #
                   23rd Co.  Fenn, R.W.               4/17/15 #
                   7th Co.     Matthew, W.M.        5/13/15 * #
* bio in the 50 year book   # bio in the 30 year book
          Wives:
Ahern, Rose   4/21/15    wife of Jim Ahern (deceased) 23rd Co.   Rose enjoyed being a Navy Wife for, among other things, it permitted her to live in many places like Princeton, Boston, Charleston, French Morocco, San Diego and Hawaii before settling in Arlington.  She liked golfing, swimming, the beach and the Army Navy Country Club.  She and Jim had two children both of whom predeceased both she and Jim.

Fogarty, Dorothy 5/16/15    wife of Frank Fogarty 14th Co.  Dorothy and Frank raised ten children and the children say “each child was her favorite and she was ours.  We will always remember her lemon meringue pie, her silliness, her songs, and her invaluable wisdom—If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

Lafferty, Betty  4/8/15  wife of Fred Lafferty 7th Co.  As an adolescent Betty worked after school and weekends at the Smithsonian Zoo, caring for animals.  She was awarded a scholarship at 16 to the prestigious Corcoran School of Art and Design in Washington, D.C.  She and Fred were married in November 1948 and had three daughters.  Betty taught her children to embrace new languages and cultures and cultivate a love of travel and literature.  A gracious hostess and glamorous woman, Betty loved people, and was known for kindness and generosity.  In 1981, Betty and Fred bought a ranch in Santa Rita, where she maintained a wildlife sanctuary.

Spry, Pat  5/1/15  wife of Warren Spry (deceased) 2nd Co.  After graduation from high school Pat attended business school then moved to Annapolis and worked until she and Warren were married in 1947.  She spent countless hours supporting those in need and facilitating the arrival of children born and displaced during the Vietnam War.  She and Warren raised three daughters.  She was a loving mother, exceptional friend and extraordinary caregiver.  Her quick wit, ability to adapt, and graciousness had a lasting effect on all those around her.

We shall miss each and every one of these but give thanks for the pleasure of having known them.

Scribe’s note:  I suspect that I am far behind most of you, but I have just finished a book titled The Admirals –Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King-The Five Star Admirals who won the War at Sea.  The author is Walter Borneman.  I found it to be a good read and if you haven’t sampled it yet take a look.

As I suspect most of you can relate, Betty and I get a huge number of phone calls seeking money so we have caller ID and an answering machine.  If the caller ID doesn’t show a name or number we recognize, we don’t answer.  If you call and we don’t answer please tell the answering machine who is calling and I will pick up.