CLASS OF 1963
Pres:  Stephen M. Duncan
Sec'y: Michael H. Shelley
25 Sweetwater Lane, Pisgah Forest, NC 28768
h: 828-862-4245  e: Class.Secretary@USNA63.org

            A large number of family members, Naval Academy classmates, and
friends of Carl Doughtie came together for his funeral service at the Ft.
Myer chapel adjacent to the Arlington National Cemetery on 26 February.
Carl had died on 10 June 1965 when his A-1 Skyraider was shot down over
North Vietnam.  Thirty-three years later, on 10 November 1998, his family
received word that his remains had been recovered and positively identified.

     During the service, Carl was eulogized as the first member of our
class,  the first USNA graduate aviator, and the first United States Navy
officer, to die in the Vietnam War.  The mourners included at least
sixty-five members of the Class of 1963.   Except for major reunions and our
Vietnam memorial service in 1995, this was the largest gathering of our
classmates for any occasion since graduation.  The honorary pallbearers were
Carl's childhood friend Jerry Cummings and our classmates Ken Cook, Don
Freese, Dick Guffey, Frank Hilton, Jeff Niss, Bob Simmonds, and Charlie
Stubbs.

     Full honors were afforded.  The casket was carried from the chapel to
the grave site on a caisson pulled by six black horses. Also in the
procession was a platoon-sized honor guard and a marching band.  The
interment service concluded with a rifle volley and the playing of "Taps."
Then, with precise timing, four F-14 Tomcats from NAS Oceana came into view.
The aircraft approached in a tight formation at low altitude from the south,
into a strong north wind.  As a result,  their approach was majestically
silent until they were abreast of us and one pilot pulled up steeply to
execute the "missing man" maneuver.  It was a very emotional  moment.

         Among the classmates at the funeral and the following reception at
the nearby Army-Navy Country Club were Terry Abell, Dick Arvedlund, Satch
Baumgart, Peter Browne, Joe Bustamante, Dave Byrnes, Jim Carter, Bob Cronin,
Mike Cronin, Jim Czerwonky, Doug Davidson, Ted DelGaizo, Steve Duncan, Bill
Earner, Dave Ebert, Jim Eckert, Frank Edrington, Jack Fischer, Bob Forster,
Joel Gardner, Sonny Glassner, Frank Gregory, Bob Harper, Spence Johnson, Ron
Klemick, Mike Lents, Bob Maier, Larry Marsh, Kent Maxfield, Dennis Meredith,
Jim Metcalfe, Jeff Miles, Perry Miles, Brev Moore, Jerry Mulholland, Tom
O'Brien, Dirk Praeger, Dave Puckett, Pete Quinton, Keith Reynolds, Jim Ring,
Jim Scanlon, Tom Selden, Mike Shelley, Al Sherman, Forrest Siburt, Lou
Simpleman, Erwin Storz, Olen Thompson, Dave Thornhill, Craig Thrasher, Paul
Tobin, John Truesdell, Denny Vaughan, Bruce Webb, Dick Williams, Scott
Wilson, and Julian Wright.

             Digging in my slide collection a few weeks ago, I found this photo
taken at a beach party in Pensacola in July 1961.  It shows Carl and Milo
Daughters watching Jack Hood drinking cold beer from a plastic bag.  Also,
here are two photos taken at the reception.  The first shows Mr. and Mrs.
Doughtie with class Foundation president Jim Ring and class president Steve
Duncan.  The second pictures Charlie Stubbs, Perry Miles, myself, and Al
Sherman.

             I had to leave the reception early to attend another funeral, so Jim
Ring graciously provided this account of what transpired:
 

    At the reception sponsored by the Class we renewed acquaintances with
the Doughtie's and their family and friends.  During some brief remarks, I
read this statement from Captain Harry Ettinger, Carl's Commanding Officer
in VA-25 when he was killed: "The Cloud that fell over our lives with the
loss of our brave and courageous shipmate, Carl, so many years ago can never
fully dissipate.  However, he has been returned to the country that he
served and loved so well for final closure, and he now rests besides our
other honored American heroes.  As one of his shipmates from Attack Squadron
25, I regret that I could not be there as this final chapter ends.  May God
bless all his family and friends."  Captain Ettinger also told me that
Carl's replacement pilot was Nick Daramus, our classmate and my companymate.
Another classmate, Jimmy Lynne, was also in the squadron.  Nick and Jimmy
both died later after leaving the Navy.  I wonder if any other classmates
were in this squadron as junior officers.

    Jeff Niss, Carl's roommate at the Academy, reminisced about their
times together and Carl's First Classman, Pat Cecil, also spoke about him.
The family was very appreciative of the Class of 1963's support.  Steve
Duncan gave the family framed prints of the Academy and a Jefferson cup with
the Class Crest on it.  I gave the family lithographs of USS FITZGERALD.
Charlie Stubbs also received a gift from the class.  Charlie was with us the
first two years at the Academy, was one of Carl's roommates, and then chose
to move on to bigger and better things.  Charlie was the person that the
Doughtie's contacted when they received the news about Carl being found.  He
was the key contact with them, setting up the honorary pallbearers, acting
as host to the Doughtie's in Washington and, most importantly, escorting
Carl's remains back from Hawaii. We owe Charlie a great big BRAVO ZULU for
his work.

     The flight of the F-14's was a story of its own, because the Navy had
originally said that it could not be done.  As a resident of Northern
Virginia, I know that it rarely happens, because they have to stop all air
traffic coming in and out of Reagan National Airport and also all military
helicopters that whirl around the area.  However, when we heard that the
Doughtie family wanted a flyover, our "Message to Garcia" minds swung into
action.  Mike Shelley put a call for help on e-mail along with notice of the
funeral.  Larry Marsh called his contacts at BuPers, where he recently
retired as Deputy Chief of Naval Personnel.  Rich Wilson told me that
AirLant made the decision and we should have Denny Vaughan call him and
Denny did.  Ken Sanger was personal friends with AirLant and sent him a
personal request via e-mail.  Ross Anderson has a lobbyist friend out of '65
who checked on it, and Satch Baumgart sent e-mails to the two Virginia
senators.  I think that all these efforts helped.  AirLant told Denny that
they had received the request from BuPers, thanks to Larry's call, and they
were approving the flight.  AirLant turned out to be VADM Joe Mobley '66,
who was a POW in Vietnam.  Thanks to Joe and everyone else involved in
making the flyover possible.   It was the cream in our coffee.

    I found out later that Denny Vaughan was coming back to D.C. on a
flight to Reagan National Airport when the pilot announced that he had to go
into a holding pattern because a flight of F-14's was inbound for a funeral
at Arlington National Cemetery.  Denny hastily wrote a note to the pilot
telling him the details of the who and why, and the pilot announced it over
the loudspeaker.

    I'm now teaching math (Please, hold the guffaws down!) to academic
superstars in Virginia's Commonwealth Governor's School, a new public
schools program for gifted kids and --in our case -- involving eight
regional public high schools.  We had the good fortune to be visited by two
OpInfo midshipmen before Christmas and the kids responded quite positively
to their presentation and style.  I continue to coach track at North
Stafford High School where my girls' team just won their third consecutive
district championship.  I'm one of those fools who coaches all three seasons
and am proud as punch of my girls cross country team who also won the
district, placed second in the Northwest region and finished seventh in the
state.  Life is good.  As noted before, I occasionally run into Joanne and
Lou Simpleman at the Quantico chapel.  We both have boats on Aquia Creek and
one of these days will hook up for a beer on the creek or the Potomac.

         Members of the Class of 1963 have a proud and continuing record of
participation in  various bike-athons to publicize and raise funds for
Multiple Sclerosis research.  Even in a good cause, things don't always go
as planned, as this account from Jay Gowens testifies:
 

    I was hit by a car on 1 November 1998 while riding my bicycle training
for the  Multiple Sclerosis ride coming up in May 1999.  I was riding on a
state route in Maryland when a car turned left into me, striking my rear
wheel.  I was  thrown about 25 feet into the ditch beside the road.
Fortunately, I landed in  the grass covered ditch and not on the pavement.
My helmet was bashed and the  bicycle needed major surgery, but it is back
in shape now.  I had a concussion,  broken nose, and numerous cuts and
bruises.  It appears I will have some  permanent damage to nerves in my left
knee causing a "dead" place in my leg,  but apparently no loss of strength.
Coincidentally, my first grandson, Tomas Andre Gowens, was born on the same
day down in Atlanta.  The accident delayed my going to see him until the
following week.

     A few weeks ago I ran into Alan Hellawell.  Alan worked for Kodak in
Rochester for many years.  He has just retired from Kodak and moved to
Maryland.  My wife and I were looking at houses in the neighborhood and Alan
walked in and asked who was driving the Mountaineer with USNA alumni plates
on  it.  We talked for a while and discovered that his  former boss had
retired from Kodak and gone to Georgia Tech, where my wife worked with him
before we left Atlanta.  Small world.

   From the Pacific Northwest comes this update from Mike Harman, who
displays all the symptoms of being a happy man.
 

    Here is a picture of Sandy and me with all the grandkids. From left to
right are Ryan John (almost 5), some old fellow who snuck in when we weren't
looking, Timothy Michael (2 1/2), Sandy, and Gabriella Sandra ("Ella," born
September 30 -- the night before we left for the 35th Reunion in Annapolis).

     I have been retired for 3 1/2 years and still have not lowered my
handicap.  In my less busy working life I worked for IBM (7 years) and
Freightliner (15 years), before buying one of Freightliner's subsidiaries in
a LBO with two other partners.  We later sold the company to a public
company and worked for them until retiring.  After raising the kids, Sandy
went back to school and became an interpreter for the deaf.  She is still
doing free lance interpreting for the local colleges and some businesses.
 
    Our oldest son, Michael Patrick, was born in Yokohama while I was
stationed on an LST (Large Slow Target).  He is working for my old company
as sales executive handling our biggest customer -- Freightliner.  He was
married at the beginning of last year; he and Carrie are Ella's parents.  As
you know, it was touch and go whether we would make the reunion.  Carrie and
Ella combined to make it exciting but doable.  Carrie is now back working
part time for Nike and still keeping up with Ella.  Our youngest son, Todd,
graduated from USNA in '92.  He and his wife, Kelly, are out of the Navy and
living here in Portland.  They have the two boys. Todd is working for
Electric Lightwave, a local telephone company and doing very well.  Kelly is
raising the kids and still finds time to be an aerobics instructor.  Where
she gets the energy I will never know.  We have been very blessed with
having a great family and lucky enough to keep them close.  We had a great
time at the reunion and rekindled some old friendships. We would love to see
any of you who get out to the Portland area.

    Among other conversations at the 35th Reunion were a couple involving
Plebe Year and the ingestion of Cannon Balls for dessert.  A number of the
guys recalled this gustatory delicacy with fondness so I told them I have a
recipe which, I think, came from Shipmate some years ago.  I was asked to
send the recipe to everyone with whom I spoke but am embarrassed to say I
don't remember who all asked for it at this point (in time).

    I accepted a new position with Lockheed Martin Federal Systems in
Manassas, Virginia, on January 4th.  I report to the President of Lockheed
Martin Undersea Systems and my new title is Deputy Director International
Programs.  This job will involve quite a bit of travel to Europe, Australia,
and various other places.  I visited RDM Submarines in Rotterdam, The
Netherlands, in early February to discuss our export submarine combat system
with Dutch shipyard officials.  We're keeping our options open because there
is a good possibility that I will be transferred to Rotterdam or The Hague
and Judy and I will live in The Netherlands.  Just when many classmates are
retiring, I'm seeking more excitement.  Smart or dumb?

    After completing seventeen years in Hawaii, Lana and I decided to take
a break from the working masses and retired to California.  We have moved
into Sonoma to try out the weather and life style in the Wine Country and
northern California.  I just returned from a ski trip to Lake Tahoe where I
met my old shipmate Chuck Maclin and his family.  Chuck has this "ski
family" composed of relatives and friends who meet every year in Europe or
the western U.S. for a week or more of skiing.  They were a very friendly
crowd and invited me to spend the night in their rented chalet with lots of
good wine and food.  I especially appreciated Chuck slowing down his expert
skiing so that this novice did not get lost in the fresh snow at Squaw
Valley.   It was such a grand experience that I wonder if there are other
63ers who ski (or gamble) who would like to rendezvous in Lake Tahoe next
year for a mini-reunion.   If so, I can be reached at LandDMoore@aol.com.

     In the March issue of Shipmate, I shared with you a letter from
Jeanine Reynolds Delaney, daughter of our deceased classmate Jim Reynolds.
She was hoping to make contact with our classmates who could share
remembrances of her dad.   She has received a very good response, as you
will see in this letter she sent to Frank Hilton, the chair of the Class of
1963 Foundation's scholarship committee.   Frank notes that Mike Lents had
made a great effort in the early 80's to find and assist Janine and her
sister but only lately has contact been gained as a result of Steve Duncan's
memorial service remarks being printed in Shipmate.  Frank calls this "a
positive testimony for the Foundation, reunions, Shipmate, and the Class of
1963."

         Here are excerpts from Janine's  letter:
 

          Your kind letter sent to me about the Class of 1963 Foundation
touched me deeply.  What a wonderful gift to offer to the children of your
classmates!   It is heartwarmingly apparent that the Class of 1963 remembers
and honors their classmates with tremendous loyalty.  My husband, a 1990
USNA graduate, was not surprised by your letter and found yet another reason
to be a proud alumnus!  I also shared your letter with my sister, Christina,
and my mother, Galina. Both were so impressed by your thoughtfulness.
Christina and her husband are the successful owners of Mangia, an Italian
Restaurant in Absecon, NJ.  She is expecting her second baby this March.
 
    I have been thrilled and pleasantly surprised by the responses that I
have received from my father's classmates.  Those who knew him well and
those who only recalled his name have made efforts to contact me and share
whatever they could.  It has been a heartwarming experience!  My father has
always remained in my heart as someone who was part hero, part ghost.  I
have searched for a way to honor his life and to help create a memory of him
for both my sister's little boy, Dale (6  years) and my son, Timothy James
(2 years.).  The responses I receive will go into a book for them to always
have as a memory.

    Perhaps the most amazing outcome from this has been the letter I
received from Joel Warshaw, my father's closest friend.  He has sent
pictures and is even working on a video tape!  We had a great conversation
and he told me some humorous stories.  Hopefully, one day we will have the
opportunity to meet in person.  Thank you again for your kindness and
perseverance.  Best wishes to the Class of 1963!

    Most sincerely, Jeanine Reynolds Delaney, 608 North Barrett Lane, Christiana, DE 19702

---

              I'm in good health, teaching and student advising at Chesapeake
College which is a member of Maryland's junior college system.  I am
thoroughly enjoying Maryland's Eastern Shore. And, I should be a grandfather
for the first time during March thanks to my daughter Stacey and her hubby
Reid.  It doesn't get much better than that, does it?  

---

            Only two months from now, on 7 July, we will arrive at the fortieth
anniversary of the formation of the Class of 1963.  Why don't you begin now
to plan a celebration in your area?  Whether it's a big picnic, a quiet
dinner with a classmate, or a phone call to someone you haven't spoken with
for a while, do something special.  You'll be glad you did…

 
                                        QUALITY - '63