FAHS Military Service Alumni


Happy Monday -- checking to see if you can add another tab on the website of Classmates that have served their Country. I started this a well back and have several responses if you want to take this project on. Bobbie thought it was a good idea and would like to add it to the website. Maybe others who served will chime in once it's out there. ... Take care my friend and appreciate all your doing on this website. Love everything on it. Jimmy =================== From: Torres, Pedro CTR USTRANSCOM J6 Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:27 PM Subject: FAHS Military Service Alumni Alumni Service Buddies I'm working on a new TAB for the FAHS website (Service Veterans) that will be about alumni's that have serve our Country. I know that this will be taking some of you back a ways but it will add a little spice to the site. Being BRATs was an AWESOME adventure but serving our Country like our parents is even better. Hopefully, I'm not asking too much from you but would appreciate the following inputs (see my example below). If the information below is too much just provide me with Name/Rank/Service/Years Served BTW, if you know of other alumni's not listed could you please forward this email to them as well. I will take all the inputs and forward them to Carl our Webbie when I get enough inputs. Give me your thoughts if you like too. Take care and God Bless You and Your Family Jimmy - Class Rep - 1971 P.S. Bobbie is looking for some good results to come from this too -- 8^) ======================================================== Name/Rank/Service/Years Spent to include Timeframe/Duty Stations w/Years -- if you can remember ! ! Example:
		P.J. "Jimmy" Torres/MSgt (E-7)/USAF Retired/24 yrs - 1972-1996 - Patrick AFB FL 1972-1975 - Misawa AB Japan 1975-1976 - Maxwell AFB AL 1976-1980 - Goodfellow AFB TX 1980-1984 - Randolph AFB TX 1984-1988 - Hickam AFB HI 1988-1992 - Scott AFB IL - 1992-1996 (Retired) Short paragraph on what you're doing now: Working as a Government contractor since retirement (1997), for an IT Company at Scott AFB (Belleville). Don't know when I will retire but if my sons decide to live with us forever, I might be working until I'm 100 years old. LOL ! !

David L. Teska, Captain (O6), USCGR - Class of ‘82 U.S. Army Reserve (TX, MA), 1984-‘87 Maryland Army National Guard, 1984-‘90 Left the National Guard and entered the Coast Guard through OCS in 1990, on active duty 1990-‘95 Coast Guard Group Seattle, 1990-‘93 Coast Guard Caribbean Squadron, Miami, 1993-‘94 Coast Guard Pay & Personnel Center, Topeka, 1994-‘95 Went Reserve in 1995 Marine Safety Office St. Louis, 1998-‘02 8th Coast Guard District, New Orleans, 2002-‘04 U.S. Transportation Command, Scott AFB, IL, 2004-‘08 8th Coast Guard District, 2008-‘10 Coast Guard Sector San Diego, 2010-‘12 Coast Guard Headquarters liaison to Joint Staff/J4, 2012-Present Have lived in eastern Kansas since 1994 and work for FEMA in Kansas City, MO. David L. Teska FAHS, 1979-’81 (we moved that summer, graduated from Lakenheath HS in ’82)		Army ROTC Basic Camp at Ft. Knox, KY, Summer 1982
Aboard a LA National Guard UH-60 for oil spill over flight during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, June 2010
At Sector San Diego, June 2012 (click to enlarge)


LTC Cliff Crawford '80 - Bronze Star Blog on Facebook
hanks to all my beloved friends for their continued support....btw....my boss (the Vice Admiral in the pick) is the ranking U.S. Navy Seal in theater......we were busy as heck but having 'fun' the last several months..... :0) 5/11/11 Cliff Crawford


		Mark Stinson '66 Quit college (Texas A&M, Architect Major and in the Corps senior ROTC). Dad had WWII and Korea, so I had to have Nam. I thought the war would end before graduation so I left school and enlisted, Jan 28, 1968. Was taken by Special Forces while in route to OCS. After jump school attended the SF Course Ft Bragg. Assigned to 5th Special Forces Group RVN. Spent my year in the 4CTZ Mobile Strike Force. Attended University of Texas upon my return graduating May 1974. The attached photo was taken when I was with the 12th Group Reserve, ODA-1256. Mark 66

'Yearbook photo during second year at Texas A&M prior to leaving to enlist		'Taken after two weeks in the field on a 35 day operation to find, fix and destroy NVA Base Camps. I had joint command with SSG Greg Skoglund of a Cambodian Rifle Company of 112. I was deployed from A-401 on four 30 to 35 day operations.'
an interesting observation; the two photos are 2 years apart and how much I aged in the two years.

This one is for my Dad. Dad served in the CBI (China Burma India) during WWII with OSS Det 101 team name Antelope he is pictured here with members of the team .At the time he was a 1st LT but after the war he was rifted back to MSG E-7 and retired CSM, no college. When he joined the Army in 1936 he was in a mounted infantry unit and spent 3 years on horseback, he would joke about being in a CAV unit, no, not MECH, with horses. - Mark Stinson '66 See more Parents		Dad is the American on the front row'


John T. Harden / Sgt. USMC 1970 - 1974 & 1975 -1977 (FAHS 70) Kilo Battery, 4th Battion, 11th Marines 29 Palms - 1971 Co. "A" Marine Security Battalion American Consulate - Frankfurt, Germany - 1972 American Embassy - Prague, Czechoslovakia - 1973 American Embassy - Lisbon, Portugal - 1974 MAG 16, MABS 16 Helicopter Station Santa Ana, CA - 1975-1976 FST Com School Camp Pendleton, CA - 1976 - 1977 I was on duty at the Consulate in Frankfurt the night the Baader-Meinhof terrorists set the bombs off up the street at the I.G. Farben building.		29 Palms in '71

Taking 3rd Place at the Regionals. I only had one match which I lost to the 1st Place finisher but because of the bye system I still managed to pick up a 3rd place. The only reason I even wrestled there was because Art Burroughs couldn't make weight and ended up wrestling one division up.		Marine Corps Birthday in Prague from 1973.
Michael “Mike” Eshleman/Captain/(O-3)/USAF Retired/ Sep 72 – Nov 92 Class of 68 Lackland AFB, TX 72 – 75 Cold Bay AFS, AK 75 – 76 Bergstrom AFB, TX 76 – 79 Sembach AB, Germany 79 – 82 Offutt AFB, NE 82 – 85 Lackland AFB, TX 85 – 92 Worked at USAA 93 – 01 as Life Insurance Agent and Financial Planner; CLU, ChFC, and ACS. Retired in 2001. Do Substitute Teaching for two high schools in San Antonio when I want to.

Hi Bruce. I just noticed the military service page. Stuart J Knowlton (Class of 68) CPT (O3) US Army 68-69 Basic Training Ft. Bliss TX 69-69 AIT Ft. Gordon, GA (MP) 69-69 OCS Ft. Sill OK (Field Artillery) 69-70 Defense Language Institute, Anacostia Naval Station, Wash D.C. 70-73 TASCOM Furth, Germany 73-75 1st Infantry Division, DIVARTY, 3/6 FA Ft Riley, KS Been involved in electronics since then, currently working in San Marcos, TX, primary products are medical electronics

Hi PJ, My brother, Anthony Brown, FAHS class of '71, forwarded to me a copy of Mike Calloway's e-mail pursuant to which he forwarded to Anthony a copy of your Oct. 16th e-mail requesting info. I am FAHS class of '73, although we rotated back Stateside before I graduated from FAHS. Nonetheless, here's my info (in the form suggested by your e-mail): Frederick Brown/Spec 5 (E-5)/US Army/3 Years 1975-78 Neu-Ulm, Germany 1975-78 Used GI Bill to attend Univ. of Cal - Berkeley for undergraduate degree (Political Science, Suma Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa - 1981); Yale Law School for law degree (JD -1985). Private practice, Irell & Manella, Los Angeles, CA 1985-87 VP, Business & Legal Affairs, Warner Bros. Records Inc., Burbank, CA 1987-1998 Sr. VP, Business & Legal Affairs, MGM Studios, Santa Monica, CA 2000-2003 Currently solo practioner handling entertainment-industry business and legal transactional work, with an emphasis in music, specializing in music for motion pictures. My thanks for undertaking a generally thankless job. Good luck, and God bless. Best regards, Fred Frederick W. Brown, Esq. A Professional Law Corporation P.O. Box 573417 Tarzana, CA 91357-3417 Tel: (818) 708-8288 Fax: (818) 708-8388


David D. Clayton/YNCS (SS/SW/AC/PJ) (E-8)/21 years/1968-1989 Naval Schools Command, Newport, RI - 1968-1969 Vietnam (Project Phoenix)/Cambodia & Laos - 1969-1971 COMCRUDESLANT, Newport, RI - 1971- 1974 CINCLANTFLT/SACLANT (NATO), Norfolk, VA - 1974-1977 COMSECONDFLT/CJTF 122/STRIKFLTLANT (NATO), Norfolk, VA - 1977-1979 National Security Council, Washington, DC - 1979-1981 USS DANIEL WEBSTER (SSBN 626), Site One, Holy Loch, Scotland - 1981-1984 COMSUBGRU TWO, Groton, CT- 1984-1989 (Retired) Entered Municipal Government (1990), Town Clerk West Warwick, RI. Director of Elections for the State of Rhode Island (1992-1994). Town Clerk for the Town of West Warwick (1994-Present) (Retiring January, 2008). Two careers down, working on number three - What a country!! David D. Clayton 7 day dormie - 64-67' D. D. Clayton David D. Clayton, CMC Town Clerk West Warwick, RI 02893 T: 401.822.9201 Fax: 401.822.9266 dclayton@westwarwickri.org

Jimmy...sorry for the delay, dude! Michael D. Doane OSC(SW) E7 USN 22 years 10/75 - 1/76 RTC San Diego 1/76 - 4/76 OS "A" School 5/76 - 10/79 USS Edward McDonnell (FF1043) 11/79 - 11/81 NSGA GTMO 11/81 - 3/82 AIC SCH 3/82 - 11/83 JARCC GTMO 1/84 - 11/87 JARCC KEY WEST 12/87 - 4/90 USS CORAL SEA (CV43) 4/90 - 1/92 USS FORRESTAL (CV59) 1/92 - 3/94 TACRON 22 LCREEK, VA 4/94 - 10/97 FCTCLANT, DNECK, VA RETIRED Miss the camaraderie and travel but that's about it....

Hi, Here goes: Paula Maloney/Major/USAF/1988 to present Wright Patterson AFB, OH 1988-1994 University Of Colorado, Denver 1994-1996 Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, NV 1996-1999 Elmendorf AF, Anchorage, AK 1999-2003 McChord AFB, Tacoma, WA 2003-2005 Kadena AFB, Okinawa, Japan 2005 to present Working as a Flight Commander of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the US Naval Hospital and occasionally at Kadena AFB as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, seeing kids in clinic. Will retire this summer. Will be interested in seeing who else was active duty. Take care, Paula

OK, Jimmy, here's me: Archer L. ("Buddy") Lerch III Only in USAF less than four years, Feb. 1972-Dec. 1975, Air Force Early Out due to Reduction in Force (RIF). Left as an E-4 "Buck Sergeant" Air Force Basic Training Lackland AFB, TX Feb.-April 1972 Defense Information School DINFOS (multi-services tech school), Ft. Benjamin Harrison, IN April-June 1972 Reese AFB, TX (USAF Pilot Training) Information Division June 1972-Dec. 1975 (served as tour guide, public news release writer and broadcaster and assistant editor/editor of base newspaper "The Roundup") Early retired now, living with and caring for my aging father, Archer L. Lerch (a US Army colonel, West Point '44), son of US Army Major General Archer L. Lerch Sr (also a West Point graduate, the US Provost Marshall General in 1945 and US Military Governor of South Korea from 1946-7). My mother, Margaret Elizabeth James Lerch, was the daughter of a US Army colonel, Vinton Lee James. I have military heritage in my background. Good luck, Jimmy! -- Buddy Lerch


Hey Jimmy ... I forwarded our email to Fred Weems('70) and Tony(now Dr Anthony) Brown('71) who both have military service. Tony actually served in Heidelberg under my CO from the Army Band who was also a biz partner in the tour business after we retired. I will try to piece something together on myself over the weekend. GREAT IDEA BY THE WAY! YIPIKIYA Mike Fred Weems, class of 1970, Lt Col, Air Force, 21 years, 75-96. National Merit Scholarship, U of Arkansas, 1 yr Air Force Academy, graduated in 1975 with a BS in Astronautical Engineering Pilot training at Craig AFB, Alabama, T-37 instructor at Craig till it closed, then at Sheppard AFB, Texas til end of 79. Dogfight school, then various F-111 models (A, E, EF) til 85, left active duty as a captain. A year in Missouri Air Guard flying C-130A while hiring on to TWA as a newhire engineer Ten years with the AF Reserves with the A-10 unit at RG then Whiteman AFB, MO. Retired eventually as a Lt Col. 21 years in the AF, all flying, never wrote an evaluation on another officer, narrowly managed to avoid courts marshall on a number of occasions, flew combat in the middle east, Bosnia, and tried to start wars with both North Korea and the Soviet Union. Transitioned to American Airlines when they bought out TWA. Presently a captain on the 757. Went to law school at Mizzou just prior to leaving AF. Now has own law firm called Fly By Night Legal Services (really!) Presently attending classes with wife at Missouri Western State U pursuing a BA in music with a minor in film making. Married for 32 years to Deborah Weems, MD, an ER physician and devastatingly cute little girl. Owns a notorious mansion in St Joseph, MO > Subject: FAHS Military Service Alumni > Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 12:26:55 -0500 > From: Pedro.Torres.ctr@ustranscom.mil

Jimmy, Here is my military bio: Ralph (Ramjet) Blessing/CPO (E-7)/USN/21 yrs - 1973-1994 - DLIWC Monterrey 1974-1975 - Homestead AFB 1975-1976 - Rota, Spain 1976-1981 - Galeta Island, Panama 1981-1984 - Goodfellow AFB TX 1984-1986 - Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territories 1986-1987 - Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico 1987-1990 - Homestead AFB 1990-1992 - Galeta Island, Panama 1992-1994 (Retired) Short paragraph on what you're doing now: Corporate Safety Director for a Mechanical Contractor with offices in Atlanta, GA., Charlotte, NC., Chattanooga, TN., and Spartanburg. SC. Also Adjunct Professor for Construction Safety at Southern Polytechnic State University and on-line Adjunct Professor for Safety Supervisor/Program Management Safety at Columbia Southern University.


Bruce Graham (from Where I've Been, Dec 28, 2001, 67-71ahoo Group)
1949-1953 - Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 1953-1956 - RAF Burtonwood, United Kingdom 1956-1963 - Eglin AFB, FL 1963-1966 - Darmstadt, GE 1966-1967 - Barksdale AFB, LA 1967-1967 - Basic Training Lackland AFB, TX 1967-1968 - Technical School - Keesler AFB, MS 1968-1970 - McCoy AFB, FL 2 6 month ARC LITE deployments to Kadena AB, and Anderson AB 1970-1971 - Wright Patterson AFB, OH 1971-1972 - DaNang AB, RVN 1972-1972 - Richmond Hights AS, FL 1972-1973 - Phu Cat, RVN 1973-1975 - Instructor Duties - Keesler AB, MS 1975-1978 - MTI Duties - Lowry AFB, CO 1978-1980 - Patch Barracks, Stuttgart GE 1980-1981 - RAF Woodbridge, United Kingdom 1981-1985 - Ramstein AB, GE 1985-1986 - Ellsworth AFB, SD 1986-1989 - Hellenikon AB, Greece 1989-1991 - Bolling AFB, DC 1990-1992 - Pentagon 1992-1993 - Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, DC 1993- Retired USAF 1994- Present - Federal Employment Washington DC


Bruce Kerwin class of 1964 Joined the Army in 1965 and went to Field Artillery Officer Candidate School. Stationed in Germany, Vietnam, Hawaii, Georgia, California, Kansas. Retired in 1986. Joined the Department os Defense/State contracting world and worked in Saudi Arabia (4 years) Haiti (2), Kuwait (2), Latvia (3), Philippines (2), Iraq (2) and Germany. It is now 2009 and I'm going to take up fishing and golf back in Spokane...for a while. Bruce Kerwin HQ First Armd Division Lessons Learned Analyst CMR 467 BOX 3791 APO AE 09096

Hi Bruce, Just saw the Veterans page and wanted to send along my brief Veterans history Jun 1970- May 1974 University of Kansas Navy ROTC Scholarship May 1974 - Sep 1974 Patrol Squadron (VP)-19 NAS Moffet Field, CA Sep 1974 - Jul 1975 Basic Naval Flight Officer (NFO) Training (VT-10), NAS Pensacola, FL Jul 1975 - Oct 1975 Advanced Navigator Training (VT)- 29, NAS Corpus Christi, TX Oct 1975 - Feb 1976 Patrol Squadron (VP) - 30, NAS Jacksonville, FL Feb 1976 - June 1979 (VP-56), NAS Jacksonville, FL Nov 76 - Apr 77 Deployment to Sigonella,Sicily Apr 78 - Sep 78 Deployment to Keflavik, Iceland JUN 1979 - Dec 1980 Naval Post Graduate School, Monterey, CA Feb 1981 - Feb 1983 NAS Keflavik, Iceland Feb 1983 - Sep 1985 Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington D.C. Op-06 Strategic Plans and Policy Division Op-611 Middle East, Africa, Southwest Asia Branch SEP 1985 - FEB 1986 (VP-30), NAS Jacksonville, FL Feb 1986 - Jun 1988 Patrol Squadron (VP- 16), NAS Jacksonville, FL JAN 87- Jul 87 Deployment to Sigonella, Sicily JUN 1988 - JUN 1991 Joint Staff, Washington, D.C. J-5 Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate MEAF Middle East and Africa Division JUN 1991 - JUN 1994 Headquarters, U. S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany ECJ-5 Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate Chief, Middle East and Africa Division Jun 1994 - JUL 1996 NROTC Unit, University of Kansas Professor of Naval Science Executive Officer and Commanding Officer. JUL 1996 Retired as Commander, USN ---- Grant Caughey '70
(click images to enlarge)

1981-82 Nordholz, Germany - bottom left		Crew 6, Summer 78, Keflavik Iceland - bottom 2nd from left


Crew 6, Sigonella, Sicily, 1987 - top 3rd from left

Michael Bettez, Colonel, US Army Retired 1977 - 2005 Tampa, Florida As you may or may not know, I joined the Army after graduating from Central Washington in 1977. I was commisioned through OCS, and enjoyed many great and not so great assignments around the world. Most of the later part of my career was working with Special Ops. I was the Director, J4 for Special Operations Cmd CENTRAL (SOCCENT) when the war broke out in 2001. Needless to say it was the greatest challenge of my career trying to coordinate Logistics for all Special Ops in the Theater. I was selected to command the new support brigade for the Army's new Stryker vehicle in late 2002 (that's how I ended up in Ft Lewis, Washington with Jim Sweigart (71) and the boys). At the end of the tour - DEC 2004 - I decided it was time to hang it up. After multiple knee surgeries (both are now artificial) and 28 years, I wanted to retire to the golf course. I officially retired March 1, 2005.

from Lee Whistler, Sent: Monday, April 13, 2009 Subject: FAHS veterans
Howdy! Well, here it is. Veterans. I was probably the least likely to serve - being the motorcycle riding, poster making, bass playing, ragged hippy that I was... However, I did. And still do... I entered the service in 1979, volunteering for Special Forces/Airborne. I served in 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) from 1980 to 1984. Participated in the Counterinsurgency conflicts in Central America (El Salvador, Honduras, Panama) during that time. I returned to Germany from 1984 to 1987 - serving with 94th ADA Bde as the S-2 NCO. 1987 to 1990, I was with the Foreign Material Intelligence Group/Bn at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, where I was the senior foreign weapons instructor. I then proceeded to be a "plank holder" for 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) (Military Intelligence Det), helping stand it up and going to war during Operation Desert Storm. We did good work. I left active duty in 1993 and became a "Private Military Contractor/Private Security Contractor" - first going to the Bosnian conflict 1994-1996 (MPRI and the ICFY Mission), then to Saudi Arabia with Vinnell where I was hired to teach anti-terrorism to the Saudi Arabian National Guard... I was with the Kosovo Verification Mission hired by Dyncorp for State Department, where I was the Regional Reports and Analysis Officer in Mitrovica (I was the one who got the pictures of the M-84s off loading in Mitrovica - which was the tipping point to bring NATO in... We evacuated to Macedonia and watched the cruise missiles cross Lake Ohrid on their way to Kosovo... ) I came back and became a Commo Instructor for the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. I entered Government Service after my 2nd year. I resigned my position in 2003 and went to Iraq as a Personal Security Detail member with SOC-SMG. I served a year and returned. We ran convoys throughout Iraq and protected our Client (Tetra-Tech) with no casualties. I returned to Fayetteville, North Carolina and am presently working for the Special Warfare Center and School again... Not bad for a hippy...
			(click images to enlarge)
08Jan04 - 2 - Babylon	Desert Storm - Kuwait - Yours Truly Bunker Clearing at CF	01Apr04 - 1 - Uncle Lenny and his Karl Gustav MP-45


Desert Storm - American Embassy - D'Amato making speech - Me on right...		ICFY Mission 04-06.


Danny Joe Miller

photos by James Laray see all images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/7612588@N02/sets/
SGT Danny Joe Miller, Company C, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 8th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), RVN 1967-1968 In Memory Ceremony, Vietnam Memorial, Washington, DC April 20, 2009 The weather had been really nice...until the day of the ceremony. It began raining before daybreak. A hard steady rain. The Mall had rivulets of water everywhere and enough mud to suck at your shoes when you took a step. The folding chairs were soaked and when you sat down, you sunk into the ground. We had no rain gear except my son had a coat in his suitcase he had not unpacked since his Spring Break trip to Seattle in March! My daughter put a big trash bag on like a poncho. Someone from the VVMF took pity on us and gave us an umbrella but it was too late. I was soaked! It was in the low 40's and once in a while the wind picked up. Just enough so the flags would start blowing in the breeze. I was quickly reminded how much of my husband's time in Vietnam he was wet and uncomfortable. When he went into the A Shau Valley in April, 1968, they even got snowed on! No cold weather gear...just a poncho and poncho liner. Hiking long hours through the steamy jungle with leeches or in the mud and muck of the monsoons. Sitting and sleeping on the ground, sometimes in the rain and mud. Looking for those choppers to come through regardless of the weather bringing potable water, supplies, ammo, mail and maybe a hot meal in those merimite containers instead of C rations cooked over a can of sterno in that steel pot. Assessing the conditions, making adjustments and going forward to complete the mission. I guess it was a good day to be reminded of what our loved ones went through and why we were there to honor them. Due to the weather, the ceremony started early and the agenda changed frequently but I did not hear any complaints and no one left. The families, many of us Warrior Widows, are used to that, having dealt with red tape and bureaucracies over the years. We lined up and proudly said our family members’ name aloud.... "SGT Danny Joe Miller, US Army, beloved husband and father" Somehow, saying his name aloud in that special place was important. We were adjacent to The Wall itself, in sight of the Vietnam Woman's Memorial where the nurses, named Faith, Hope and Charity are taking care of those suffering from their combat service (my daughter said it reminded her of Michelangelo's Pieta) and the statue of the Three Soldiers are standing watch over their fallen comrades. The Three Soldiers also stand over the latest addition to the Vietnam Memorial...a plaque authorized by Congress to recognize those Vietnam veterans who, like my husband, died as a result of non-combat illness. (In his case it was exposure to Agent Orange and complications of diabetes.) The plaque is inscribed..."In memory of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service. We honor and remember their sacrifice." After the reading of names, we took tributes to The Wall. The tributes contained all of the documents and photo we had submitted to the VVMF as well as anything else the families brought. The VVMF determined the panel where we would place the tributes. Danny's tributes were placed at Panel 31E. I did some research and found out that the names of several from his Charlie CO comrades who were killed in December, 1967, are listed on that panel. The only photo of Danny in Vietnam that I have ever seen is of the memorial service for the PLT SGT whose name is on that panel. I felt like Danny was in good company. In addition to the tribute package from VVMF, I left a small flag I had previously received from Soldiers Angels. I also left a frame with 4 photos: Danny and the kids with his pirate paraphernalia on...a family joke since he had an artificial leg and legally blind in one eye; Danny and his lifelong friend--they went into the Army in 1965 on the buddy system. They are at the racetrack, one of their favorite activities. Danny is wearing his Iraq ball cap that one of our OKNG friends sent him from Iraq; Danny and I reading Halloween cards sent from fellow Angels during a card swap; and Danny as a young soldier with his dad, still on active duty at the time, and his mom. He was very close to his mom and they are buried near each other in the same section at the Ft. Sill National Cemetery. Of course, it continued to rain until after the ceremony was over and we got back to the hotel. We were honored to have been a part of this ceremony. Special thanks to James Laray, NPS, (younger brother of Bill Laray '70) for taking photos for me; to Gabi Brown Bond '69 for coming to the ceremony in the rain and her company at dinner; to Erik and Jackie Thamm for providing me mini transportation and the pleasure of their company on the highways of northern VA; to Betty House Weller '70, Dawn Simpson Thompson '69, Skip '68 and Roberta Pettit and Karen ' 72 for their fellowship at the mini and to SGM Mike Calloway '71 for hosting the mini, coming to the ceremony, lending me his coat and hailing us a cab cause we were done! Here is a link to James' photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7612588@N02/sets/ Pat C. '70 5/22/9
Finally, to Ken and the other Vietnam vets, here's a message to you from Danny... WELCOME HOME, BROTHER! He told me that is the proper greeting... Love you guys! Pat
http://www.vvmf.org/index.cfm?SectionID=1 Viet Nam Veterans Fund


E-2 DJ Miller U.S. Army		Veteran's Day 2006

Yep, that is Mike Esper...now Col Esper...on the far left. Smiling Betty House in the middle. That was our senior year cause Mike and my brother Joe were both class of '72. Looks like a trip. Wonder where they were going? Pat C '70

History Site Map		Alumni Website	Yahoo Group	FAHS Links

	Submit photos, comments, links to Bruce70