Let us begin this column with recognition of two people who have benefitted from our Class’ action.  The first is a letter to John Fry 21st Co.

Sir:
Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to present the Class of 1948 Information Technology Award to me.  As this year’s recipient of the award, I am humbled and truly grateful to have my hard work over the past four years recognized in such a distinguished manner.  I thank you and the rest of the great Class of 1948 for your continued support of this award.
                             Very respectfully,
                                      Aaron Fleming, ENS, USN

The second letter was sent to me:

Dear Captain Carruth and the USNA Class of 1948,

My name is Jessica Cozine, I’m from Tucson, AZ, and I was a recipient this year of one of very few United States Naval Academy Foundation scholarships.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and the Class of 1948 for your scholarship assistance and for giving me a second chance at fulfilling my dream of becoming a naval officer through the United States Naval Academy.

When I received the email informing me of this scholarship opportunity I was ecstatic.  I felt incredibly thankful to have the opportunity, that so little get, to go to the Naval Academy and become one of America’s future leaders.  Becoming a naval officer is everything to me.  I can’t thank you enough for your support.  I hope I can repay you by working hard and giving all I have to becoming a great Midshipman and future officer.

Once again, I cannot thank you enough for this opportunity and for your support.  I hope that you can continue helping young people like me in achieving our dream of attending the United States Naval Academy.  Thank you so much,  Go Navy Beat Army
                             Sincerely,
                               Jessica Cozine
                               USNA Class of 2019

Scribe’s note:  These young people have recognized the importance of correspondence/thank you notes/letters.  That is something we tried to teach our children and something I noted a serious lack of throughout my career, military and civilian.

The Class of ’48 scholarship fund was established in ’48, probably by Sumner Moore but in the name of the Class.  At that time an endowment fund could be established for $20K but today it costs $50K.  All the money was pooled and is invested.  The investments, in spite of the economy, have been successful enough to maintain all of the existing endowments and they run off of the income.  Money can be donated to that fund any time and will be credited to the Class of ’48 and will be acknowledged by the Foundation in it’s end of year report every year.  Since 1978 we have had 31 sponsored scholars, one every year since 2006.  Jessica is now our current scholar.

Craig Olson 15th Co. has been having some health problems characteristic of our age, balance, locomotion etc and has been working diligently to improve the situation.  I’ve been particularly impressed by his use of the YMCA.  “I have been making considerable progress in regaining my physical strength and manage all the daily functions.  I no longer have 24 hour care prescribed and will not have any in house care in the future.  I am shifting from a “walker” to a prong cane for outdoor walking .  I am not driving my car; it is in need of repair.  My goal is to have my car repaired and to be walking and fully capable of driving by 1 Sept.  I went to New York to visit my daughter and we saw NY City Ballet perform La Sylphide ballet.  They did an excellent job.  I have excellent support from my family and my cardiologist, pharmacologist, and the wound clinic at Walter Reed/Bethesda.  They are very efficient and cooperative”.

Scribe’s note:  good show Craig.  It has been a long haul.

Dale Carlson 2nd Co. asked me for info. on H.A. Smith 2nd Co. then told me that his brother-in-law in Idaho had a couple of V-Beach friends call on Hal.  “He is alive and on oxygen.  I have yet to try to make personal contact but then I am slow.  Iva and I still live in our home.  She has Alzheimer’s and has caregivers here every day.  I am “vertical” each day but do not do much.”

Scribe’s note:  Dale, at our age sometimes being vertical is an accomplishment.

Last column I gave you a heads up on the homecoming banquet master minded by John Fry.  I then thought you might like some info on our stadium area and the food et al.  I have many pictures of Classmates at those gatherings where there were more than a hundred of us.  Roger Carlquist takes care of this effort now and his response to my question was, “I’ve just followed the procedures Dudley Holstein set up years ago.  Dudley had arranged for 1948 to get a stadium perimeter parking area many years ago.  After his passing, I just did the things he had done with very little effort required.

In 2006, the Naval Academy Athletic Association informed all area holders that many younger classes did not have perimeter area parking privileges and asked if we would consider letting someone join us.  Nobody registered objections so I answered in the affirmative.  Someone from 1988 contacted me and asked if we were still willing to have someone join us.  I pointed out to him that there were only seven parking spaces in the area and it would probably be another year or so before they could get one, other than to unload and load stuff and that was fine with them.  This will be the seventh year for them and it has worked out as was expected.  We are down to four hardy couples; each has paid $100 to park in the stadium plus an additional  $50 for a colored pass. Neither Carlquist, Duncan, Flood nor Smith is particularly interested in schlepping in a grill each weekend.  Class of ’88 takes care of that and we bring selected dishes to set up on their table.  We just bring chairs.  The two Classes split the expenses.  Our area number is 53.”

Since the last column we have said goodbye to four Classmates and one wife.
          Classmates:
                   2nd Co.  Alt, Walt               7/18/15  * #
                   10th Co. Dodd, W.S. Jr.      6/27/15
                   5th Co.   Klinefelter, J.W.    7/14/15
                   4th Co.   Marsh, M.D.        7/18/15 *
*Bio. in 50 year book, # Bio. 30 year book

Wife:
          Cornelia Key (wife of Harry Key 9th Co.)  7/10/15.  Cornelia graduated from Wheaton College in Massachusetts with a B.A. in Art History.  She moved to New York, worked for WJ. Sloane department store, met and married Newton Key  9th Co. in 1951.  They traveled to many duty stations including a tour as naval attaché in London.  They raised one son.  After Newton’s retirement they built a house in Lampasas, TX overlooking the Lampasas River.  Cornelia was very active in community work and the Presbyterian Church where she served as a deacon and elder.

Fred Jackson 18th Co. has sent me an excellent biography.  It is too long for a column so I’m picking out pieces which appeal to me.  Hope you approve of my choices Fred and Fran.  I’ve told you before about Fred not getting his high school diploma until after he graduated from USNA. Fred had a military career as an EDO then as a civilian working for the Navy, GE then Navy again building VLF and ELF antennae.  When he and Fran decided to have a family they found there were medical reasons they could not.  “A friend then stationed in Viet Nam suggested we adopt two of the many Vietnamese children needing homes so we did, a 1 ½ year old Vietnamese girl from an orphanage, who could not crawl when she arrived, we named Jennifer, and a little 15 month old Vietnamese-American boy we named Christopher.  They are now 44 and 42.  Hardly seems possible.”   Fred and Fran’s main activities involve the church, the Eastern Star and the Masons.  They both have spent years as secretaries.  Fred is just finishing up 18 years as secretary/treasurer of the local York Rite Masons and is retiring this summer.  They now live in Hamilton, MT.  Fred says, “Our health is not bad and life is good.  We have rooms for guests and would welcome seeing any classmates.  We live 50 miles south of Missoula.”

Scribe’s note:  Two of our grandchildren are adopted, one from Peru, the other from Bolivia.  One of Nan Baughman’s grandchildren is adopted from, if my memory serves me correctly, Korea. Craig Olson has two granddaughters from Russsia.  I wonder how many other adopted children, either foreign or local, are part of our Class family.

Let’s close with an old sea story.  Talking to Warren Graham 2nd Co. the other day and he remembered an experience on mid’n cruise.  The ship was in London and Warren, Tony Duncan 4th Co. and H.C. Hamilton (deceased) 9th Co., in uniform of course, were walking down the street when a Paddy Wagon pulled up and they were told to get in.  There were other mid’n in the Wagon already.  They were driven to Buckingham Palace and had tea with the Queen.   Would that be called a command performance?