Hobart and William Smith Colleges' Legacy of Military Service

FOREWORD

Lieutenant General Jack Woodward, USAF (Ret), H’68, Former USAF Deputy Chief of Staff Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Information Services

PROLOGUE AND PART I

Lieutenant Colonel John E. Norvell, USAF (Ret), H’66, P’99, P’02

Former Assistant Professor of Military History, US Air Force Academy, F-4 Weapons Systems Officer

PART II

Col C. R. Anderegg, USAF (Ret), H’67

Former Director of Air Force History and Museums, F-4 and F-15 Pilot

AFTERWORD

Colonel (Dr.) Kathy Platoni, USA (Ret), WS’74

Former Chief Psychologist of US Army Reserves

© 2022, Col C.R. Anderegg and Col John Norvell, All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 979-8-218-07528-6

CONTENTS

Foreword

Prologue

PART I: A Short History of the Military and Hobart and William Smith Colleges 1 The Early Years

The Civil War

World War I

World War II

Transitions 1946-1975

Vietnam and Beyond: Stories We Share

PART II: HWS Veterans’ Profiles

Afterword

Acknowledgements

Appendix 1. Veterans’ Survey Appendix 2. List of Known HWS Veterans

FOREWORD

The association of the US military and Hobart and William Smith Colleges spans the two centuries of Hobart’s history. An early trustee of Hobart had been a major in the Revolutionary War, and a contemporary trustee served as aide-de-camp to Alexander Hamilton in the post-Revolutionary years. Other early trustees served in the War of 1812. At the end of the book one may read the profiles of young graduates who are still on active duty.

Part I of this book, researched and written by Lt. Col. John Norvell, USAF (Ret), H’66, tells the history of Hobart’s founding and its early roots within the military. A chronological listing of early attendees and graduates reveals some interesting stories: one of the earliest was hanged for mutiny; another is the namesake of Fort Myer, VA that is the home of Arlington National Cemetery. Alumni fought for both the Union and Confederate armies in the Civil War.

Three important associations with the military greatly impacted the Colleges in the Twentieth Century. The first was the Student Army Training Corps during World War I. It was a federally funded program designed to boost college attendance during the war years because by early 1918 Hobart counted only 60 men in its student body. The second program, instituted during World War II, was the Navy V-12 officer candidate program that paid tuition for candidates to attend Hobart then commission into the Navy. Again, the program offset some of the precipitous decline in students. The third was the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps that ran from 1951-1971 and provided hundreds of officers during the Cold War years. Ultimately the Colleges unceremoniously rejected the AFROTC program, and that story is within. Throughout these sections are vignettes of William Smith students’ participation in the war efforts and support to the military programs.

At the end of Part I are several first-person narratives from HWS alumni/ae who served under unusual and interesting circumstances: night combat deep into North Vietnam; coping with a massive volcanic eruption; dealing with a mass shooting; helicopter rescues; and others. Part I concludes with the perspective of William Smith alumnae who were military spouses.

Part II was collected and edited by Col C.R. Anderegg, USAF (Ret), H’67. The preparation for Part II started with a master list of 400+ alumni/ae veterans maintained by the Colleges. The Colleges sent each a survey asking about their military service and life afterwards. More than 100 responded spanning the classes of 1950 to 2021. From the surveys Anderegg extracted a profile and those are listed by class year. They represent participation in every military branch of service. The lion’s share, unsurprisingly, are from the Vietnam War years, many of whom were commissionees of the AFROTC program and a significant number of others who enlisted to avoid the draft. No matter each’s path into the military, nearly all reflect on their service as a positive contributor to later life. Another theme throughout the profiles is the importance of family, both the factual family and the metaphorical military family. Military life is demanding in many ways, often for the family, and those demands are sometimes reflected in the veterans’ responses to the survey.

We believe that everyone’s service is important whether it be a brief enlistment or a lifetime career. In this book we see that entire spectrum, and it is impressive. Perhaps most interesting are the highly productive lives, lives of consequence, our veterans have lived which sometimes includes staggering amounts of volunteer participation in and contributions to their communities.

The Colleges have a rich history of military service both in its institution and its alumni/ae. This book tells that story in detail. It will be a welcome source to those curious about how we got to where we are today.

Lt Gen Jack Woodward, USAF (Ret), H’68

There are three watchwords for military men and women who have served: Duty, Honor, and Country. In the early 1960s, General Douglas MacArthur made his famous pronouncement about them, and many have written about these words. Each Veteran understands these words differently, and for many, combat forged that understanding.

For most Americans, combat is remote, and war has not touched most Americans’ lives since Vietnam. War sometimes means giving all you have and setting an example for others.

Sometimes, the stories of others are instructive. For it is only through the stories of others we can fully understand what Duty, Honor, and County can mean.

They went with songs to the battle; they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted; They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

For the Fallen1- Laurence Binyon

PROLOGUE

Source: Wikipedia, public domain

John Henry Hobart (1775-1830) became the third bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York in 1811. At that point, the diocese covered the entire state, and the Bishop regularly journeyed to the remote interior as part of his pastoral duties. Until the Erie Canal opened in 1825, stagecoaches provided the primary means of transportation for the long, grueling trip to Western New York. As Bishop Hobart crossed the state, he became aware that the church needed an institution of higher learning in the “West.”2

In 1818, many of the settlements in upstate New York did not suit the bishop’s plans for his new college. As were many other towns in this area, Rochester was just a sleepy little village. Bishop Hobart dismissed them, but he liked what he saw in Geneva. Geneva was a booming, bustling place. Geneva lay on the “gateway route” to the western frontier. It had a hotel, a municipal water system, a post office, a library, a church, and a newspaper. There was an expanding business community and an active social life. Most importantly, it had an Academy. When Hobart arrived in Geneva, he proposed that the Academy become his new College.3

Selecting the Site for Geneva College

Tradition has it that Bishop Hobart led a small group to a hillside overlooking Seneca Lake in the gray, predawn hours of a day in September. “Here, gentlemen,” he stated as he slowly raised his staff and stuck it into the ground, “is the spot for the College.” The first College building, Geneva Hall, was built near that site in 18224 Warren Hunting Smith’s work: Hobart and William Smith: The History of Two Colleges, notes that on Sept. 23, 1818, Bishop Hobart, while in Geneva at the home of Col Samuel Colt and in the presence of the leading men of Geneva, announced his intention to found a college in Geneva.5 Smith then relates the story of the Bishop and his walking stick, noting that it happened in September but does not state a year. He includes this story in the discussion of events in 1818.6

John Henry Hobart and a Changing American Culture

Bishop R. William Franklin, in a paper prepared for the 175th anniversary of Hobart, called John Henry Hobart the most colorful episcopal figure of the early nineteenth century. Franklin noted: Hobart’s vision was so poor he memorized his texts and delivered them without notes. As a result, his new style of episcopal preaching excited and electrified the congregations he addressed. After the War of 1812, the bishop presided over the New York Episcopal Diocese from Trinity Church in New York City. This period witnessed the United States’ freedom from European entanglements. A new sense of national vision swept the country. This so-called “Era of Good Feelings” captured Americans’ hopes for partisan unity, and it also seemed to describe Americans’ post-war nationalistic euphoria.7 Although linked to a traditional episcopate, Hobart saw his church rooted in democratic principles. This vision formed the basis for his new college.8

Bishop John Henry Hobart

Bishop Hobart’s Vision

The bishop needed to partner with a local community with the financial ability to support a college that could become a respected institution. Hobart asked the leaders of Geneva to raise money in the community to construct a stone building. It was a partnership the Geneva community actively embraced. The new Geneva College would serve as a training center for the laity and clergy on the western frontier. It would be open to all: sons of mechanics, manufacturers, farmers, and merchants. A revolutionary idea, all—not just the sons of the rich—would receive a college education. These newly educated men could enter the clergy, the professions, or academe and thus advance upward in society. But these routes to advanced social status were not the only paths.9 The military also beckoned.

The Military in American Society

In the early United States, the idea of the citizen soldier formed the basis for militias during the Revolutionary War and the volunteer brigades in the Civil War. The men who served earned the respect of their communities. Early

Americans did not trust standing national armies. In 1789, the new Constitution took great care to place the military under civilian control. The colonists had just experienced the British using their Redcoat soldiers to suppress the rebellion, often taking the extreme step of quartering troops in civilian homes. It was the main reason why the United States relied upon its citizens to do their duty when needed, and why we continue to rely on them in today’s state national guard units. Americans often welcomed them home with great thanks for their service in the conflicts leading up through World War II. The troops came home to condemnation from Vietnam. It did not matter to many of these men and women. They served because it was their duty as citizens to give back a part of their lives and abilities to this country that had given them so much. This idea is an old-fashioned notion: if one receives much, one should give back.

Military service, coupled with upward advancement, offered an adventure not often found in the small towns of rural America. If we were to go back to the America of a previous time, we would find it a very different place. Most Americans lived in rural areas. Life centered with

predictability around the farm and home; not much changed from year to year. Men seldom traveled more than a few miles from where they lived. It was, in many ways, a challenging and somewhat dull life. The soldiers, who had served in the early wars, had experienced a different world and returned home to tell about it. In the Nineteenth Century, young men spoke of “going off to see the elephant,” as if war were some exotic adventure.10

Throughout Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ history, this pattern touched those who served. Some sought adventure. Some, tired of a dull existence, saw an escape. Some went off to war to advance themselves as a means of upward mobility. And some went because they felt it was their duty to do so. There were many reasons for service.

In the pages that follow, we will first look briefly at the military history of Hobart and William Smith, then share the experiences of current members of the Colleges’ community, and finally, draw some conclusions about what it all meant to alums and their Colleges.

“Old College Row” circa 1852: Geneva Hall, Middle Building and Trinity Hall, and the old chapel building.

PART I

A Short History of the Military Members

of Hobart and William Smith Colleges

THE EARLY YEARS:

Almost from its start, the new Geneva College had many connections with the military.

EARLY TRUSTEES

11

James Rees (1763-1851): major, Revolutionary War

Abraham Dox (1780-1862): captain, NY volunteers, War of 1812

Walter Grieve (1773-1826): brigadier general. 4th Brigade, NY Artillery, War of 1812

Philip Church (1778-1861): army captain, appointed aide-de-camp to Alexander Hamilton from 1798 to 1800, while Hamilton served as a major general and Inspector General of the Continental Army.12

FACULTY

Horace Webster (1794-1871): 1818 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.13 Webster remained at West Point as a first lieutenant mathematics professor until 1825. He then moved to Geneva College, where he taught mathematics and natural philosophy until he left in 1848. Webster then served as the Free Academy of New York head, continuing until retirement in 1869. He also was the first President of City College of New York from 1847 to 1869. 14

ALUMNI

Phillip Spencer (1823-1842) was born in Canandaigua, New York. His father, a local politician, enrolled him in Geneva College. Although characterized as brilliant, he devoted little time to his studies; he spent most of his time reading pirate stories. In 1841, he transferred to Union College and then also left Union. By this time, young Spencer’s father, John Canfield Spencer, was Secretary of War in the Tyler administration. He got his son a midshipman’s commission. After several incidents of misbehavior, Phillip attempted to resign from the Navy rather than face court-martial. But due to his father’s position, the Navy did not accept the resignation and assigned young Spencer to the USS Somers. In November 1842, during the return home from a voyage to Liberia, the captain believed Spencer planned to seize the Somers and to use it as a pirate ship. On November 26, Spencer was shackled and detained on the foredeck. A list of possible mutineers’ names, written using Greek letters, was found among his possession. Just before his 20th birthday, they

Phillip Spencer — Geneva College 1845

Hobart and William Smith Archives

U.S.S. Somers Wikipedia

hanged Spencer and two alleged crew mate coconspirators. This event occurred without a regular court-martial.15 The Somers’ affair appears to be the only mutiny on a warship in US Navy history. As Phillip Spencer’s father was the Secretary of War, the incident became a major scandal.16

Ever superstitious, many sailors shunned the Somers after the Spencer affair. They feared the ship haunted. Several men reported hearing screams and seeing the ghostly bodies of Spencer and his companions dangling from the yardarm. After the affair, Navy Secretary George Bancroft directed that prospective Navy officers receive training at a land-based academy. The U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD , opened in 1845. In 1987, searchers discovered the wreckage of the Somers off the Mexican coast, where it sank in a storm in 1846. On blockade duty during the Mexican-American War, the Somers capsized on Dec. 8, 1846, in gale-force winds. It went down with 32 of its 76 crew members on board. 17

Phillip Spencer served as the model for Herman Melville’s character Billy Budd --the story of a handsome young sailor put to death by a captain who feared Budd was plotting a mutiny. 18

Reading: Billy Budd by Herman Melville

Albert J. Myer — Geneva College 1847

Albert James Myer (1828 –1880) worked as a telegrapher before entering Geneva College in 1842. He was a member of The Kappa Alpha Society and received an M.D. degree from Buffalo Medical College in 1851. He began his private medical practice in Florida and entered the army as an assistant surgeon on Sept. 18, 1854. In 1858, the army expressed interest in Myer’s system for flag visual signaling: semaphore.19 Myer convinced them to authorize field tests, and the service adopted his system. On June 21, 1860, the War Department ordered Myer to organize and command the new U.S. Army Signal Corps. Ironically, the first use of Myer’s signaling system in combat was by Confederate Captain Edward Porter Alexander at the First Battle of Bull Run; Porter had been his subordinate. Myer also wrote the Manual of Signals for the United States Army and Navy. In addition to his signaling, Myer improved the field telegraph and invented modern weather forecasting. In the late 1860s, Myer turned to meteorology. He saw this as a new function for the Signal Corps; he pursued this interest for the rest of his life. In November 1870, the Signal Corps weather service began operations. Initial work centered on organizing and equipping the new service, then training signallers and officers. Meyer arranged with Western Union Telegraph Company to transmit the weather reports. The army, later, constructed military telegraph lines to send weather information.20

Nicknamed “Old Probabilities,” Myer headed the Signal Corps from 1867 until his death at Buffalo, New York, in 1880. In 1881 the army renamed Fort Whipple, Va., the home of the Signal Corps, Fort Myer.21 Today Fort Myer is better known as the home of Arlington National Cemetery.

General Edward S. Bragg — Geneva College 1848

Edward S. Bragg. Civil war photographs, 1861-1865 Library of Congress Public Domain

Edward Stuyvesant Bragg (1827–1912), born in Unadilla, NY, was one of the charter members of the Kappa Alpha Society. He left the college before graduating in 1847 and studied law in the offices of Judge Charles C. Noble. Bragg passed and joined the New York State Bar Association in 1848. He served four terms in the United States House of Representatives representing Wisconsin.

Later, he was United States Minister to Mexico during the presidency of Grover Cleveland and consul-general to the Republic of Cuba and British Hong Kong under President Theodore Roosevelt. Cornelia Colman, the wife of Edward S. Bragg, was a granddaughter of Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, the namesake and one of the founders of Rochester, NY. Bragg commanded the Civil War’s “Iron Brigade,” which took part in all but three of the battles waged by the Army of the Potomac.22

Recommended

General

General Albert J. Myer Mathew Benjamin Brady Library of Congress Public Domain

THE CIVIL WAR:

Many Hobart men served in the 126th New York Volunteer Infantry. Wayne Mahood’s war history of the 126th, Written in Blood, notes that at 4 p.m. on April 25, 1861, students and faculty hoisted the Stars and Stripes over the top of Geneva Hall, where a large crowd of ladies and gentlemen had assembled. College President Abner Jackson led the rally, and 29-year-old Professor of Greek Albert S. Wheeler, Geneva College 1851, represented the faculty. Wheeler later played a role in organizing the 126th. Other Hobart men leading the unit included Capt. Benjamin F. Lee H’59, Capt. George F. Pritchett H’62, and Lt. George L. Yost H’61.23

On August 22, 1862, the regiment entered service with 39 officers and 956 enlisted men. The army sent it to Harper’s Ferry. On September 12, the 126th engaged Kershaw’s South Carolina Brigade, supported by Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade, in battle. On the 15th of September 1862, the 126th surrendered and paroled. The 126th would later prove itself in the wheat field at Gettysburg in July 1863, but the price was high. At Gettysburg, 51 percent of the regiment died. The men of the 126th earned three Congressional Medals of Honor.

Abner Jackson President of Hobart College

Abner Jackson (18111874) graduated from Washington (now Trinity) College, Hartford, Connecticut, in 1837. He received an appointment as a tutor and became an adjunct professor of ancient languages a year later. In 1840 he was appointed the first professor of intellectual and moral philosophy. In 1858 Dr. Jackson accepted the presidency and the professorship of The Evidences of Christianity at Hobart.24

Abner Jackson’s Journal deals with many subjects and gives an insight into the College’s issues during this period.25

March 20, 1861 — Anxiety about the impending war - “...we seem on the eve of realizing a great forward movement in the history of the College unless these disastrous times prevent, which may God in mercy forbid.”

After the attack on Ft. Sumpter26

April 25, 1861 — Have committee wait on me in order to get a holiday for the rest of the day to raise a flag over the middle College. Bishop DeLancey called to learn what I had done for the endowment. Had a long talk with Mr. Douglas about the endowment and the Chapel.

Mr. Douglas came with me to the College to be present at the raising of the flag. After it was raised I introduced the exercises with prayer – The Lord’s Prayer, the Prayer in War and Tumults, and “Direct us,” with the benediction. Dr. Wilson was the first speaker, Prof. Wheeler the second, H.R. Gibson the third, S.W. Tuttle the fourth, Mussy the fifth, Bishop DeLancey the sixth, Colonel Murray, Seneca Falls, the seventh. Wheeler’s was the gem. Bishop

Geneva Hall about 1863 Hobart and William Smith Archives

President Abner Jackson (1858-1867) Hobart and William Smith Archives

DeLancey was for peace and settlement. It all passed off very finely. The members of the College have raised about $30 to pay for pole and flag. They could not get bunting, but made it of woolen stuff. It is large and handsome. Mrs. Towler made it, or it was made under her direction.

February 18, 1862 — Students demand a day off to celebrate Union victories: “Faculty meeting at ten to consider the petition of the students to get off from recitation and make a holiday of to-day and illuminate the College to-night on account of the news of the capture of Fort Donelson and fifteen thousand prisoners. Refused. First, because a leading object was conceived to be to get off from recitations; second, because we should expect other victories and other like requests. Faculty unanimous.”

September 11, 1862 — College opens. Wheeler absent- not back from Harper’s Ferry where he acted as adjutant with the 126th Regiment during the vacation. The freshman class come in well and College promises to be as full as it was last year. This is very encouraging when all other Colleges that I know of, are suffering severely. I find that boys’ schools on the contrary are flourishing. Many persons, by being in the army, are in the receipt of good incomes, and being from home, do not wish to leave their sons without oversight, and so send them to school. Others, finding no business to put their sons at, send them to school. Thus the boys’ schools are full, while the colleges are depleted to furnish officers and soldiers.

September 22, 1862 — After prayers dismiss College without recitation to see Col. Johnson’s Regiment go off. We saw them set sail in three steamboats.

May 23, 1863 — Holiday for the reception of the 33rd. Regiment. I walked with the procession through the streets under a broiling sun. Judge Folger27 made the speech of welcome; Col. Taylor replied.

August 2, 1864 — Go to the Provost Marshal’s office and look over the lists for Geneva, in reference to the five-hundredthousand draft now upon us. I wanted to see about our students. Very few names are down.

HOBART MEN IN THE CIVIL WAR: UNION ARMY

There are two primary sources for the student information: The Echo of the Seneca Yearbook 1865 and the General Catalogue of Officers, Graduates, and Students 1825-1897, Hobart College, Humphrey Press, Geneva, NY 1897.28

The H Book notes that seventy-eight alumni served in the Union Army as commissioned officers; half held the rank of captain or above; nine believed to have died in the war.29 The following men served in the war.

FACULTY

Albert Sproull Wheeler (1813-1905), Professor of Greek 1856-1868:30 He helped organize the 126th New York Infantry and served as adjutant for a short period.31

STUDENTS

Class of 1835

Frederick S. Lovell (1813-1878): American lawyer and politician, was the 11th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, a delegate to Wisconsin constitutional conventions, and a colonel in the 46th Wisconsin Infantry, brevet brigadier general at the end of the war.32 A brevet promotion allowed the soldier to wear a higher rank but still receive the pay of his previous grade. It was a way to honor valiant service. Often abused, the army seldom used brevet promotions after the Civil War. The military then instituted the system of medals and ribbons to commemorate the service that is in use today.33

Class of 1838

Thomas Rush Spencer MD (1818-1872): medical director, Alexandria VA–burial Santa Fe National Cemetery Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, New Mexico. Stone inscription: US Surveyor General for NM.34

Class of 1839

Rev. Charles Henry Platt (1822-1869): chaplain, 28th NY Infantry.35 The 28th was organized in Albany on May 18, 1861. The diary of W.L. Hicks, clerk of the company, noted many of the regiment’s men came from Erie County. He also commented that many men had no previous military experience but were motivated by a high sense of patriotism.36 Platt served from July 4, 1861, to Sept. 13, 1862.37

Class of 1843

Rev. Almon Gregory (1814-1896): received his theological education at the General Theological Seminary; his MA from Hobart in 1846. He was a chaplain in the U. S. Army at Covington, Kentucky, during the war. 38

Class of 1844

Rev. Charles E. Woodward (1821-1891): chaplain, 65th Illinois Infantry39

Class of 1845

William Maximillian Crosby (1817-1894): enlisted on Jan. 3, 1862, at Albany, NY; captain. On March 15, 1862, he joined “I” Co. NY 103rd Infantry; discharged on July 30, 1864 as a brevet major.40

Samuel Russell Welles MD (1825-1900): surgeon 61st NY Infantry; member of the New York Assembly for two terms after the war; trustee Hobart 1878. 41

Class of 1846

Calvin Noyes (1827-1866): 10th NY Regiment Cavalry.42 Enlistment Date: May 1864 at Tarrytown, NY as a private. He was promoted to sergeant, then 2nd lieutenant and mustered out 26 June 1865.43 Died in Geneva.

Robert Stewart Webb (1824-1899): enlisted Sept. 5, 1861, as a major and joined the U.S. Volunteers Paymaster’s Dept. Mustered out on July 1, 1867; brevet lt. colonel 1865.44

Class of 1847

Andrew Merrell (1826-1888): MD, asst. surgeon Army of the Potomac; lived in Geneva, NY.

Class of 1848

Clarence Armstrong Seward (1828-1897): lt. colonel 19th NY Regiment; nephew of Secretary of State William Seward. 45’

Francis Granger Young (1825-Unknown): captain in Edward D. Baker’s 71st Pennsylvania or “California Regiment.”46 He participated in the Battle of Ball’s Bluff on October 21, 1861. One of the first fights of the Civil War, this battle was a bloody Northern retreat—a complete disaster. It prompted Congress to open the first official inquiry into the war’s conduct. “All was terror, confusion, and dismay,” wrote Young. “The corpses floated all the way to Washington.”47 The army later court-martialed Young; several letters from the period attribute the court-martial to Young’s contradictory battle accounts.48 He left the service in 1862, and there is no record available of the court-martial. 49

Class of 1849

Franklin Chamberlain (1826-1910): served as a lt. colonel US Volunteers, Bank’s Division,50 brevet brigadier general 1865.

Rev. George Nathan Cheney (1829-1863): chaplain, 33rd NY Regiment, served from May 1861- January 1862, when he resigned at Camp Griffin, Virginia.51

Class of 1851

Robert Burns (1832-1891): lt. colonel, US Volunteers Michigan. Burns graduated as a civil engineer in 1851. After supervising railroad and canal construction in New York, Canada, and Michigan, he turned to law and passed the bar in 1859. Burns then volunteered in 1862 for service with the Fourth Michigan Cavalry. After the War, he went to Kalamazoo, Michigan and established a prosperous law firm specializing in land transfers. 52

Class of 1852

Foster Swift MD (1833-1875): surgeon 8th NY Regiment, son of General Joseph Swift; from the general’s biography:

In the year 1861 my son Foster, in the spring, volunteered as a surgeon in the 8th New York Regiment, and proceeded to Annapolis and Washington, and on 21st of July was in the battle of Bull Run in Virginia—a defeat of both armies.53 Foster deemed it his duty to remain with the wounded in the field and hospital, a prisoner; was sent for by Beauregard and parolled54, and sent to Richmond, thence to Old Point Comfort and thence home, and has not been exchanged until the day of writing this, December 1862.55

Class of 1853

William Stewart Burns (1833-1911): served as a 2nd lieutenant in the Fremont Hussars under John C. Fremont. This unit became the 4th Missouri Cavalry in February 1862. Promoted to captain, he remained with the regiment through its campaigns in Missouri and northern Arkansas until 1863. He later participated in the Meridian Campaign, the Red River Expedition, and in operations in north Mississippi before mustering out with his regiment on Sept. 20, 1864. 56

Albert Gallatin Clark (1833-1897): 2nd Colorado Cavalry, Colorado Territory.57 The 2nd Colorado repelled Confederate invasions in New Mexico, the Indian territory, and later saw action along the Kansas border. In 1865, the regiment moved back out onto the plains for peacekeeping operations along the Santa Fe Trail.58

William Thomas Clark (1831-1890): At the beginning of the Civil War, he became a lieutenant and adjutant of the 13th Iowa Infantry Regiment. He fought at the battle of Shiloh and Corinth. He served as assistant adjutant general in the XVII Corps during the siege of Vicksburg and assistant adjutant-general to the Army of Tennessee during the Atlanta Campaign. He was made a brevet brigadier general for service in the Atlanta Campaign and was assigned to an infantry brigade in the XV Corps during the Carolinas Campaign. He became a full brigadier general in 1865, cited for gallant and meritorious services during the war. After the war, he made his home in Galveston, Texas, where he organized the first African American school, founded the First National Bank and served as postmaster. He later served a term in Congress.59

Watson Webb (1833-1876): son of General James Watson Webb; 1st lt. in the 3rd Artillery, stationed in California at Ft. Alcatraz. 60 He enlisted in New York on April 26, 1861.61

Class of 1854

Alexander Duncan Adams (1832-1872): colonel 27th Regiment NY. A resident of Lyons, New York, and prewar lieutenant in Company A-Lyons Light Guard of the 54th New York State Militia (NYSM). He had been an engineer on the project to enlarge the Erie Canal and a teacher at the Union School in Lyons. At the start of the war, he helped raise a company in Wayne County, and he became a captain of Company B, 27th Infantry, at the unit’s organization on 2 May 1861. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel after First Bull Run on 1 September 1861. Adams was appointed colonel on 4 October 1862 and led the regiment until the end of their term of service on 31 May 1863. After his service, Adams returned to Lyons and became principal of the Union School. He died of tuberculosis in 1872, leaving a widow and daughter.62

Nicholas Dyer Randall (1835-1902): major, 15th Missouri regiment; adjutant, 9th Missouri cavalry, and 8th Wisconsin infantry63

Class of 1855

Samuel Birdsall Jr. (1823-1890): captain, 6th Wisconsin Infantry. He served from 1861-1873 in the Iron Brigade commanded by General Edward S. Bragg, Geneva College 1847.64

Theodore H. Schenck (1837–1874): major 19th NY Regiment. After the war, he was literary editor of The Auburn Morning News, daily and weekly, from 1868 until it ceased publication in 1871.65 He was buried at Fort Hill Cemetery, Auburn, Cayuga County, New York, USA66

Class of 1856

Charles Nathaniel Hewitt MD (1835-1910): brigade surgeon US Volunteers, graduated from Albany medical college in 1857. He practiced in Geneva, New York, until 1861 when he entered the United States Army as an assistant surgeon of the 50th New York regiment and rose to brigade surgeon. After the war, he moved to Red Wing, Minnesota, where he was a professor of public health at the University of Minnesota. He invented a modification of the starch bandage.67

Class of 1857

William Watts Folwell (1833-1929): lt. colonel in the 50th NY Volunteer engineers in the Civil War. At Hobart, Folwell was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. He spent the years 1860–1861 studying philology— historical development and relationships of a language or languages—in Berlin and traveling. During the American Civil War, he served in the 50th New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment, earning the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel of engineers. After the Civil War, Folwell briefly engaged in business pursuits in Ohio and accepted a position as the chair of mathematics at Kenyon College, Ohio, for a year. In 1869, he became the University of Minnesota’s first president. After retiring, the University named a new building Folwell Hall in his honor.68

Josiah Holcombe Kellogg (1836-1919): From History of the Seventeenth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry:

Colonel Josiah H. Kellogg was born at Erie, Pennsylvania, on October 1, 1836. He was educated at private schools and the Erie Academy till 1853, when he entered Hobart College, at Geneva, N.Y., in which institution he was a junior when appointed as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, in 1855. He graduated in 1860, and was appointed as a brevet second lieutenant

in the First Dragoons. By permission of the War Department, he was assigned to the command of the Seventeenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, received a commission from the governor of Pennsylvania as colonel of U. S. volunteers, November 19, 1862, and at once took command of the regiment.

He commanded the regiment during the famous Stafford, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg campaigns. Because of injuries incurred during the service, he was granted leave of absence and was obliged to be absent from the regiment until November 10, 1864, when he again reported for duty. He accompanied the regiment in the Gordonsville expedition and commanded a provisional brigade of which the regiment formed a part. Afterward, Colonel Kellogg was sent to West Point as assistant professor of natural philosophy and astronomy. 69

William K. Logie (1838-1864): In the 141st NY Regiment, March 7, 1863, Captain William K. Logie of Company E was promoted to lieutenant colonel. 70 From A History of Steuben County, New York, and Its People:

Colonel William K. Logie was a lawyer by profession and came from Geneva, New York, to Corning to reside in the latter part of 1860. He was active in the organization of the One Hundred and Forty-first New York Regiment of Volunteer Infantry, and was chosen captain of Company E, November 3, 1862; promoted to lieutenant colonel March 24, 1863, and to colonel, June 19,1863. He was killed in action at Peach Tree Creek, Georgia, near Atlanta, on July 20, 1864. He was a good tactician and acquitted himself bravely in the various battles or engagements in which his regiment took part. One of his comrades, in a tribute to him published in the Corning Journal in August 1864, said: “He was beloved by all. Though young in years, he was old in experience. On the field of battle, he was cool and had an eye to all that was going on. Where the engagement was hottest there was he found, cheering the boys and even loading and firing a musket as rapidly as any.”71

Frederick Augustine Nims (1839-1914): In 1861, he became a 2nd lieutenant of the 1st NY Cavalry, the first organized. Soon after his enlistment, he became quartermaster in the brigade commanded by General L N. Palmer. In the fall of 1862, he became aide-de-camp to General W. L Elliott of the Potomac Army, then in 1863, aide-de-camp to the staff of General J. C. Sullivan stationed at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. In October 1864, he resigned his position in the army.72

George Williamson Smith (1836-1925): served as an army chaplain; after the war, served in the US Navy as a chaplain at the Naval Academy and was later president of Trinity College in 1883.73

Charles Nelson Spalding (1836-1914): 55th NY Regiment. Initially, he taught mathematics at Shelton College in Kentucky. He then studied for the priesthood at General Theological Seminary and was ordained a deacon in 1863, but the outbreak of the Civil War led him to enlist in the Army. Returning from service, he again continued his studies and was ordained to the priesthood in 1872.74

Nathan Teall (1835-1862): sgt major 50th NY Regiment. Teall was severely injured when he was thrown from a wagon after his unit reached Washington.75 His death notice;

Mr. Nathan Teall, who enlisted in Capt W. O. Smalley’s company in this place last fall, and was badly injured in Washington, soon after he arrived there by being thrown from a wagon, was brought home to Castleton on Saturday last (19th inst.) and died on Sunday. The poor fellow suffered enough to have killed a score of men and only lived but a few hours after arriving at the residence of his parents. Teall, like a true patriot, enlisted when his country called for his services, but the sad accident prevented him from rendering the service which he otherwise would have been capable of doing. 76

James Harvey Tinkham MD (1837-1879): asst. surgeon US Navy. In July of 1861, after his enlistment, Tinkham served on the USS Kanawha and the USS Wabash. 77

Class of 1858

Harvey Baldwin Jr. (1838- aft 1905): major 119th NY Infantry 4 Sept 1862; Organized at New York City and mustered in under Colonel Elias and later judge advocate Sigel’s78 staff, NY Volunteers.79

Jules Frederick Billard, MD (1838-1912): asst. surgeon US Navy, 1861-1865 80 He was attached to the U.S.S. Monticello during the blockade of the southern states and present at the fall of Fort Fisher in 1864.81 The fort on the North Carolina shore was the last coastal stronghold of the Confederacy. It protected blockade-running vessels

entering and departing Wilmington, the South’s last open seaport on the Atlantic coast. After a naval bombardment, Union forces attacked. After heavy fighting, the Navy’s heavy guns silenced the Confederate batteries. The Confederate “Gibraltar of the South” garrison surrendered late that evening, opening the way for a Federal thrust against Wilmington, North Carolina. He died in Washington, DC, at his home.82

Samuel Bradhurst Clark (1838-1882): acting master US Navy, Commodore’s Clerk.83

Samuel Campbell Foot (1836-1862): master’s mate US Navy. Account of his death and funeral From Ontario Republican Times 25 June 1862:

Samuel Campbell Foot, late acting Master’s Mate in the United States Navy. We have heretofore mentioned the creditable manner in which he acquitted himself in the battle at Roanoke Island, as signal officer of the gunboat, “Stars and Stripes.” He discharged a like duty equally well in the battle at Newbern. After that battle, he was transferred to the more responsible position of executive officer on the U. S. armed Steamer Whitehead, which was stationed several weeks near Elizabeth City, NC, in the vicinity of the canal and dismal swamp. The malaria of that region gave our young friend typhoid fever. He was sent to the Naval Hospital at Newbern where he was very ill for some weeks. There his father reached him and started homeward with him. He improved on the journey, and arrived at the residence of his aunt, Miss Campbell, at Millburn, NJ, a few miles from New York, where his mother was waiting to receive him. He seemed better, and his recovery was confidently expected. But after a few days, his disease took an unfavorable turn, and he expired on Thursday, the 12th inst., on the same day of the week and but three months from the day on which his elder brother died. His funeral took place last Sunday afternoon, on the same day and very nearly in the same manner that of his brother had on the 16th of March last. His remains were taken to the Reformed Dutch Church, the Pastor, Dr. Wiley, conducted the services, which were strikingly appropriate, and delivered an impressive sermon to a crowded house. 84

John McKelvee Forshee, MD (1836-1862): surgeon US Volunteers. From the NYS Adj.-Gen.’s report on the 11th Volunteers:

FORSHEE, JOHN M. — Age, 25 years. Enrolled, August 1, 1861, at New York city; mustered in as assistant surgeon, same date, to serve during the war; mustered out June 18, 1862, at Washington, DC; commissioned assistant surgeon, May 1, 1862, with rank from August 1, 1861, vice O. Gray, promoted.”

The Sigma Phi Delta of New York catalog reported he died from disease contracted in the service.85

Charles Carroll Gray, MD (1838-1884): surgeon, lt. colonel, a medical officer in the First Battle of Manassas. During the Civil War, he was confined in Confederate prisons, including Libby Prison in Richmond, VA, Castle Pinckney in Charleston, SC, and other facilities at Columbia, SC, and Salisbury, NC. His diary detailed the prisoners’ medical conditions and social interactions between prisoners and guards. After the war, he served in the Dakotas, and his last assignment was at Ft. Riley, Kansas. He was a member of Sigma Phi.86

Andrew Zimmerman McCarty (1838-1904): Company C 3rd NY Cavalry. 87

John Nicholson, MD (1831-1862): surgeon. His obituary appeared in the Geneva paper:

JOHN NICHOLSON, son of J. E. Nicholson, graduated with his class in 1858. After graduating, he commenced the study of medicine in his native village, Erie, PA, and graduated in medicine at Cleveland on February 3, 1880. After this he attended a course of lectures at the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia and took a Diploma at that Institution also, March 1861. On a call for troops by the General Government, he offered his services and was appointed surgeon of the 111th PA Volunteers. He served his country in that capacity with great fidelity and success until he was attacked with typhoid fever and died after a week’s illness on the 1st day of August 1862, at Washington, Rappahannock Co., VA. His body was carried home and buried at Erie, PA. Dr. Nicholson was never married.88

Class of 1859

Henry Kip Clarke, MD (1837-1896): In 1862, graduated from Albany Medical College and was appointed asst. surgeon 10th NY Cavalry, in 1863 became the regiment’s surgeon, promoted to brevet lt colonel.89

David Duncan Hillis (1839-1864): lt 3rd New York Artillery, injured in 1863 with scalp laceration and died in 1864 of yellow fever, New Bern, NC.90

Benjamin F. Lee (1835-1898): capt with the 126th NY infantry. Wounded at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and Gettysburg, PA, he left military service in 1864.91 He later became a district attorney in Kent, Ohio. He died under mysterious circumstances in 1898, when the remains of his body were found in a burned cottage.92

Class of 1860

Mahlon Bainbridge (1836-1876): corporal 50th NY Volunteers.

Charles Partridge Boswell (1839-1925): volunteered at age 22 for the 92nd NY Infantry on October 18, 1861, just over a year after graduating from Hobart. He served for three years, promoted to captain, before being discharged on July 23, 1864.93 He later donated the land for the original Boswell Field at Hobart in 1907.94 He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester.95

David Brooks (1835-1913): sgt US Cavalry, Kansas

Thomas James Rundle (1838-1911): adjutant, 156th NY Volunteers; 1st lieutenant Company I.96

Class of 1861

Byron Kilbourn Cowles (1837-1907): capt, asst. adjutant general US volunteers Iowa.

Thomas Jefferson Ennis (1841-1864): judge advocate US volunteers Iowa; Appointed Adjutant Jan. 1, 1862 and promoted major March 14, 1863. Wounded slightly in leg Nov. 25, 1863, Mission Ridge, TN. Killed in action July 28, 1864, Atlanta, GA, during Atlanta’s Siege.97

Mahlon Bainbridge Folwell, MD (1838-1895): mustered into the 50th NY volunteer engineer regiment- hospital steward in April 1862; promoted to 1st lieutenant in 1863; and captain and commanding officer in 1865. He left the service in 1865.98

Alfred Barton Hough (1837-1893): 50th NY engineers99 Mustered in September 11, 1862, in Washington, DC. Promoted to captain October 1862, involved in defense of Washington.100

Thurman Adams Merriman (1839-1892): In September 1861, he enlisted in the Union Army. His obituary in the Hobart Herald noted his service

In October of that year [1861], he was made Captain of Company B, ninety-second New York volunteers. He served in the armies of the Potomac and the James, was present at the sieges of Yorktown, Petersburg, and Richmond, and took part in the battles of Williamsburg, Jones’ Ford, Fair Oak’s, White Oak Swamp, and Malvern Hill and in the operations of the Chickahominy. After serving three years and being in some of the worst battles of the war without injury, he was wounded in the trenches before Petersburg. He was mustered out of the service in January 1865.101

He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1867. In 1871 he moved to New York City. In 1884 he was elected to the US Congress and served for two terms. In 1888 he was not a candidate for renomination, and upon leaving Congress, he returned to New York City, where he died at the age of 52.102

Truman Washington Miller (1840-1900): Served in the Army of the Potomac until after the Battle of the Wilderness. The army transferred him to Chicago, and he served as a post and examining surgeon, which he held until the close of the war.103

Rev. Charles Talcott Ogden (1839-1911): paymaster dept US Army.

Heber Smith (1840-1888): Entered Hobart College in 1857, graduating from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of New York, in the spring of 1861. As a resident intern of Bellevue Hospital, he remained there until the Civil War. He then entered the U.S. Navy as an assistant surgeon and served until the war’s end. Serving under Admiral Farragut, Smith was present at the capture of New Orleans and Mobile and took part in nearly all the battles fought under Farragut and the blockade of the Gulf ports.104 In June 1861, on the USS Monticello, he accompanied a small landing party to an island in Virginia’s Rappahannock River. After wading ashore, the sailors from the Monticello were set upon by the local Confederate militia. The crew retreated to the boat’s safety. In the retreat, a lead musket ball entered Smith’s left cheek, took out a piece of his tongue and several teeth, and exited through the right cheek, seriously wounding him.

On June 14, 1863, the US Gunboat Itasca was on blockade duty off Texas. He wrote home to his father:

Last Sunday morning September 1862] as we anchored at Baton Rouge, a steamboat came up with four hundred of Gen. Butlers’ troops with four pieces of artillery requesting us to cover them in a landing at Donaldsonville, fifty miles below. It seems that a band of six hundred guerrillas had established themselves there with two pieces of artillery and had made themselves so obnoxious to the inhabitants in waging war against them instead of us that they — the inhabitants of the place, principally Spanish and Creole –had actually banded themselves together and were resisting the guerrillas, having driven them out of the town and our troops were coming up to assist in the enterprise. The landing was effected under cover of the gunboats yesterday morning [22 September 1863] and the guerrillas were found in a piece of woods about three miles back of the town and dislodged with a few ten and eleven-inch shells. Skirmishing was kept up all day and during last night. Five of the rebels were shot as they were prowling around our camp.

After resigning from the navy in 1865, he settled in New Orleans. He was appointed acting assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army, assigned to the military hospitals in that city, and as an attending surgeon for officers and their families. Later he left the army and headed the U.S. Marine Hospital Service at New Orleans. He transferred to New York in 1871 and in 1879 to the service in San Francisco. He resigned in 1881 and returned to private practice.105 He later changed his name to Ernest Hebersmith.

Dr. Heber Smith Findagrave.com

Edward H. C Taylor (1840-1905): When the war began while visiting Holland, Michigan, he enlisted in the 4th Michigan Infantry. He wrote letters to his mother; many dealt with what he encountered in battle. Letter after the battle of Gettysburg106

Battlefield near Gettysburg, Pa., July 4th, ’63

Dear Mother:

I take this first chance to let you know that I am safe from the battle of the day before yesterday and yesterday. The slaughter was awful, but so far all is in our favor. I was taken by a party of “Rebs” and sent to their rear but managed to escape when they were repulsed by playing wounded and hiding behind a large rock. I will tell my adventures another time. We took 300 men into the fight and brought out 80. I had a narrow escape. There is a lull in the storm. What comes next is hard to tell. I escaped from my captors before they had time to punish me, and so am good for the next fight. No more at present. When I can I will write again.107

Your affectionate son, Edw. H.C. Taylor

Charles Jefferson Wright (1839-1910): Enlisted in the Union army in Company G, the 16th NH Volunteers, recruited at Nashua, New Hampshire. He was promoted to sergeant and served through the New Orleans, Red River, and Port Hudson campaigns under Generals Butler and Banks. Admiral Farragut selected him as the bearer of dispatches. For his services, he became a lieutenant, and Farragut recommended him for a commission in the United States regular army. At the beginning of the Wilderness campaign, he went to the Twenty-seventh Infantry108 (an African American unit), which he led through all the campaign battles. He was wounded at the Petersburg Mine (the Battle of the Crater) and later at Fort Fisher. On March 13, 1865, Wright received a promotion to brevet lt. colonel for gallant and meritorious services. He left the service in 1866.109

L. Yost Findagrave Memorial

Class of 1862

George Ludlow Yost (1840-1877): 1st lieutenant 126th NY Regiment; 126th Infantry. On September 15, 1862, he was taken prisoner at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia— later paroled. On July 3, 1863, he was wounded at Gettysburg,110 Discharged in 1864, received his MD from Columbia University in 1866, and moved to Michigan, where he practiced medicine until his death at 37.111

Porteus C. Gilbert (1840-1898): In 1861, he was a lt, Company F, 50th NY Engineers; resigned and attended Albany Medical School, rejoined the army as a surgeon. He left the military after the Civil War to practice medicine.115

George Gallagher Hopkins, MD (1843-1908): capt company E, 5th RI Heavy Artillery, brevet major. Later, a physician in Brooklyn; buried in Geneva’s Washington St. Cemetery.116

Lyman Eastman Jacobus (1837-1908): 126th NY Regiment; principal musician for the regiment; taken prisoner at Harper’s Ferry in 1862, paroled, mustered out in 1865.117

John Adams Johnson (1841- 1878): lt, Company F, 50th NY Engineers. Later a stockbroker in New York. He died from insanity.118

Charles Cooper Bradford (1840-1865): son of John M. Bradford, listed as a teacher in Geneva, became a clerk in the military, died near Chattanooga Tenn.112 Member of Sigma Phi. His obituary, which appeared in the Geneva Daily Gazette., July 28, 1865, stated that he had contracted a fever, which progressed rapidly, leading to his death.

Amos Brunson (1839-1862): Born in East Bloomfield, NY, son of Flavius Brunson. He completed three years at Hobart and quit to join the 85th but intended to return after the war to complete his studies. Enrolled August 26, 1861, at Canandaigua to serve three years; mustered in as Second Lieutenant, Company B, December 2, 1861. Died of disease, May 24, 1862, at Rose Cottage Hospital, near Bottom Bridge, VA.113

Henry Richard Gibson (1837-1938): served in the commissary department of the Union Army from March 1863 to July 1865. Later an American attorney and politician, he represented Tennessee’s 2nd district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1895 to 1905. He also served as a state chancery court judge and delegate to Tennessee’s 1870 constitutional convention. Additionally, he wrote and edited several books on federal and state law.114

Edward D. Macomb, MD (1843-1873): physician and asst. surgeon in the US Army. Honorably discharged in Nov. 1865, he died at Fort Duncan, Texas; buried in San Antonio national cemetery, removed from Ft. Duncan.119

William DeWolf Pringle, (1840-1930): lt, 22nd NY Light Artillery, September 1862, served in the 9th NY Heavy Artillery Regiment in early 1863. On the staff of Maj. Gen. E. Upton; commissioned 1st lieutenant Oct 1862; participated in the Overland and Shenandoah Valley campaigns and was discharged Oct 1864 for health problems.120 After the war, Lieutenant Pringle was a lawyer in Hastings, Minnesota.121

George F. Pritchett (1841-1912): entered the class of 1862 but did not graduate. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and assisted in recruiting Co. E. of the l26th NY Regiment. As a 1st lieutenant, he fought in the battle of Harper’s Ferry, Sept. 13-15, 1862. He became sick and was in a military hospital from Oct. 20, 1863, till Feb 13, 1863, when he was too weak to return to the service. He resigned his commission and was honorably discharged.122

George

Thomas Ten Broeck Myer (1839-before 1881)123: enlisted first as a private 125th NY Regiment. The Troy Daily Whig reported in 1864 that he was a cousin of General Albert J. Myer, Geneva College 1847, the inventor of the army signaling system and that Thomas had been a clerk in the Bureau of Colored Troops in Washington.124

The War Department established the bureau on May 22, 1863, to handle “all matters relating to the organization of colored troops.”125

Benjamin Weston Woodward (1837-1902): A lawyer, then a clerk in the US Commissary Department in 1863 for one year.126 He later served as a county judge, head of the custom’s house in Buffalo, and practiced law in Watkins Glen, NY.127

Class of 1863

Charles Milford Graves (1841-1871): master’s mate, US Navy.

Henry Lawrence Slosson (1842-1903): engineer, US Navy. The New York Times obituary stated he served under Admiral Farragut. He died of apoplexy.128

Joseph Garder Swift (1844-1871): cadet, West Point, 1862-1866. Graduated June 18, 1866; appointed 2d lt., 5th US Artillery October 1, 1867. He first served in the garrison in Richmond, VA.129 In 1871, he died from an overdose of morphine. On March 5, 1871, The New York Times had a lengthy piece entitled: “Artillery Lieutenant Poisoned – Suspicions of Suicide.”130 His obituary was widely reported, and he was buried in the Washington Street Cemetery in Geneva.

Cornelius Van Schacck (1842-1884): 1st lieutenant US Volunteers.

Class of 1864

Douglas O. Kelly Ancestry.com

Douglas Ottinger Kelly (1844-1918): enlisted August 14, 1862, as a 1st Sergeant in the Ohio 100th Infantry and was promoted to 2nd lt as a prisoner. Captured September 8, 1863, at Limestone Station, TN confined at Macon, GA, and Columbia, SC, released April 25, 1865, in Greensboro, NC. Later an Episcopal priest.131

Thomas Folger Langdon (1843-1888): lt 50th NY Regiment.

Benjamin Franklin McReynolds (1843-1907): was a lieutenant in the U. S. Volunteers from 1862 to 1865. In 1865, he suffered from pneumonia and was in Annapolis military hospital. After leaving the hospital and being honorably discharged from the army, he went to Washington, DC. There he attended Ford’s Theatre and was an eyewitness to the assassination of President Lincoln.132

William Penn Smith (1844-1864): adjutant 148th NY Regiment. He died of an unknown illness in Portsmouth, VA. 133

Frederick L. Tremain (1843-1865): enlisted on July 22, 1862, at Albany, NY as a 1st lt. November 14, 1863, he was commissioned as a capt in the US Volunteers Adjutant Genl’s Dept. On January 30, 1865, he became a lt colonel on the staff of the NY 10th Cavalry. Fell at the head of his regiment at Hatcher’s Run, VA, on February 4, 1865. The Battle of Hatcher’s Run (February 5–7, 1865), also known as Dabney’s Mill, aimed at cutting off Confederate supply traffic for the forces in Petersburg, VA. He served under General Philip Sheridan.134

Class of 1865

Thomas Augustus Carson (1843-1880): served in the army, practiced medicine in Rochester, and later ran a drugstore.135

John Catterson (1844-Unknown): 50th NY Regiment NY, enlisted, August 29, 1862, at Geneva as pvt, Co. B served three years; promoted artificer, October 7, 1862. An artificer was skilled at working on electronic, electrical, electro-mechanical, and mechanical devices. Corps of Artificers served during the American Revolution and American Civil Wars.136 He was mustered out with his company on June 13, 1865, at Fort Barry, VA137

Robert Morton Drinker (1845-1898): sgt 22nd NY Light Artillery, 1st Lt and brevet maj, 37th US Colored Troops.138

Frederick L. Tremain Source Findagrave

John Gilbert Shirley (1844-1913): Served as a lt in Duryée’s Zouaves NY Volunteers. Colonel Abram Duryee organized this regiment at Fort Schuyler, NY, on April 12, 1861, as a volunteer regiment for two years’ service. At Duryée’s suggestion, the unit chose a colorful variation of the Zouave uniform. Duryée’s reputation and the flashy uniform of the regiment attracted eager volunteers for the 5th New York, or “Duryee’s Zouaves. 139

Class of 1866

William Henry Abercrombie (1846-1907): capt served April 1861, Maryland Infantry, discharged in 1865 at the war’s end. Wounded during combat; later practiced medicine.140 His obituary appeared in the New York Times:

W. H. ABERCROMBIE A SUICIDE

Former New York Physician, Once Consul at Nagasaki

WASHINGTON. Sept. 5. William Abercrombie. Formerly United States Consul at Nagasaki, Japan committed suicide by asphyxiation at his apartments here today. He was 63 years old.

Dr. Abercrombie was found lying in bed in his nightclothes and the door to his room had been made tight by stuffing cotton into all the openings. The former Consul had been reading a magazine article on “Effects of Mental Fatigue.” Mental depression was suggested as the cause of suicide.

Dr. Abercrombie was born in New York in 1845, and completed his education at Hobart College, Geneva, NY. After several years’ of travel in Europe, Asia, and North and South America, he entered the New York Homeopathic Medical College and was graduated in 1872. He practiced medicine in New York and Jersey City until he was appointed American Consul at Nagasaki in 1890 by President Harrison.141

HOBART MEN: CONFEDERATES STATES ARMY (CSA)

Abel Seymour Baldwin (1811-1898): Class of 1833. Member of the Florida Senate and later surgeon in the CSA; founder of the Florida State Medical Association.142

Henry Ebenezer Handerson (1837-1918): Class of 1858: lt, Company B, 9th Louisiana, later capt, assistant adjutant-general to Leroy A. Stafford, October 23, 1863. Prisoner of war at the Battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864, not released from prison until June 1865.143

Henry Handerson Source Ancestry.com

Ralph Leland Goodrich (1836-1897): Class of 1858.144 In 1858, he moved to South Carolina, where he taught at Camden Academy. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted as a private in the Confederate service. From September 1861 to March 1862, he served in Company A of the 6th Arkansas Infantry. Within days of enlisting, Goodrich’s unit marched to Kentucky, but Goodrich did not go farther than Memphis, where he became ill and was hospitalized there. He appeared to be in Franklin, TN, in February 1862 but was still too sick to join his unit encamped near Bowling Green, KY. Following Grant’s capture of Confederate Forts Henry and Donaldson early in 1862, the 6th Arkansas withdrew to northern Mississippi, and he joined them in this retreat. Shortly after that, he appears to have obtained a medical disability discharge that allowed him to return to Little Rock just before the Battle of Shiloh. His death was reported Thursday, October 7, 1897 in The Arkansas Gazette;

DEATH WAS SUDDEN

Ralph L. Goodrich Falls a Victim of Heart Disease Expired Early in the Morning

Clerk in the United States Courts in this City Since 1866 – A Ripe Scholar and Man of Wealth –Prominent in Masonic Circles – Married Only a Month Ago – Funeral to be Under Masonic Auspices

Ralph L. Goodrich, clerk of the United States circuit and district courts in this city, died of heart disease shortly before 8 o’clock yesterday morning at his residence, 805 Main Street. When he retired the night before he was apparently in good health, but he had shown symptoms of heart failure in the past year. He arose yesterday morning but returned immediately to bed in apparent great agony.145

James Innes Randolph, (1837-1887): Class of 1859: major and topographical engineer, CSA. After the war, he moved to Baltimore, MD to practice law. After giving up the practice, Randolph wrote editorials and poems for the Baltimore American. He continued writing and living in Baltimore until his death in April 1887. His best-known poem is “I’m A Good Ol’ Rebel.” That criticizes the US and disparages its national symbols while praising the Confederacy, lamenting its defeat at the hands of the US.146

Wilberforce Richmond McKnew (1839-1904): Class of 1860. Entered the Confederate service in 1862 as assistant surgeon in the 1st Maryland Cavalry. He was taken prisoner at Greenland Gap held for a month at Fort Norfolk.147

Rudolph Alpheus King 1862 (1841-1907): maj 11th Virginia Cavalry, CSA148

The Evening Star, April 22, 1907 Rudolph A. King Dead Old Resident of City and Confederate Veteran

Rudolph Alpheus King, for many years a resident of Washington, and formerly engaged in the importing business here, died at the family apartments in the Alabama, 11th and N streets northwest, this morning shortly before 10 o’clock. The immediate cause of death was kidney trouble.

When the civil war broke out, Mr. King was studying at Hobart College, Geneva, N.Y., and when the news of the firing of the first gun in the war was received he at once left college and hastened to Virginia, where he joined one of the regiments of that state organized to uphold the southern confederacy.

Mr. King was in his 66th year, and, it is stated, was the first man to place coal oil on sale upon the local market. He did this immediately after the civil war when he came to this city to locate. About forty years ago he married Miss Bettie W. Moore of Eastville, Accomac county, Va., who survives him, together with two daughters and three sons--Mrs. Mary L. Turner, Mrs. H.C. Lewis, Dr. W.P.M. King, Z.M.P. King, and R.A. King, Jr.

The deceased was a member of the Theta Delta Chi college fraternity, of the Confederate Veteran’s Association and of the Masonic order. In the latter fraternity, Mr. King did not affiliate with the local bodies, but held his membership in Virginia.149

John Lewis Amsden (1844-1912): Class of 1863. Lt CSA served at Versailles, KY Aug. 1862, Co. A 5th KY Cavalry. Later as part of Morgan’s Ohio Raid, he was held prisoner at Camp Morton, Indianapolis, and Camp Douglass.150

Thomas Triplett Hunter (1813-1872): Class of 1863. Son of General John Chapman Hunter. A Confederate Navy captain 151 commanded the CSS Raleigh and the CSS Curlew. He helped capture the USS Fanny in 1861 off North Carolina.152

SPANISH AMERICAN WAR

There are minimal service records showing any Hobart men’s military participation from 1865 to the outbreak of the First World War.

Eduardo C. Frey: class of 1889. From a summary of class news:

He had a most adventurous career since he departed from Hobart. At first, he entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania but, owing to a severe illness, was obliged to abandon his medical studies during his second year there. Two years later, having meanwhile re-established his health, he resumed these studies.

With the class of ’94, at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York City. While a student at Bellevue, Dr. Frey, a native-born Cuban, became a naturalized citizen of the United States. After receiving his medical degree, he entered upon the practice of medicine in Washington, D. C.; but, upon the outbreak of the Cuban Revolution, in 1896, he abandoned this practice and joined the insurgent army as a surgeon. He was subsequently promoted to the office of Division Surgeon, with the rank of Lt. Colonel.

Upon the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, he joined the United States Army at Tampa, FL, from which he was honorably mustered out, on November 25th, 1902, with the rank of Captain and Assistant Surgeon, U.S. Volunteers. During his service with the American Army, he took part in the campaign of Santiago de Cuba, the occupation of Havana, and the Chinese Relief Expedition under General Chaffee. He spent the last two years of his military service in the Philippines, where he took an active part in several expeditions against the Filipinos, in which he commanded troops. After retiring from the army, he returned to his home in Washington and resumed the practice of medicine. The following year, he removed to Cuba, where he has been practicing medicine ever since. 153

WORLD WAR

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson appeared before a joint session of Congress to ask for a declaration of war against Germany and its allies. Four days later, Congress declared war.154

To meet the war’s anticipated needs, a group of New York’s political and educational leaders proposed military training on college campuses. On Monday, April 16, 1917, Hobart men gathered for the first day of military drill. Alumni and community members, with military training, volunteered to teach the students, and the library ordered the necessary books. Faculty members procured fake practice guns, and students planned to train four days a week. This plan was good, but as Wilson’s call to arms resonated across the campus, Hobart men left – eager to serve.

By mid-May, five faculty and 13 students had left for Officers’ Reserve Corps training. Final exams schedules changed, and the college canceled commencement for the first time in 92 years. The rapid loss of students seriously began to impact Hobart. The fall semester began with only 100 students. Although campus military training continued, the war drew more students to serve, off to do their duty. By February 1918, only 60 men remained; as the summer began, it appeared that Hobart might close.155

Student Army Training Corps

At this point, as it would later in World War II, a federal government program — the Student Army Training Corps (SATC) — saved Hobart. Under the direction of SATC staff, Coxe Hall auditorium became the mess hall, and the dean’s office became a kitchen. Medbery, Geneva, and Kent House housed SATC men. Geneva Hall held the orderly, quartermaster, surgeon, and medical offices. As the program progressed, the student body numbers increased; 188 men enlisted, drilling two hours a day, five days a week. The Hobart faculty taught: physics, chemistry, surveying and map making, camp hygiene, military law, and a required course, “Issues of the War.” The nightly mandatory study period occurred from 7–9 pm in Demarest Library, Trinity, and Coxe Hall. 156

One-third of all Hobart alumni and undergraduates —about 300—served during the war. The first 10 left the College in 1917 to go to France as Red Cross ambulance drivers. Before the war ended, 190 men entered the program, and 10 saw service. In late November 1918, the SATC demobilized.157

Student Army Training Corps, April 1917 Hobart and William Smith Archives

WILLIAM SMITH DURING WORLD WAR I

William Smith women also participated in the war effort.158 Red Cross classes taught first aid, making bandages, and gathered other needed medical supplies. Fundraising for the war effort brought in $1,189—nearly $22,000 in today’s dollars. War-related pieces appeared in The Ridge, the William Smith literary journal.

In September 1918, they helped fund Margaret Shuttleworth’s (WS’16) trip to France for the YMCA. She wrote home about working in a canteen in Nancy, France: “We are open from eight to eight and frequently serve fifteen hundred in four hours. Four of us are stationed in this canteen. The work isn’t selling behind the counter, that’s a small part. It’s sewing on buttons or mending a tear, playing checkers, or looking at the family portraits. The boys love to talk of home and naturally we encourage them to do so and to write often. I wonder if I have given you any idea of our work? It’s so big and I feel so inadequate.”159

Murray Bartlett

President of Hobart and William Smith (1919-1936)

Murray Bartlett160

petitioned to serve as an army chaplain during World War I. The army rejected his application because the 46-year-old Bartlett was considered too old. He did not give up and took another route to serve. In January 1918, Bartlett went to France as an “overseas secretary” of the YMCA. He worked closely with the 1st Division and eventually became “acting chaplain” of the 18th Infantry Regiment. During the Battle of Soissons, Bartlett assumed the duties of chaplain, 18th Infantry. 161 The army cited him for displaying conspicuous bravery in caring for the wounded and burying the dead of his regiment under intense enemy fire. For his actions, he received a Distinguished Service Cross.162 His application to become an active-duty Army Chaplain was finally approved in November 1918, but the Armistice occurred before his status could become official. In addition to the DSC, Bartlett received a Silver Star and Purple Heart – a case can be made for Bartlett being the most decorated civilian in American history.163

Andrew Hubbs, Hobart 1917

In 1917, after graduating from Hobart, Andrew Hubbs joined the American Ambulance Corps, along with several friends, including Genevan Alfred Nester, from Hobart. The men sailed from New York on May 5 and, on May 11, entered the war zone. They spent June and July drilling, training, and waiting for vehicles and an assignment. On August 10, Andrew’s unit reached the front near Verdun.

In the Geneva Historical Society collection, Andrew’s diary notes: as they put up their tents, “three shells whistled thru the air and struck about 300 yds. away, everyone fell flat. All boys more or less scared.” German artillery regularly shelled the towns and roads around the camp, and Andrew witnessed many German airplanes bombing the area or spraying the ground with machine gun fire. At such times the men ran to reinforced shelters until the action ceased. 164At first, Andrew and Alfred Nester served on an ambulance team: Alfred drove the ambulance, and Andrew served as the “aid.” The aid handled repairs and navigation.

Andrew described a night trip on August 14, “Very dark & no lights, missed bridge coming back…so asked man where in hell bridge was. Strange how much French one can talk when necessary. Finally found a bridge going through Haudainville. The engine went bad, so I had to crawl back to camp.” In October 1917, the US Army Ambulance Service replaced the Red Cross volunteers. Andrew returned to Paris and sailed home from Liverpool, England, on October 20. While some of Andrew’s friends joined the military and returned to the war, he entered medical school at Syracuse University. Later Dr. Hubbs practiced medicine in Geneva until he died in 1957. He became the first physician at the Colleges. The health center on St. Clair Street bears his name.165

Murray Bartlett, President HWS 1919-1936 Hobart and William Smith Archives

Andrew Hubbs

Dr. Andew Hubbs, abt 1956 with infirmary staff. Hobart and William Smith Archives

Gordon Campbell, Hobart 1918

At Hobart, Hugh was the quarterback of the football team. When the war began, along with many Hobart men, he joined the ambulance corps serving in France with the Norton-Harjes corps. In June 1917, he joined the Lafayette Escadrille.166 His obituary appeared in The Herald:

Gordon Campbell, after several years of active service at the front in France, met death on July 9, 1920, at Atlantic City by being hurled from a falling aeroplane into the water.

He entered Hobart in 1914 from the Heathcote School at Harrisson, N.Y., and did splendid work on the football team by playing end and quarterback. His struggle and success in obtaining his education by working his way through college, won for him the respect and admiration of faculty and students.

In 1916 Campbell, then 19, went overseas to drive a small ambulance. On July 24th of the following year he enlisted in the Lafayette Escadrille. After passing through his training with flying colors he was detailed to a famous French air squadron and was assigned for service with the French Marines north of Dunkirk. Here Campbell had many encounters with the Germans and often flew over the celebrated mole at Zebrugge.167 In April 1918, he was commissioned Ensign in U. S. naval service and was soon thereafter raised to the rank of lieutenant. He again served in France with very great distinction.

After his return from the war, Campbell continued flying and he was testing an inflammable compound for the protection of our aeroplanes overseas, when he was thrown into the water and drowned. He was given an impressive military service by his fellow pilots of the American Flying Club. The cortege passed up Fifth Avenue to the Grand Central Station where the body was entrained for Woodlawn.

Gordon Campbell was awarded tbe Belgian War Cross, the Order of Leopold, the Croix de Guerre -with four palms, and the Cross of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.168

Memorial Bench Dedication 1919, Dr. Murray Bartlett Hobart and William Smith Archives

THE MEMORIAL BENCH

Located between Geneva and Trinity halls, Memorial Bench commemorates alumni who gave their lives during World War I. The Latin inscription, on the bench: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori roughly translates to “It is pleasing and proper to lay down one’s life for his country.” 169 The College dedicated the Memorial Bench in memory of the sixteen students of Hobart College who lost their lives in World War I. 170 A listing of the men on the memorial appeared in the Geneva Daily Times 171

LOST IN WORLD WAR I

Williams Swift Martin, Class of 1893: army major, cavalry; died of pneumonia at Camp Travis, San Antonio, TX Feb. 4, 1918.

Rev. Harry P. Seymour, Class of 1894: army major, died in an accident in France October. 23, 1917.

John Rumsey Sanford, Class of 1897: commander pay corps USN; on sick leave, Feb. 1919, died Denver, CO. May 1, 1919.

Frank Wayfield Koch, Class of 1898: enlisted British Army 1915, died in England of wounds received in action with British Forces in Palestine.

Hugh

Hugh Gordon Campbell Hobart and William Smith Archives

Horace Albert Chouinard, Class of 1899: captain chaplain, died in France on September 1, 1918.

Robert Douglas Meacham Class of 1907: Joined the American Field Service (volunteer ambulance service) on March 12, 1917; attached Section Sixteen Sept. 13, 1917. Died of appendicitis in Louisville, KY Dec. 14, 1917.172

Randall Crawford, Class of 1907: lieutenant 135th Field Artillery, died of disease at Camp Sheridan, Montgomery, AL, Dec. 1, 1917.

Wilhelmus Mynderse Rice, Class of 1909: 111th Infantry, 75th Division; died on October 2, 1918, of wounds received in the Meuse Argonne battle. The Meuse–Argonne offensive played a major part in the final Allied offensive of World War I. From September 26, 1918, until the Armistice of November 11, 1918, the largest battle in United States military history. It involved 1.2 million American soldiers resulting in over 350,000 casualties, including 28,000 German lives, 26,277 American lives, and an unknown number of French lives.173

Merritt Cole Rogers, Class of 1910: private 40th Co, 153rd Regiment; died Washington DC September 30, 1918. Served with the Chemical Warfare Service at Edgewood Arsenal, MD until his death from influenza on Sep. 30, 1918. One other source is “Michigan Men in Service.” “The Roll of Honor.” The Michigan Alumnus. XXV. Oct., 1918-Aug. 1919. Ann Arbor, MI. Alumni Assn. Univ. of Michigan. P. 189. Notes he was assigned to gas warfare service.174

Edwin Douglas Roberts, Class of 1911: material school, Great Lakes Training Station, died of disease, Sept. 1918.

Oliver Phelps Jackson, Class of 1912: Air Service. Died Oct. 29, 1918, American Expedition Forces (AEF). Oliver Phelps Jackson obituary excerpt:

Commissioned as an aviation officer in the fledgling U.S. Army Aviation Corps, he undertook training and saw service through 1917 and 1918 at the airfields at Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas Texas, and at Hampton West Virginia, before being assigned to duty as an instructor in aeronautics at Selfridge Field, Mount Clemens, Michigan, in August 1918. At the time of his accidental death on the morning of 29th October 1918, he was unable to bring his stalled Curtiss JN4 aircraft out of a tailspinit was believed that his rudder had jammed, the weakness having gone undetected during an overhaul some weeks earlier, following a hard landing when this particular aircraft was being flown to Selfridge Field. 175

William D’Orville Doty III, Class of 1919: lieutenant, AEF; killed in action near Chateau-Thierry, France, Sept 25, 1918. William Doty death notice:

Second Lieutenant Company K killed Sept. 12, 1918, at St. Mihiel near Fliery. Lieutenant Doty was killed by a high explosive shell while leading his men in the advance on the St. Mihiel salient. His death was instantaneous, and he suffered no pain. Lieutenant Doty was a leader of men and gave his all gladly for his country. He enlisted in the Second Ambulance Corps but was later sent to an officers’ training camp and sent overseas. 176

Arthur Cleveland Coxe, Class of 1919: US engineer corps, died of disease in Philadelphia, April 23, 1918. Arthur Cleveland Coxe death notice:

Private Arthur Cleveland Coxe, U.S, Corps of Engineers, son of Mr. And Mrs. Reginald Coxe, grandson of the late Bishop Arthur Cleveland Coxe [for whom Coxe Hall is named on campus], died from meningitis at home in Philadelphia on Tuesday as he was on the way to an encampment in the south being enlisted in the Engineer Corps… Coxe had recently returned from France, serving with distinction in the American Ambulance Service.177

Morton Altice Way, Class of 1919: died summer of 1920 from disease contracted in service.178

Harold Cullinan Smith, Class of 1920: killed in action. Harold Cullinan Smith entered the service, Rochester, NY, on April 28, 1918, a private assigned to 12th Company, 3rd Training Battalion, 153rd Depot Brigade. Killed in action, November 1, 1918, in the Meuse- Argonne Offensive, at Bois des Loges. First buried in France; later reburied, with military honors, in Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester, NY, August 11, 1921.179

From the 1918 Echo. A nostalgic nod to simpler days before the war.

COLLEGES’ LEGACY OF MILITARY

1941-1945 WORLD WAR II:

In early 1941, the War Department determined the need for an additional ammunition storage facility in the United States. The army selected the east side of Seneca Lake for the new ordnance depot.

Nearly 9,000 people worked on the construction of support buildings, 500 storage igloos, 70 miles of roads, and 20 miles of railroad. It took just five months to build the facility at $10 million. Six months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Navy Department selected Seneca Lake as the location for a new training facility: the Sampson Naval Training Center. Construction began in May 1942 and finished in less than a year at over $50 million. At its peak, it had six training units accommodating 5,000 trainees each; by 1945, more than 400,000 sailors had trained at Sampson. With all this happening on the east side of the Lake, Geneva became a bustling place.

Wartime activity provided more jobs. Restaurants, diners, and three movie theaters operated around the clock. And there was also a proliferation of bars; Geneva became the favorite place for the sailors from Sampson to visit. Concurrently, the town grew from about 15,500 in 1940 to 23,000 in 1943. In addition, there were 37,000 people at Sampson. Jobs were plentiful, 17 Geneva industries had defense contracts, and 3,000 civilians worked at Sampson Naval Base and 2,500 at the depot.180

THE V-12 PROGRAM AND THE COLLEGES

In 1940 the Colleges had 382 men and 188 women. After Pearl Harbor, in early 1942, enrollment at Hobart had dropped to 216 and 175 at William Smith. The Herald of February 1943 noted that 110 men from Hobart classes of ‘43, ‘44, ‘45, and ‘46 were serving in the armed forces. HWS President John Milton Potter secured a V-12 program for Hobart.181 The navy needed commissioned officers during this time, and the V-12 program would provide them.

Further, V-12 would increase college enrollment, and the navy would pay tuition for courses taught to qualified candidates. The new navy men became fully integrated into college life, and they joined athletic teams, campus clubs, and even served on the Hobart Board of Control student government.182

As early as June 1944, the Colleges began to prepare for the program’s termination. When it ended, post-war enrollment would be about one-third of normal; registrations had dwindled to approximately 50 men and 150 women. On October 13, 1945, V-12 ended, and more than 900 trainees had participated. During the decommissioning ceremony, a citation from Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal thanked the Colleges for effective cooperation with the United States Navy in training officer candidates. President Potter received this official citation and the unit colors and American flag.183 The program ensured the survival of Hobart, as enrollment had dropped so low that the College would have closed.

Navy V-12, ca. 1943

Hobart and William Smith Archives

WORLD WAR II V-12 REMEMBRANCES FROM THE ONLINE HWS ARCHIVES

Emil H. Schoch H’47: “Our Navy orders required that we go to New York City’s Grand Central Station early in the morning. Hundreds of young men were being assembled under college banners mounted on the walls in the RR station. Those of us going to Hobart were mustered on the balcony and led to the railroad passenger car. It took until early the next day before we got to Geneva. When we finally left the train at about 2 AM, we were marched through the streets of Geneva to the shouts of sailors from the Sampson Naval Base yelling ‘You’ll be sorry.’ At the campus, we were issued our Navy uniforms by a disgruntled (and very sleepy) navy storekeeper who threw clothes and shoes at us without allowing us time to see if they fit. My shoes were too small, so I had to wear my civilian shoes. Obviously, the storekeeper objected to having his sleep disturbed by a bunch of new recruits. I was told to go to a room in Geneva Hall where I would find two double bunks. I got there to find my newly assigned roommates sound asleep and crawled into the only empty bunk - an upper. Our introductions came as we fell out for exercises at 0550 the next morning.184”

From his 1996 obituary:

Emil H. Schoch, 71, a resident of Stassburg, died Sunday at Vassar Brothers Hospital in Poughkeepsie. Mr. Schoch worked for General Electric for 39 years, retiring in 1983. He was involved with developing nuclear power plants for U.S. Navy submarines, worked on nuclear power plant

prototypes, and later managed prototype nuclear power plants. A graduate of Poughkeepsie High School, he graduated from Cornell University with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1946.

He was a registered professional engineer in Now York and Idaho and was a member of the National Society of. Professional Engineers and a 50-year member of the American Society of Chemical Engineers. He mired in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1948 and also in the Naval Reserve.185

still many William Smith students in our classes, but V-12 students had come from all over the country, from really interesting places.”186

Barden was sent to mid-shipman school on Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh, NY, from which he graduated in June 1944. He then underwent intense training in Florida, where he learned to drive landing boats for the Navy. In December 1944, Barden went aboard a transport ship in the Pacific as a Navy officer. “It was while at war in the Pacific theater that I was involved in the Battle of Okinawa,” he explains. “I was part of the initial landing in April 1945, on Easter Sunday. I was in charge of seven landing crafts with Marines on board, just over 70 years ago now.” During the invasion, Barden was in the company of Ernie Pyle, Pulitzer-Prize winning American journalist and famed international war correspondent, who rode aboard Barden’s ship for the invasion. Pyle rode in Barden’s landing craft from the time of departure to the line of transfer. To this day, Barden calls this experience as his “claim to 15 minutes of fame.”

Members

Kenneth E. Barden H’47: Barden describes his time in the V-12 program as a “stark contrast” to the ordinary college experience for other Hobart and William Smith students, recalling the rigorous exercises required of the Navy recruits. Six days a week, recruits participated in early morning training, including exercising on the Quad each day at 6 a.m. V-12 recruits, unlike typical HWS students, had only Saturday afternoon through Sunday evening as free time. Classes at HWS, on the other hand, served as an incredibly unifying experience for the students and Navy V-12 members at HWS during the war years. “We had normal college classes, which was interesting because the V-12 program almost took over Hobart College,” Barden recalls. “Of course, there were

“One memory I still remember well is from my days in mid-shipmen school,” Barden concludes. “It was a cold night, and I was assigned to perimeter duty when I was approached by the Duty officer who invited me into the galley for hot chocolate. I informed him that I could not leave my post, and he informed me that he was the Duty officer in charge, and yes, I could! It stuck out because he was so kind to a young V-12 recruit as a superior officer. I made up my mind after that to remember that when I made officer, all of my sailors were human beings deserving of kindness and respect, just like everybody else.”187

Continued on next page.

Navy V-12 Members and William Smith Students Hobart and William Smith Archives Online Exhibits

Navy V-12

and William Smith Students Hobart and William Smith Archives Online Exhibits

He attended Hobart one year. From his 2020 obituary:

Kenneth was born July 12, 1923, on his family’s farm near Penn Yan, near four corners in the road called Benton Center. The onset of war interrupted his college career. He enlisted in the Navy as an Ordinary Seaman entering the Navy’s V12 program in preparation for Officers’ Training School. He was commissioned an Ensign in the Navy and assigned to an Attack Transport, the USS Charles Carroll. The Charles Carroll was assigned to the Okinawa Invasion fleet. On April 1, 1945, 7 Higgins Boats commanded by Lieutenant Barden took infantrymen and supplies into the beaches of Okinawa. His ship suffered heavy damage during the campaign in a Kamikaze attack and returned to San Francisco for repairs. Kenneth’s wishes were that his ashes be spread at sea by the U.S. Navy.188

Warren Shaddock H’46, P’75, GP’09: Early in his freshman year at Hobart, Shaddock enlisted in the US Navy and was called to active duty when the Navy V-12 Program was established on July 1, 1943.

For Shaddock, enrolling in the Navy V-12 gave him the opportunity to stay at Hobart for another year and complete three semesters. Aside from taking a full course load to satisfy the requirements for his chemistry and biology double major, Shaddock says that when he wasn’t “hitting the books,” his days were filled with Navy training. He remembers reporting for early morning muster and exercises before heading to classes and reporting back for inspection in front of Coxe Hall to make sure “our shoes were shined and uniforms neat.” In addition to daily training, Shaddock recalls being marched to the YMCA, where they learned how to “abandon ship” by jumping off the high tower into the pool. After completing his training at Hobart, Shaddock was sent to midshipman school at

Columbia University, and then to Harvard University for communications school, where he was trained to use a “top secret machine” called an electronic coding machine that was used to decode confidential messages. After Harvard, Shaddock received orders to Pearl Harbor where he was assigned to the USS Calvert APA-32. From there he traveled to the Philippines to transport Army 10th Corps for the occupation, to Kure, Japan, the site of a large Japanese Naval Base, located in the Inland Sea of Japan.

“We were anchored about seven miles from Hiroshima so out of curiosity, a group of us took one of our landing crafts over to Hiroshima,” Shaddock remembers. “I believe we were some of the first Americans to see what it looked like after the dropping of the bomb. It was miles and miles of utter destruction. We found stacks of dishes that had been fused together by the heat of the bomb and gravel that had been fused to a porcelain pitcher.”189

Later Many V-12 veterans returned to Hobart after the war to complete their degrees. In 1993, a special V-12 reunion occurred on campus.190

From: Warren Shaddock Obituary: Passed away peacefully from Hodgkin Lymphoma, at home while on Hospice Home Care, the day following his 94th birthday. Warren served in the US Navy during World War II in the Pacific as an Ensign on the USS Calvert APA 32 and at ADCOMPHIBSPAC at Pearl Harbor. He was a member of American Legion Post No. 0771 since 1955. Warren enjoyed going to Honor Flight Mission 10 to Washington, DC in 2010 and riding in the Veterans convertible caravan on Memorial Day in Fairport for many years. He graduated from Hobart College in 1947, the University of Buffalo School of Dentistry in 1951, and practiced dentistry in Fairport for 42 years.191

WILLIAM SMITH DURING WORLD WAR II

Mary Louise Walworth

Koch WS’48: “I remember hanging out an upstairs window at the Sigma Chi house watching the young V-12s march up Main Street for their early morning drill,” she reflects. “There was a girl in every window. Why were girls in the Sigma Chi house? Because the V-12 had come to Hobart and needed large housing, so they commandeered the girls’ dorms and the girls dispersed to smaller housing like the fraternity houses.”192 Koch recalled the war years as an exciting time as Geneva, and the country changed. There were “hundreds of young men in their cute uniforms.” World War II was such an expansive effort on the part of citizens that it became known as “total war” because every aspect of the nation underwent a rapid change to aid the nation’s campaign. From Mary Louise Walworth Koch 2017 obituary:

Pittsford: Passed away Sunday, Oct 22, 2017 at age 90. She is survived by daughter, Kathryn Wright; sons, David and Douglas Small; grandsons, Bryan and Kevin Small and Daniel Wright. Mary Louise graduated from Hobart and William Smith with a BA in 1948 and got her master’s from Northwestern in 1949. She loved music, gardening, and was uncommonly athletic, especially enjoying bike riding, swimming, and cross country skiing.193

Warren Shaddock

Mary L. Walworth Koch

S.S. HOBART VICTORY

During World War II, the United States commissioned 531 “Victory” ships as part of the merchant fleet war effort. Permanente Metals Corporation’s Shipbuilding Division built the Hobart Victory in Richmond, California. Henry J. Kaiser Sc.D ’43, the shipyard’s owner, had received an honorary degree from Hobart College. The merchant marine named 100 of the 531 victory ships in honor of American colleges and universities. Along with other cargo and transport ships, it provided worldwide war supplies to Allied forces. On May 25, 1945, the S.S. Hobart Victory launched. In addition to World War II, the ship served in the Korean conflict and Vietnam. In peacetime, it saw service in India, Egypt, Italy, Israel, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, Iran, Germany, Belgium, Hawaii, France, Lebanon, Morocco, Korea, Japan, and the Suez and Panama Canals.194Hobart alumnus Grady E. Jensen ’44 arranged for artifacts to be saved for the Colleges when they scrapped the ship. Shortly after donating the ship’s items, Jensen had a 16inch miniature of the ship created, which he also gave to the Colleges. 195 At first, HWS President Richard Hersh displayed the ship’s engine room telegraph set to “Full Ahead” in the president’s office. Today, the telegraph and other artifacts are in the Warren Hunting Smith Library collection. They are on a long-term loan from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration. 196

William Alfred “Bill” Eddy, Ph.D., Col., USMC (1896–1962) served in both World War I and II. In 1917 he joined the United States Marine Corps as a second lieutenant, serving as an intelligence officer with the 6th Marine Regiment. He saw action with the Marines in the German Offensive of 1918 and Belleau Wood’s Battle. Eddy was wounded in his right hip at Belleau Wood and sent back to the US to recuperate. For his time in combat, he received the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, and two Purple Hearts197 Eddy returned to military service just before World War II as a Marine lieutenant colonel in 1941. He became the Naval Attaché and Naval Attaché for Air in Cairo and worked with Navy intelligence and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) for the duration of the war.198

Eddy was an expert at wielding American power’s political and economic tools. His contemporaries describe him as single-minded and indomitable. The apex of his career came in February 1945, when he arranged the meeting of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Saudi Arabia’s first king, Ibn Saud, onboard the USS Quincy. The meeting was Ibn Saud’s first personal contact with a Western leader. Eddy translated for the two heads of state.199 Later, he served as the U.S. Minister to Saudi Arabia, a consultant for the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco), and played an instrumental role in developing the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries. Eddy was also a key figure in the formation of the CIA. In 1946, he returned to Washington, DC to work for the state department. There

he helped draft the legislation that enabled the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency. Eddy maintained ties to the CIA for the rest of his life.200 Recommended reading: Arabian Knight: Colonel Bill Eddy USMC and the Rise of American Power in the Middle East, Thomas W. Lippman, 2008

Chaplain Stuart “Tookie” Cole, H’25

Stuart Gotlieb “Tookie” Cole graduated from Elmira Free Academy on June 23, 1921. He entered Hobart, received his BS in 1925, and attended the seminary at Bexley Hall, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH, where he completed studies for a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1928. He was ordered a deacon in the Episcopal Church and became an Episcopal priest on November 15, 1928. He moved to Geneva in 1939 to serve as Chaplain and Director of Guidance for Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Following the outbreak of World War II, he became the chaplain and counselor for the officer training program on campus. In 1944, The Herald reported that Chaplain Cole had given a sermon on fear201 He often stressed to the men going into combat that it was a subject all would need to ponder. He reminded them that even heroes are afraid. According to the men at Hobart at the time, Cole tried to counsel all the V-12 men going off to war.202

HWS President William A. Eddy 1936-1942

S.S. Hobart Victory Hobart and William Smith Archives

Stuart “Tookie” Cole Echo Yearbook 1925 Continued on next

William Eddy, President 1936-1942

Hobart and William Smith Archives

In a letter addressed to the Reverend Stuart G. Cole ‘25, Chaplain of Hobart College, and dated 11 August 1942, Robert Simone H’43, who died in World War II, wrote:

“Thank you very much for sending me A Soldier’s Prayer Book. It was a very unexpected blessing -- but I suppose most blessings are. “The moment I opened the book and saw your name, I pictured the many times I had seen and heard you speak in Chapel. I thank you also for that fond recollection.

“You are among the army of the holy men who give inspiration to others like myself. Your kind of army and mine, in a concerted effort, should bring ultimate success to our great cause.

Thank you again. Very sincerely yours, Robert Simone.”203

Professor Maynard Smith, Bomber Pilot US Army Air Corps

Professor Emeritus Maynard O. Smith (1919-2021) attended the University of Wisconsin, where he earned a BA in philosophy in 1940 and a master’s in philosophy in 1946. In World War II, he served as a B-24 and B-29 pilot in the Army Air Corps. After the war, he attended the New School for Social Research and was a lecturer at Hunter College in New York City from 1947 to 50. He later completed his Ph.D. at the New School in 1953, where he graduated magna cum laude, was valedictorian of his class, and won the “outstanding dissertation award.” He was named a Distinguished Faculty Member of the Colleges by the Alumni and Alumnae Associations in 1986 and retired in 1990.

Henry Merrill Roenke, H’38

Merrill Roenke (19162014) was a graduate of Geneva High School, class of 1934, Hobart College in 1938, and president of Theta Delta Chi Fraternity. He enlisted in the Navy in Buffalo, NY in the summer of 1940. In August 1941, he reported to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute for three months of bathythermograph (BT) training in the navy’s first class.

In October 1941, he joined the crew of the USS Griffin (AS13), a submarine tender. Recalled to Newport, RI, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, he was then assigned to the Pacific Fleet. The Pacific Ocean theater of World War II was a major theater of the war, and the United States faced the combined fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy. On November 25, 1942, he reported to the USS Louisville where he served until 944. He participated in the naval Battles for Guadalcanal, the Battle of Eniwetok, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, also known as “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot,” and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. During the Battle of Okinawa, a Kamikaze attacked the ship. As such, Roenke participated in all the principal naval engagements of the war in the Pacific. 204

For his service during the war, he received the American Defense Ribbon with an “A” (denoted serving in a foreign country at war before Dec. 7, 1941), the Atlantic Theater Ribbon, the Pacific Theater Ribbon with four battle stars, the Naval Reserve Ribbon, and the World War II Victory Ribbon. He left active duty on Sept. 26, 1945. Promoted to Lt. Commander, May 2, 1949, to Commander, Jan. 25, 1957, and served in the active Reserve, 1950-1976. He was actively involved in numerous Geneva organizations and served as a city councilman from 1960-64. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from Hobart College in 1983 and received the Hobart College Alumni Award in 1988.205

Angelo J. Bianchi H’44 – POW

Milk Run: Definition -- World War II Army Air Corps and RAF aircrews: a mission with little danger, i.e., a regular trip that nothing happens.

Angelo J. Bianchi H’44 (1920-2008) played football his first year at Hobart and in 1942 got his draft notice. He finished his second year at Hobart and entered the army believing he would be in the medical corps; instead, he became a tail gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber.206

He was assigned to the 451st Bombardment Group, which had moved to the Mediterranean Theater by Jan 1944. It attacked oil refineries, marshaling yards, aircraft factories, bridges, and airfields in Italy, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Albania, and Greece.207 By early July 1944, he was stationed at Castelluccio airfield in Italy, a heavy bomber airfield used by Fifteenth Air Force.208 As the month began, he had flown 50 combat missions and was due to go home. He volunteered for one more mission on July 3, 1944. A bomber crew was shorthanded, so he flew as their gunner.

The target that day was the Mogasaia oil storage near the central part of Bucharest, Romania. A report for the day noted that the target was partially obscured by cloud coverage. 209 The mission was supposed to be a milk run, but it was far from it. Thirty-nine B-24s attacked the target with 290 five-hundred pound bombs. Only half of the P-51

Maynard Smith

Source Hobart and William Smith

H. Merrill Roenke

Photo Courtesy of Family

Angelo J. Bianchi

Photo Courtesy of Family

fighter support arrived to provide the necessary air cover. The report for the day stated that the anti-aircraft fire was heavy over the target but did minor damage. When the day ended, one B-24 appeared to be missing. 210

Bianchi’s plane had been shot down near Dubrovnik, Croatia, as it returned to Italy. Three of the four engines had been destroyed, and it went down over mountains. Angelo parachuted out; German soldiers quickly captured him and transferred him to Croatian soldiers. He would not talk and was put in solitary confinement in Mostar for approximately 35 days before going to a POW camp.

He was first held in Stalag Luft 4, near Pomerania, Prussia, Germany, and moved to Wöbbelin camp near Ludwigslust.211 As the allies drew near, the Germans forced the inmates to a holding area, ultimately abandoning them, locking Bianchi and a group of about 500 in a barn. The British liberated the men and told them to head west to allied lines. So, they began their long trek on foot. Along the way, they “borrowed” an ambulance and bicycles, begged for food, and used any means possible to get to allied lines. Bianchi was repatriated in May 1945. He received three Air Medals, World War II POW Medal, the European theater ribbon with four battle stars, the Europe, Africa, Middle East ribbon with one battle star, and the presidential unit citation with one battle star for his service. He later attended dental school and practiced in Rochester for many years.

Edward “Joe” Crone, H’45 and Gifford Doxsee, ‘46 -POWs

INTERRED IN THE DRESDEN SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE

Edward “Joe” Crone and Gifford Doxsee were taken prisoner during World War II by the Germans and, while a captive in the Dresden prison camp, met Kurt Vonnegut, also a POW. Vonnegut used Crone, who died in April 1945, as the model for Billy Pilgrim in his antiwar novel “Slaughterhouse-Five.”

Joe Crone graduated from high school in 1941. He was drafted into the Army in 1942. He served in the 106th Infantry alongside Kurt Vonnegut, and both became prisoners of war and witnessed the firebombing of Dresden in February 1945. Fellow soldiers recalled that Crone was sweet, even-tempered, and ill-suited for warfare. They said Crone stopped eating and died of starvation. “My guess he sort of died of a broken heart,” said Dick Coyle, another prisoner. 212 On April 11, 1945, Crone died of what Vonnegut would later call the “thousand-mile stare” and became the basis for Billy Pilgrim in “Slaughterhouse-Five.”213

Gifford Doxsee (1924-2017) graduated from high school in 1942.214 He enlisted in the Army Reserve on November 13, 1942, while a freshman at Hobart and was called to active duty on June 9, 1943. He received infantry basic training in Alabama during the summer of 1943, and he served in the European Theater, 106th Infantry Div. 3rd Bn HQ Co., 423 Infantry Regiment in World War II.215

On a bitter December morning in 1944, Private First Class Gifford Doxsee and comrades in the 106th Infantry Division found themselves in The Battle of the Bulge216. Following the chaos of battle, he was taken prisoner by the German Army and marched to Gerolsteain, Germany. The guards loaded him and his comrades into freight cars bound for a prison camp. Two weeks later, he arrived in Dresden with about 200 fellow prisoners. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Doxsee became a prisoner with another Hobart man, Joe Crone, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

On Feb 13, 1945, the Germans moved them across town and into an underground bunker. As they sat on the cold floor, the whole building shook. When they went above ground, the entire city was on fire. In the two waves of firebombing, 722 heavy bombers of the British Royal Air Force and 527 of the United States Army Air Forces dropped more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices.

Large sections of the city burned in the firestorm. An estimated 22,700 to 25,000 people died.217

Vonnegut would later write “Slaughterhouse-Five,” one of the 20th century’s most critical anti-war novels based on their experiences in Dresden. In 1996, the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago presented a dramatized version of the

Continued on next page.

WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES’ LEGACY

Joe Crone Home Marker, Webster, New York

Gifford Doxsee Hobart and William Smith Archives

novel, and Gifford Doxsee appeared at the production. In a special event for Hobart and William Smith alums in the area, he spoke about his time in Dresden and the prison. It was an amazing event that showed how the history of the war could be shared by a Hobart man who had been there.

From Gifford Doxsee’s 2017 obituary:

He graduated from Freeport high school in 1942. That same year Gifford enlisted in the United States Army; eventually, he served in the European Theater, 106th Infantry Div. 3rd Bn HQ Co., 423 Infantry Regiment in World War II. He was a Prisoner of War in Germany for five months, billeted in Dresden, Germany, in Slaughter House-5, where he met fellow Prisoner of War Kurt Vonnegut, who later wrote the novel “Slaughter House-Five” which was inspired by their experience.

After the war, Gifford attended Cornell University, graduated in 1948, then attended Harvard University for graduate studies in history of modern Europe. He earned his graduate degree in 1949, taught at The American University in Beirut, Lebanon from 1952-1955 and later earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1966.

Gifford moved to Athens, OH in 1958 to teach European, African, and Middle Eastern history at Ohio University. After 35 years at OU, Dr. Doxsee retired from teaching and became Professor Emeritus of History. He and his wife chose to stay in Athens after their retirements.

Gifford was active in the life of Athens, volunteering and sometimes serving as director for many local organizations. Remembering his prisoner of war days, he taught GED classes to prison inmates and mentored ex-convicts. He was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame in 2011.218

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL PRO PATRIA COXE HALL

Names on the plaque From The Herald May 26, 1946: All available photos from the Echo of the Seneca yearbooks for each class

About fourteen hundred Hobart undergraduates, alumni, and faculty saw service in the Second World War, and the College trained nearly a thousand students in the Navy V-12 program. So many were the men; their actions were so varied and distinguished their deeds that it is impossible to single out individuals for mention. On land and sea and in the air, Hobart men pressed home the attack against a stubborn and powerful enemy. Hundreds received citations or decorations; many held important administrative or combat command positions; others, including faculty members and alumni, served with distinction in the so-called Silent Services – the OSS and postwar CIA. Twenty-five alumni held the rank of Lt. Colonel or above, including that equivalent in the Navy.”

The Pine yearbook published in 1945 honored William Smith’s alumnae who served with the armed forces. “Thirty-eight of the small body of graduates were in the WAC, the Marines, the Army Nurse Corps, the Waves, the Spars, and the American Red Cross, and one, Catherine R. Irving, WS’31, had died in service.”

Of the thirty-five who gave their lives in World WarII, sixteen perished in the skies, ten were killed in action or died of wounds received while fighting with the ground forces, two died at sea, and at least three died as prisoners of war. Four others died of illnesses or injuries contracted while in service. Many who survived were wounded in action, a few twice or more, and others suffered as prisoners of war.219

Pro Patria Plaque Coxe Hall, Norvell photo

Charles G. Albury Jr., Class of 1942: entered the service in September 1942 and received his commission as a lieutenant in the Glider Infantry at Officers Candidate School, Fort Benning, GA in April 1943. He then went overseas in August of the following year, where he saw service in Holland, and then returned to England for further training. He served in the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division, as a second lieutenant during World War II.

2LT Albury was one of the 33 service members who were killed on-site when a Horsa glider crashed on takeoff on December 12, 1944, at Greenham Common Airbase, England.

In the last letter he wrote on 11 December, the evening before he died, Charles wrote:

...Tonight seemed almost like Freshman year in Geneva Hall. Frank and Ray threw a big fire-cracker into our room. We fixed them tho, by going up on the roof and tying a big cloth over their chimney, thereby smoking them out.220

Originally buried at Cambridge American Cemetery, he was moved to the Saint Francis Cemetery, Phelps, Ontario County, New York, USA.221

George M. Ashmun, Class of 1941: entered the naval flying cadet corps in April 1941 and later became a Marine pilot. He went overseas in July 1943, and he became a member of the famed “Black Sheep” fighter squadron. He was the flying wingman for Lt. Col. Boyington on January 3, 1944, in combat against twenty Japanese planes on his final mission over Rabaul, New Britain. Captain Ashmun was from Far Hills, New Jersey, and was a member of the Sigma Phi fraternity.

From his Distinguish Flying Cross Citation:

United States Marine Corps Captain Ashmun flew a total of 148.7 combat hours on 67 separate missions, including fighter sweeps, patrols, strike escorts, task force cover and strafing assignments, until reported missing on 3 January 1944. On 29 September 1943, Captain Ashmun was flying the third aircraft which after completing a task force cover assignment, located and destroyed two barges at Tombula Point on Kolombangara Island. On 19 October 1943, Captain Ashmun took off at 0450 as section leader in a division of four aircraft led by Major Gregory Boyington. With the aircraft separated by very heavy weather, Captain Ashmun alone strafed the revetment area on the heavily protected Ballalle airstrip. This record of outstanding conscientious performance of duty was climaxed on 3 January 1944, when Captain Ashmun was lost while protecting the wing of his squadron commander as they led a fighter sweep to attack a numerically superior force of Japanese fighter planes on the strongly defended Rabaul area. On all his missions Captain Ashmun performed his duties with cool courage, heroism, outstanding loyalty and superior airmanship, and his actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.222

Charles Rynear Allen, Class of 1935: entered the Coast Guard service in August 1942. After training at Newport, RI, in 1942, he was assigned as chief officer of a Coast Guard cutter. While on submarine patrol in the Atlantic, he operated from Antigua in the Caribbean. In 1945 the Coast Guard scheduled the commission of a new ship, the USS Breckinridge. Rynear requested reassignment for duty aboard the vessel. While training for his new assignment, there was a malfunction during radarcontrolled target practice. A forty-millimeter gun swung around and hit him in the chest. Lt. Allen was a brother of Ethan O. Allen, class of 1939, and Willis D. Allen, class of 1944, later the inventor of super glue.

Anthony Nicholas Brell, Class of 1941: entered service in January 1941 and received his wings in the Army Air Corps at Tucson, AZ. Lt. Brell went overseas on June 22, 1944, where while serving as a bombardier, he died in action over Italy on August 15, 1944. Lt. Brell lived in Geneva and was a member of the Delta Psi Omega fraternity while at Hobart.

Charles G. Albury

George M. Ashmun

Charles R. Allen

Anthony N. Brell

James Denton Brokaw, Class of 1943: was killed on July 30, 1944. He was a 2nd lieutenant in the Army Air Corps and was affiliated with Theta Delta Chi fraternity while attending Hobart. Brokaw enlisted in the Air Corps in 1942 but did not enter on active duty until after he graduated from Hobart in 1943. His flight training was with the 44th Sub-Depot at Williams Field, Chandler, AZ, and at the 10th Army Air Force Flying Training Center in Blythe, CA, where he was commissioned 2nd.Lieutenant. On 1 May 1944, he was sent to the European Theater of Operations, where he was assigned to the oldest P-38 squadron in England. In July, the whole squadron began to fly P-51 Mustangs. The squadron’s mission supported high-level bombing, strafing, and close support of ground troops.

From the American Air Museum Britain: Failed to Return from strafing mission to airfields in Central France in P-51D 44-13665. Reported a cooling leak when flying at 20,00ft; later reporting engine was on fire and that he was baling out. Crashed approx 1900hrs near a farm called Ferme Grange-Coeuret near Brumetz, 11 miles west-northwest of Chateau-Thierry, France. Killed in Action (KIA).223 =

Nicholas Vanranken Franchot Brown, Class of 1944: enlisted in the Army Reserve in October 1942 and entered active duty in June 1943. He received basic training at Fort McClellan, AL and was assigned to the A.S.T.P. program at Yale for eight months as a language student.224 He returned to the infantry when the army canceled A.S.T.P. He left for overseas duties in October 1944 with the 78th Lighting Division, where he served as a rifleman. Private Brown died in action in Germany on January 30, 1945. While attending Hobart, he was a member of the Sigma Phi fraternity. He was a brother of Thomas Brown IV, class of 1929, and J. Warner Brown, class of 1934. His home was in Scottsville, New York.

Harold Edwy Capen, Class of 1947: served on the Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer #00-59563. A Japanese fighter shot them down over the Sea of Kuantan on the East Coast of the Malay Peninsula. The entire crew of eleven men was reported missing on June 1, 1945 and officially declared dead on June 2, 1946.225 He was the most decorated Hobart man to die during the war, receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross, five Air Medals, and the Purple Heart.

The citation for the Distinguished Flying Cross reads as follows:

Charles Lowell Campbell, Class of 1946: reported missing on January 1, 1945 (later reported died that date). On the morning he was declared missing, “He was the driver of a Jeep sent to guide a vehicle battalion of the 14th Armored Division in AlsaceLorraine from Imbesheim to Reidheim. Enemy forces surrounded Reidheim that day and took the town along with much of the battalion. The Mayor of Barenthal, France, told some American soldiers that there was a grave on the outskirts of Fronicker, France, near Bernthal. The soldiers found this grave, marked with a cross made of two sticks and Charlie’s helmet hanging on it.” This information was in a letter from Charlie’s mother, Estelle M. Campbell, written to the Alumni Council of Hobart on January 18, 1946. Private Campbell was a member of the Sigma Phi fraternity.

For heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight as Aircrewman of a Patrol Bomber in Patrol Bombing Squadron ONE HUNDRED SIX, during operations against enemy Japanese forces in the vicinity of both Borneo Coasts, The Celebes, Malaya, and Indo-China Coasts from April 26, 1945, to June 1, 1945. Calm and courageous, CAPEN crewed his battle station with determined vigilance as his pilot penetrated enemy-held territory to execute five missions near heavily fortified harbors and airstrips at Makassar Kuching Singapore, Kuantan, Haitian and on Doung Dong Island. Performing his essential duties with consistent skill and accuracy, he aided materially in obtaining full coverage of assigned areas, destroying two luggers and probably one river steamer, and executing a special strike on Sanaokan Airstrip where all bombs dropped were direct hits. By his exceptional fortitude and extraordinary courage, CAPEN contributed essentially to the success of his squadron during a period of intensive aerial activity and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Services.226

James D. Brokaw

Nicholas V.F. Brown

Charles L. Campbell

Harold E. Capen

Cleveland Beach Coe, Class of 1914: Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army, died of an embolism on November 29, 1945, at Camp Lee, Virginia, at age 52. His service to his country spanned two World Wars. In World WarI, he served as a 1st Lieutenant with Battery D, 323rd Field Artillery, 32nd Division, and participated in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He also served in the Army of Occupation in Germany from 1 December 1918 to 1 March 1919.

Between the wars, Coe remained in the United States Army Reserve, rising in rank from 1st Lieutenant to Major between 1919 and 1940. During this period, he was also active in his profession as a civil engineer. In November 1940, he was ordered to active duty with the Army at Headquarters, First Military Area, Knoxville, TN. In 1943 he transferred to Camp McCain, MS, and in 1944, he moved to Camp Butner, NC. In September 1945, he moved to Camp Lee, VA, with the 69th General Depot. Lieutenant Colonel Coe’s home was in Chatanooga, TN. He was the son of Charles Cleveland Coe, class of 1875, and the father of Private Robert Coe, class of 1947.

His medals included the World War I Victory Medal with Meuse Argonne Bar and Wound Stripe (now Purple Heart), Army of Occupation Medal, Verdun Medal (French), American Defense Medal, American Theater Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

Edward R. Crone Jr., Class of 1945: see the discussion in the previous section - died in Slaughterhouse-Five.

Elton Harding Davies, Class of 1944: died May 1, 1945, of wounds suffered at Mindanao227. Private Davies’ home was in Remson, NY. At Hobart, he belonged to the Phi Phi Delta fraternity.

John Carl Diviney, Class of 1937: from Geneva, enlisted in the Marine Corps in October 1940, received his basic training at Parris Island, SC, served in Cuba, and went to the Pacific in April 1942. He took part in the invasion of Guadalcanal and other engagements. He received a field commission as a 2nd lieutenant at Guadalcanal and was promoted to 1st lieutenant in Australia. He was killed in action in December 1943 in the South Pacific. He is interred in Arlington National Cemetery (following the repatriation of original burial) on February 17, 1949. (no photo available)

Remsen, June 13 — Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Davies, Steuben St., received a telegram from the War Department Tuesday telling of the death of their nephew, Cpl. Elton H. Davies on May 7 in a hospital on Mindanao Island in the Philippines.

Cpl. Davies entered the service in July 1943 and was trained at Camp Wheeler, Ga. He went overseas in February 1944 and has seen action with the 24th army on Leyte, Luzon, and Mindanao islands. He was wounded on May 5, according to a telegram received about two weeks ago.

In April, word was received that his company, the crack 21st, Infantry Cannon Co., was credited with destroying 500 Jap gun emplacements and helping to free 2,200 prisoners on the road to Manila in a 28-day operation covering 120 miles of jungle mountains. Rome Daily Sentinel, Wednesday Evening, June 13, 1945228

GENEVAN DIES IN WAR ZONE

Geneva-Geneva’s war casualty list mounted to 12 when relatives here and in Newark received word yesterday of the death in the South Pacific of First Lieut. John C. Diviney. 29. son of Mr. and Mrs. John E. Diviney, of Preemption Road. this city.

Lieut. Diviney was a graduate of Geneva parochial schools, attended Hobart College for two years, and was employed at the Hulse Manufacturing Co. here when he enlisted three years ago. He went overseas two years ago last April and had been in Guadalcanal. His family knew, but they had no knowledge of his combat since that time. He was commissioned a second lieutenant at Guadalcanal and was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant when on leave for recuperation from action in Australia sometime later. His parents had a letter from him that was written on Dec. 10.229

He received a Purple Heart, and the Presidential Unit Citation awarded the First Marine Division for action against the Japanese at Guadalcanal.

Cleveland B. Coe

Elton H. Davies

George William Eike, Class of 1942: enlisted in the Army in January 1942 and later was transferred to the Air Corps. He received his wings at Douglas Army Airfield in June 1942. Eike went overseas in October 1943; awarded the Air Medal on January 19, 1944. His family believed he died during his fourteenth mission. Then they received news that he landed safely in Belgium after the Germans shot down his Flying Fortress near Chimay on April 22, 1944. He was executed with seven other American fliers on April 25, 1944, at an unknown location by the Belgian traitor, Marcel Jaye. Lt. Eike’s home was in Rochester, NY.

From a letter written by George’s parents to the other crew’s families to inform them what had happened to their sons: ‘The eight fliers were living in a hut that belonged to a Belgian farmer, who was helping the boys by sending them food and clothing. This farmer’s son and another Belgian stayed in the camp with the boys the night of the 21st and, of course, were captured with the boys. The boys had just finished breakfast when they were captured. It was about 8:00am. The boys were taken to the second floor of a school house in Chimay and were stripped of all their identification. When the boys were captured, they all had their dog tags and were in civilian clothes with the exception of our son, George, who had on his Army pants, Army shirt and Air Corps leather jacket and Benninger, who had on Army pants and Air Corps shirt. The boys were questioned two or three hours in the school house. About 2:30pm on 22 April 1944 the boys were put in a truck guarded by Germans and taken back to a section of the woods where they were ordered to line up single file at the edge of the woods. Two Germans with pistols were behind each boy. The boys were ordered to march into the woods with the Germans behind them. After they had

gone about 500 ft in the woods, each boy was ordered to take a separate direction, the two Germans still behind each boy. At a predetermined signal, the Germans shot each of the boys through the back three or four times and then left them dead in the woods.’

After the war, the German on-scene Commander was tried in a war crimes court and executed. 230

Edward J. Enright, Class of 1940: served as a USMC lieutenant in the war. On April 26, 1946, he died in Geneva due to illness contracted while in service. He belonged to the Phi Phi Delta fraternity.

The citation is as follows:

“In the attack on Hill 578, Lieutenant Gray’s heavy machine gun platoon supported a rifle company when a formidable enemy counter-attack destroyed contact between the two elements. Taking it upon himself to resecure communications with the rifle troops, Lieutenant Gray made his way through the sniper-infested woods and had just contacted the riflemen at the peak of the hill when he was shot and killed. His heroic and unselfish action re-established contact, thus contributing directly to the mission’s success.”231

Lt. Gray belonged to the Sigma Chi fraternity. He is buried at Epinal American Cemetery, France, Plot B Row 29 Grave 37.

Chester Bruce Gray, Class of 1942: 100th Division of the 398th Infantry, Seventh Army, killed in action, France November 20, 1944. Lt. Gray’s machine gun platoon supported a rifle company when an enemy counter-attack destroyed contact. He took it upon himself to secure communications and

made his way through sniper-infested woods. He had just contacted the riflemen at the hill’s peak when he was shot and killed. He received a posthumous award of the Bronze Star Medal on 15 November 1945.

Robert E. Greene, Class of 1942: was an ensign in the Naval Air Corps. He was killed in the performance of his duty on September 29, 1943, buried in a cemetery at Casablanca, Morocco. Greene enlisted in February 1942, and he received his wings on November 26, 1942. His home was in Mount Vernon, NY. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity

George W. Eike

Edward J. Enright

Chester B. Gray

LOST

Ralph Eugene Gregory Jr., Class of 1940: of Painesville, Ohio, completed his aviation training at Stuttgart Army Airfield. Lieutenant Gregory was command pilot on the day he was reported missing. Lt. Donald Kermode, a member of the mission, later wrote:

We lost the number one engine a little before target time (deep into Germany), but we were doing O.K., so Greg and I decided to go on the bombing run. Just at ‘bombs away’ number two engine went out, so we had to turn over the lead of the formation to the deputy lead. While trying to catch up to the formation, we were jumped by a FockeWulf 190, and to clear up one point, there were no friendly fighters around. Our right wing was shot up badly, and we had a bad fire in the gas tank, the ship was due to explode any minute, so the order to bail out was given..232

The crew bailed out. Gregory was declared “Missing In Action” when his B-17 was hit by flak and crashed in Gross Zerlang, Germany—confirmed dead on December 18, 1945. Lieutenant Gregory was a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity. He was awarded an Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters and the Purple Heart.

Farwell Kenly, Class of 1936: an ensign in the Coast Guard, died November 11, 1943, in a naval hospital of wounds he received during convoy duty in the South Pacific. He was first buried in the Guadalcanal Cemetery later reburied the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu in 1949. Ensign Kenly was a member of the Sigma Phi fraternity at Hobart.233

Donald Anthony LeFrois, Class of 1944: died on 26 June 1943 in a plane crash in Florida, the third Hobart man to die in World War II. He was one of thirteen men who lost their lives in a heavy bomber crash in the St. Johns River near Jacksonville, Florida. After one year at Hobart, 1940-41, he enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the United States Naval Reserve in May 1942 at Rochester and trained at Chapel Hill, NC; Grosse Isle, MI; and Pensacola, FL. Commissioned as an ensign in the Navy in June 1943, he was assigned to the United States Marine Corps Reserve as a second lieutenant and set to go on active duty at one of the Navy’s Air Operational Training Centers before being assigned to a combat zone.

On 12 June 1943, two weeks before his death, Lieutenant LeFrois received a commendation for returning a crippled plane to base in Jacksonville.234

Richard Calvin Loomis, Class of 1932: private in the army medical corps, joined the Army at Fort Niagara, NY, on March 28, 1942, and trained at Camp Grant, IL. Private Loomis was reported missing in the South Pacific on August 13, 1943, and his death was confirmed August 13, 1944. (no photo available)

Douglas Taylor Nash, Class of 1936: second lieutenant Army Air Corps, disappeared while a passenger and observer on a photo and weather reconnaissance flight on November 21, 1944. He was with the headquarters unit of the XXI bomber command. Nash received the Air Medal, Purple Heart, and Asiatic-Pacific Campaign medal. He attended Hobart from September 1932 to June 1934, was a member of Sigma Chi, and transferred to the College of the City of Toledo, OH, his junior year. (no photo available)

Dietrich Felix Eberhard Rasetzki, Class of 1936: served with the 119th Infantry Regiment, first in England in February 1944. An army chaplain, with the second wave of soldiers to land on the coast of France, was killed in action on July 25, 1944.

“Most of the summer of 1944 passed without a loss until the middle of August when the paper announced… Chaplain Dietrich F. E. Rasetzki had been killed in action in France on July 25. Born in Germany in 1915, he came to the United States in 1924 and graduated from Canton High School in 1932. He was a graduate of Hobart College, The Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, and Andover Newton Theological School, where he completed his graduate studies in 1941. After completing his studies, he was the pastor in Chester, New Hampshire, until he enlisted in the Army as Chaplain of the 119th Regiment in July of 1943— Canton Historical Society (Massachusetts), The Canton Bicentennial History Book. Chapter Four: “Canton’s Fallen Heroes.”235

Lieutenant Rasetski was a brother of Nicholas A. Rasetzki, class of 1934 [later the voice of the Boston Pops for many years] (no photo available)

Ralph E. Gregory, Jr.,

Farwell Kenly

Donald A. LeFrois

Timothy D. Remick, Class of 1944: died in action in France on November 15, 1944. On July 14, 1944, he landed in France and participated in the famous tank division’s spectacular breakthrough across the Brittany peninsula and east to Alsace-Lorraine. While repairing a tire, a shell landed nearby, fatally wounding him.

Frederick G. Roth, Class of 1914: went to the Philippines in 1915 to teach chemistry and physics in a government agricultural school and subsequently became Superintendent of Schools and held offices in the Philippine Bureau of Education. During World War I, he returned home to join the United States Marine Corps and saw service in France. After the war, he returned to the Philippines and, for a time, was Deputy Governor of the Sulu Archipelago. He left government service to become Philippine representative of the Columbia Rope Co. of Auburn, NY.

Forced to flee into the jungles when the Japanese invaded Davao on the island of Mindanao, Roth contacted an American Army unit in May 1942 and was commissioned a captain in the field. Captain Roth’s knowledge of Philippine customs and territory proved invaluable to the Army. He was taken prisoner on Mindanao and later transferred to a prisoner of war camp near Cabanatuan, north of Manila. He spent nearly two years as a prisoner of the Japanese in the Philippines. Under his direction, his fellow prisoners raised a considerable amount of food in a prison garden he supervised. On December 15, 1944, he died when the prisoner warship he was on was sunk by a US submarine, leaving Manila for Japan. At Hobart, Roth belonged to Phi Phi Delta. (no photo available)236

Henry H. Neales Shriver, Class of 1940: of Wilton, Connecticut, enlisted in the Marine Corps in October 1940 and served with the armored amphibian tank corps. On July 11, 1944, he was killed in the Pacific area. Promoted to captain. Shriver was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Lieut. Silver is a graduate of Hawken School, Belmont Hill School, Belmont, Mass., and Hobart College. He was a football player at Hobart and following his graduation, was an instructor and coach at Belmont Hill School. He entered service in February, 1942, and was commissioned at Greenville, Miss. He went overseas last April and had seen action in North Africa, Pantalleria, Sicily, and Italy.

Robert Vito Simone, Class of 1943: a cadet in the Army Air Corps, died in the crash of a training plane near Phoenix, AZ on June 29, 1943. He was a member of the Phi Phi Delta fraternity. (no photo available)

Michael Theodore Silver, Class of 1939: was a P-40 fighter pilot. He had taken part in the Sicilian campaign and fighting on the Italian mainland, killed in action flying over Western Yugoslavia on November 6, 1943. Lieutenant Silver, a brother of Ralph Silver, class of 1933, was from Cambridge, Massachusetts. He belonged to Kappa Alpha fraternity

Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, Monday, 29 November 1943, p. 4

LOST OVER ITALY

Also reported missing yesterday was Second Lieut. Michael T. (Ted) Silver, 27, Army Fighter Pilot, who was lost in action over Italy on November 6 (1943). A War Department notification received by the flier’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph S. Silver, Wade Park Manor, said he had been on a combat operation over Italy.

From Findagrave: Robert served as an Aviation Cadet on PT-17 #41-25373, 12th Army Airforce Training Field, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. He resided in Erie County, New York, before the war. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on June 25, 1942, in Buffalo, New York.. Robert died in the “Line of Duty” when his plane crashed at the base during the war.

John T. Slater, Class of 1941: served with the Eagle Squadron of the Royal Air Force. While on a shipping reconnaissance mission off the Dutch coast, he located and attacked a convoy protected by several flak ships. His plane was hit by flak, and he tried to bail out. Before jumping, his Spitfire nosed over at about 1,000 feet and went in; reported KIA -- killed in action on September 21, 1942. His home was in Waverly, NY. He was affiliated with the Sigma Phi fraternity at Hobart.237

Henry H. N. Shriver,

Michael T. Silver

John T. Slater

Timothy D. Remick

From his Navy Cross citation:

Earl Henry Steiger, Class of 1940: enlisted in the Naval Air Corps in June 1940. He was killed in action in August 1943 while flying a fighter plane on patrol. Lieutenant Steiger was married to Helen Sherwood Steiger, WS class of 1942. He was a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity.

“Lieutenant Steiger was furnishing fighter protection for a torpedo bombing plane on an anti-submarine patrol when an enemy submarine was sighted on the surface. He immediately maneuvered his plane into position and attacked the submarine and its anti-aircraft gun crew, which was in action. Displaying outstanding aggressiveness and a high degree of courage, he made two strafing attacks under continuous fire from the enemy. With ammunition remaining in only one gun, Lieutenant Steiger bravely made a third attack during which his plane crashed into the sea, probably as a result of enemy fire and at the cost of Lieutenant Steiger’s life. His accurate, persistent, and valiant attacks permitted the torpedo bomber to deliver a depth charge attack which ultimately destroyed the enemy submarine.

“The extraordinary heroism and outstanding aggressiveness displayed by Lieutenant Steiger on this occasion were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Naval Service.”238

Richard G. S. Thornton, Class of 1934: an Army 1st lieutenant, was killed in action in the Saarland on March 17, 1945. He entered the service in July 1942 and went overseas in January 1945 with the 71st Infantry Division. Thornton was awarded the Silver Star posthumously, from the citation:

“For gallantry in action on 17 March 1945 in the vicinity of Bitche, France, at approximately 11:30, without regard for his own safety and entirely on his own initiative, Lieutenant Thornton proceeded through an extremely heavy minefield in the woods covered by enemy fire to recover the body of an American officer reported missing in action. Lieutenant Thornton succeeded in recovering the body of the missing officer but, while attempting to mark off the minefield for protection of his men was fatally injured.

Lieutenant Thornton’s leadership, courage, and devotion to duty exemplify the high traditions of our armed forces.”239

Division in England. He was in the 790th Squadron and flew ten missions that September, primarily as a co-pilot. In October, he flew sixteen missions as the first pilot of a B-24 bomber. In November 1944, his plane was hit and last sighted, heading over the North Sea. He was reported missing in action on November 10, 1944, and presumed dead. He received the Air Medal for exceptionally meritorious achievement while participating in bomber combat missions over Germany and enemy-occupied continental Europe.

Robert Webster Van Horn, Class of 1944: was a captain in the Marine Corps who died in a plane crash in a storm in South Carolina in May 1944. (no photo available)

Maynard N. Ungerer, Class of 1944: in September 1940, enlisted in the Army Reserves in October 1942 and left Hobart in February 1943. A year later, he was honorably discharged from the Reserves and became a cadet in the Air Force. He trained at Moody Field, GA, Maxwell Field, AL, Chatham Field, GA, and Mitchel Field, NY. On September 16, 1944, he was assigned to the Eighth Air Force’s Second

Herbert Jacob Welker, Class of 1941: a lieutenant in the Naval Air Corps, attached to the USS Wasp. He entered the service in 1941 and participated in the Philippines Invasion. He was reported missing in action off Sawas Island during the landings on Leyte, October 25, 1944; later declared dead. Welker received the Distinguished Flying Cross on July 4, 1943, and the Air Medal with two gold stars (for three awards). He belonged to the Kappa Sigma fraternity.

Earl H. Steiger

Richard G. S. Thornton

Maynard N. Ungerer

Herbert J. Welker

Russell Crayden

Winchester, Class of 1915: belonged to the Kappa Sigma fraternity. After graduating from Hobart, he served on the Mexican Border with Troop D 1st Cavalry of the New York National Guard from June 1916 to March 1917. For seventeen years, he was an instructor of the advanced equitation class — the art and practice of horsemanship and horse riding—at Ft. Riley, Kansas, and served as an instructor at West Point. He was a member of the United States Horse Show Olympic Team. In 1932 and 1933, he was appointed as an exchange officer to the national cavalry school of Poland, graduating with the highest honors.

He later spent six months with the Spanish regiment in Vienna, the oldest cavalry unit in the world. He retired from the army in April 1944 as a colonel following a lengthy illness and died at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, on June 17, 1944.

WILLIAM SMITH LOST IN WORLD WAR II

Catherine R. Irving, Class of 1931: joined the Red Cross in September 1943. She arrived in Australia in January 1943 and served in New Guinea. She was en route home and died at sea of pneumonia on November 4, 1944. Orders found in her purse after her death said that she was told not to travel except by air due to injuries she had received. There were no medical facilities on the freighter on which she traveled home.

Catherine had been active in various social work fields before entering the Red Cross service. She had served as assistant superintendent of the State School for Delinquent Children of Sanacan, NC and as a caseworker with the Family Welfare Association of Boston, Massachusetts, and later as a caseworker with the Associated Charities of Newburgh. Her other activities had included work with the Children’s Aid Society at New Hamburg and St. Barnabas House on Mulberry Street, New York City.

Having been engaged in military service overseas for two years, she hoped to be at home with her sister for Christmas.240

Russell C. Winchester

LOST

WORLD WAR II

TRANSITIONS:

1946-1975

The end of the Second World War marked a difficult financial time for the Colleges. An observation noted that the only thing holding up the buildings was the ivy. The endowment was low, the flow of V-12 funding had ended, and the student body was lower than before the war. Like many colleges, Hobart and William Smith faced an uncertain and somewhat cloudy future. Yet, it was not that bleak. Two things changed this situation:

The G.I. Bill and the start of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps on campus.

G.I. BILL

The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 contained many benefits for returning World War II veterans --commonly referred to as G.I.s. Passed by Congress in 1944, it provided immediate financial support for nearly all World War II veterans. Benefits included lowcost mortgages, low-interest business or farm loans, unemployment compensation, and tuition and living payment to attend high school, college, or vocational school. These benefits were available to all veterans who had been on active duty during the war for at least 90 days and had not been discharged dishonorably.241

Sheldon Feinberg H’50 enrolled in Hobart College in 1946, just after the GI Bill passed. The legislation flooded the HWS campus with veterans. He remembered: “These men were like big brothers to me, and with the desire to have freedom and much fun, I started college along with my older friends, the veterans.” 242 Due to the G.I Bill, by 1948 Hobart had 948 men enrolled; during the war, the number had dropped to 30 at one point. Because of the volume of applicants, many changes occurred on the campus. Former barracks built by the Navy and used for V-12 were transferred to the Colleges to house the increased student body, and a new dining service became necessary. 243

A letter to the editor in the Herald in February 1950 summed up the impact that the G.I. Bill had on the Colleges, a Veteran I. Warren Vollman wrote:

The colleges and universities of America this February will have courageously passed through four of the most hectic and exciting years in academic history. The deluge of the veterans enrolled under the G. I. Bill will have decreased to a dribble.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges are perfectly representative of the American educational institutions that have prospered both quantitatively and qualitatively since 1945. Increased enrollment and additional funds lent themselves well

to a financially faltering educational system. More important, perhaps, is that the Veteran lent a core of seriousness and maturity to institutions long bereft of such necessities.

The Veteran brought to the colleges many headaches and problems, but there were compensations. Half matured and half adolescent; unruly and serious; worldly and naive; puzzled and certain; carefree and purposeful; the Veteran came, bringing with him the conflicting factors of combat.

The colleges staggered momentarily, then gaining strength succeeded in narrowing this breach of internal conflicts created from without, by accepting the challenge of the Veteran on his own terms, to the benefit, I might add, of both college and student. It was a tightly contested four years, with the college and student both emerging victors. Speaking for the Veteran, I hope that we have added in some way a permanent stimulus to America’s colleges, and of more importance, we want to humbly extend our thanks to the colleges of America. for sincerely accepting our concerted challenge_

And speaking- for the veterans of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, I would like to extend a particular note of thanks to the faculty and administration for a job. “Well Done.”

SAGA FOUNDERS – VETERANS ON THE G.I. BILL

Standing, from left to right, are: Harry “Hunk” W. Anderson, Hobart College class of 1949; W. Price Laughlin, Hobart College class of 1949; and William F. Scandling, Hobart College class of 1949. 1967, Convocation honoraary degrees. Hobart and William Smith Archives

Wilbur P. “Willy” Laughlin had served in the Army Air Force during World War II. At Hobart College, he met Harry “Hunk” Anderson and William “Bill” Scandling. Bill had served in the Pacific theater for the Army Air Force, and Hunk had served in the Army.244 All received G.I. Bill benefits.

The trio supplemented their meager income with different money-making ventures, including selling lecture notes to other students. In 1948, Hobart closed the on-campus cafeteria after losing money for three years. Now, college seniors, the three stepped in and convinced the Colleges’ president to let them operate the cafeteria.

They felt they clearly understood what the students wanted: a simplified menu and free second helpings of food. This college experiment gave birth to Saga Corporation.245 Before long, they took on the dining halls at adjacent William Smith.246

Saga eventually expanded into one of the country’s leading foodservice companies, serving 458 colleges in the United States and Canada, hospitals, corporate service, and owned several restaurant chains, including Straw Hat Pizza, Velvet Turtle, and MacArthur Park.247

As part of the 175th Anniversary, the Colleges renamed the main dining hall the Great Hall of Saga—an homage to Anderson, Scandling, and Laughlin.

Although the post-war enrollment had grown to 1,234 students in 1948 (940 men and 303 women), by 1951, it dropped to 887 (615 men and 272 women) due to the Korean War and depression birth rates.248 Historically, the Colleges had never had a large enrollment.

Like the V-12 program during the Second World War, the Reserve Officers Training Corps--ROTC program would provide the Colleges with much-needed income.

THE

AIR FORCE RESERVE OFFICER TRAINING CORPS (AFROTC)

A Short Chronology of AFROTC Program at Hobart College

Compiled from the pages of The Herald249

1951

April 1951 Announcement of ROTC detachment on campus in the Fall.

June 1951 Announcement that all incoming freshmen would be enrolled in the ROTC program.

July- Sept. Depar tment of Military Science added to the faculty. Commanded by Lt Col Ernest B. Shepherd.

1951 Top students in the program are given student deferments. Initially designated AFROTC Det. 63.

1952

Jan. 1952 ROTC Rifle Club was founded under the direction of MSgt Bruce A. Lambert.

April 1952 First long-distance flight program conducted for cadets. Fifteen Hobart students journeyed to North Carolina for flight orientation.

May 1952 First Armed Forces Day Review held, 175 Hobart cadets participated in a parade featuring 4,000 men from Samson AFB.

Nov. 1952 Re-designated as AFROTC Detachment 570.

1953 -1955

Jan. 1953 First AFROTC Military Ball.

Jan. 1954 Lt Col LeRoy Stoltz assumes command of the detachment.

April 1954 Arnold Air Honor Society founded at Hobart.

March 1955 Initiated publication of cadet newspaper “Wingspan.”

Oct. 1955 Precision drill team formed.

1960-1964

Oct. 1960 Lt Col Stoltz Retired.

March 1961 Lt Col William Butcher was announced as new ROTC commander in June 1961. New staff also included Capt Theodore Shorack, assigned to Hobart.

Dec. 1964 ROTC requirement for incoming students announced as terminating.

1968-1970

June 1968 Some students and faculty stage a walkout protest at the graduation ceremony on quad protesting the inclusion of ROTC commissioning as part of academic proceedings.

Oct. 1968 Student and faculty Protest against ROTC on Campus.

April 1969 Faculty votes to continue to allow credit for ROTC courses.

April 1969 Vandalism of ROTC offices and bulletin boards.

April 1970 Hobar t Student Assembly votes to abolish ROTC on campus – concurrently, faculty vote to eliminate the program.

April 1970 Major anti-ROTC protests began on campus.

April 1970 Announcement that ROTC would end on Campus in July 1971.

May 1970 ROTC offices firebombed - the start of the “Tommy the Traveler” incident.

Sept. 1970 Last of the eight Hobart students wanted for the Firebombing/Tommy affair surrender.

Air Force ROTC on the Quad, early 1950s. Hobart and William Smith Archives

Air Science Dept – ROTC 1965 – Seated Capt Shorack, Lt Col Butcher, Lt Col Weisinger, Capt Thaler, Behind Sgt Fleener, Sgt Wright, TSgt Stokes, and TSgt Mitchell

Tommy The Traveler

As early as 1969, during the Vietnam War, a young man appeared at colleges in upstate New York posing as an organizer for Students for a Democratic Society, an antiwar group organizing on many campuses. He said he was traveling from one campus to another in upstate New York, earning the nickname “Tommy the Traveler.” Tommy Tongyai was, in fact, an undercover agent of the Ontario County Sheriff’s office and the FBI. Over several months, he attempted to talk students into violent antiwar activities. Tommy was reported active on campus in the late ‘60s, teaching bomb-making techniques.

On May 1, 1970, two Hobart students, incited by Tommy, fire-bombed the basement of Sherrill Hall, then the location of the Air Force ROTC detachment. Though there was some smoke damage to the ROTC offices, no one was injured.

On June 5, 1970, the local sheriff’s department attempted to serve warrants on several students. Tommy, leading the police, was quickly unmasked as a police agent provocateur. For two hours, a confrontation between students and police closed down the campus. Because of the conflict, the governor of New York convened a special grand jury. It indicted Hobart and William Smith on four counts of coercion for “recklessly tolerating” the June 5 riot. A trial found the Colleges innocent of these charges; the authorities took no legal action against Tommy.

Recommended: Hobart alumnus Marc Weiss ’69 produced a documentary for the PBS series POV: “The Revolutionary Was a Cop,” available in the HWS library.250

THE VIETNAM MEMORIAL ON CAMPUS

Five men associated with Hobart College died in the Vietnam War. These were men who walked the nearby streets. They were young with their lives ahead of them, and they left behind friends at local schools. They kissed their mothers and wives and went off to serve. And they never returned to see the shores of Seneca Lake.

They all died in a far-away country. At home, families mourned their loss and never understood why they died. It took the nation a long time to come to terms with Vietnam and these sacrifices. Anyone who served in the military in the 1960s and 1970s knows it was a terrible time. Many vented their frustrations on those who did their duty in a divided nation.

And many paid the price.

LOST IN VIETNAM

Major Theodore J. Shorack Jr. – Honorary Member Class of 1966 June 9, 1966

Theodore James Shorack, Jr. (I929 -1966) On July 9, 1951, he enlisted in the USAF and, on Dec. 12, 1952, commissioned a 2nd lieutenant. He received his “wings” in December 1956. In 1962, he began his four-year ROTC assignment at Hobart as an assistant professor of Air Science. In 1965 he left for service in Vietnam. On June 9, 1966, his

plane went down over North Vietnam while on a rescue mission for an F-105 pilot. The Air Force listed Shorack as Missing in Action. Later, he was declared Killed in Action—Body Not Recovered. He had completed 169 missions before his death.

Commendations: Distinguished Flying Cross; Bronze Star; Air Medal; Purple Heart; National Defense Service Medal; Vietnam Campaign Medal; Vietnam Service Medal; Air Force Presidential Unit Citation; Vietnam Gallantry Cross; Air Force Good Conduct Medal.251

Tommy Tongyai

aka Tommy The Traveler Source historic geneva.org

ROTC Offfice Firebombed Source HWS Pulteney St. Survey

Vietnam Memorial Dedication – June 2016. President Mark D. Gearan, Jim Albright ’66, Todd and Candice Shorack, children of Major Theodore Shorack. Photo by John Norvell

Ted Shorack

Photo Shorack Family

PFC Thom Thurston Osborn, Class of 1967

January 28, 1966Died on Patrol SVN

Thom T. Osborn (19451966) was the son of Mrs. Lawrence Osborn of Worchester, MA. He left Hobart in 1965 and enlisted in the United States Army, where he served as a private first class attached to 1st Cavalry Division, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry, D Company. He died on January 28, 1966; the incident attributed to non-hostile action, South Vietnam, Quang Tri province. He was the first alumnus lost in the Vietnam War.

Commendations: Combat Infantryman Badge; National Defense Service Medal; Vietnam Campaign Medal; Vietnam Service Medal; Army Presidential Unit Citation; Vietnam Gallantry Cross; Army Good Conduct Medal. 252

Captain Robert Boughton Beale, Class of 1961

March 17, 1967 - Died in aircraft near Quang Nam SVN attacking enemy

Robert Boughton Beale (1939-1967), the son of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Beale of Orchard Park, NY. At Hobart, he belonged to Theta Delta Chi, sang in Schola Cantorum, served on the board of control, was on the wrestling team, and WEOS staff. He graduated with an economics major. He joined the United States Marine Corps in March 1962 and was attached to III Marine Amphibious Force, 1st MAW, Mag 12, VMA 214. He was a pilot of both the A-4C Skyhawk and F-4 Phantom II. He was flying a close air support mission in Vietnam when his plane crashed at sea.

Commendations: Purple Heart, five Air Medals, Combat Action Ribbon; National Defense Service Medal; Vietnam Campaign Medal; Vietnam Service Medal; Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation; Vietnam Gallantry Cross; Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal; Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal. 253

Major Charles Cortens Winston III, Class of 1961

August 1, 1967 - RF-101 photo-reconnaissance aircraft shot down NVN

Charles Cortens Winston III (1938-1974) was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Winston of Scarsdale, NY. At Hobart, he played football all four years, graduated with a BA in economics, and was a member of Sigma Chi. Upon earning his pilot wings, he was first an instructor pilot at Webb AFB, TX. Following this assignment, he went to Southeast Asia, where he joined the 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. On August 1, 1967, he piloted an RF-101C Voodoo on a mission over enemy territory in Vietnam, and the aircraft crashed. He died in the incident, and his remains were not recovered until the Vietnamese government returned them to US custody. On October 25, 1977, the Central Identification Laboratory-Hawaii identified the remains of Major Charles Cortens Winston III, missing from the Vietnam War. The Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific commemorate his death. His son Charles C. Winston was a member of the Hobart class of 1988.

Commendations: Silver Star; Distinguished Flying Cross; Purple Heart; National Defense Service Medal; Vietnam Campaign Medal; Vietnam Service Medal; Air Force Presidential Unit Citation; Vietnam Gallantry Cross; Air Force Good Conduct Medal. 254

Thom Thurston

Robert Beale

Charles Winston III

Corp. James Kent Kirkby, Class of 1968

February 02, 1970Explosive Device in Quang Tin, SVN

James Kent Kirkby (19461970) was a conscientious objector who served as a paramedic. He majored in math at Hobart, where he was a member of the math, French, and Latin clubs and the Echo and Pine staff and sang in the Schola Cantorum choir of the Colleges. Kirkby was from Glen Ridge, NJ, son of Dr. and Mrs. Cyril S. Kirkby. He had begun an architecture major at the University of Pennsylvania when drafted into the Army on December 6, 1969. Kirkby served as a medical corpsman attached to 196th Light Infantry Brigade, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry, Headquarters Company. He died on February 2, 1970, from the explosion of a device in South Vietnam, Quang Tin province.255

Commendations: Purple Heart; Marksmanship Badge; Combat Medical Badge; National Defense Service Medal; Vietnam Campaign Medal; Vietnam Service Medal; Army Presidential Unit Citation; Vietnam Gallantry Cross; Army Good Conduct Medal. 256

THE STATESMAN BELL

Smoke of the 3rd Coast Guard District Headquarters

NY, was also instrumental in getting the bell to Geneva.

The bell is solid bronze and rests on a four-legged steel frame. Engraved with the letters “USLHS,” which stand for the United States Light-House Service. Before the formation of the Coast Guard, the USLHS was responsible for providing aid to navigation. A retired HWS staff member, the late John Collins, restored the bell to be used before Hobart lacrosse and football games. The bell tolled before each game in memory of those who died for our country.257

The Statesmen Bell was donated to Hobart College in 1976 by the U.S. Coast Guard through the efforts of the then-Congressman Mario Biaggi. Lieutenant Commander

at Governor’s Island,

James K. Kirkby

STORIES WE SHARE:

Every Veteran has a whole collection of stories they tell. Some are very funny, some are exciting, some amazing, and some sad. There are stories so personal that they shared with only a few close friends. These stories seem to fit this category: “If you’ve been there, you understand….”

We will share some stories in the following pages, and Part II of this book will profile the alums who served from Hobart and William Smith. We think you might identify with them as you read them because “you have been there, and you understand.”

Many Americans would not understand because they have had little personal contact with the military and war. Today, it is estimated that less than 1 percent of the American people serve or are associated with the military. So in the minds of most Americans, being in the military is a foreign thing. They truly have no idea of what we have done for our nation as Armed Services members.

Combat is even more remote. War has not touched most Americans’ lives since Vietnam. After all, in many people’s minds, war only happens to others. Today overseas, it is the Soldier’s war. It is not the ordinary American citizen’s war; it is not their experience. It is only when war intrudes into a person’s life that this experience changes.

And war does intrude into lives.

SOME ACCOUNTS OF THE VIETNAM ERA

Peter Tauber H’68 (1947-2004)

From 1968 to 1970, he was on staff at the New York Times before setting out as a freelance writer. With the possibility of the draft and assignment to combat in Vietnam, Tauber, in 1969, enlisted in the United States Army Reserve, as an alternative to jail or Canada. He remained in reserve until 1975. He drew on his eight weeks in basic combat training with the men of Charlie Company in Fort Bliss, TX boot camp for his first book, The Sunshine Soldiers. Later, he tried being a nightclub comedian and wrote sketches for NBC’s ‘’Saturday Night Live” television comedy series. He died on March 12 in Park City, UT. He was 56 and lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. His family said that Mr. Tauber was on a skiing vacation when he collapsed while waiting for a chairlift and was pronounced dead at the scene.258

A LOOK AT BASIC TRAINING, FROM THE SUNSHINE SOLDIERS

For the first time we are called upon to integrate all of our combat skills in a sustained assault exercise. Crawling on our bellies, creeping on our knees, under barbed wire, over trip wires, hopping through stumble-foot traps, through an obstacle course, over log bridges, across a single-strand rope bridge, falling behind logs, bushes and trees, firing blanks, being fired upon, up a hill through blinding choking gas—just like Berkeley, so far—we advance. We press on, up the steep hill, to overrun the defenders in the foxholes at the summit.

The presumption is that each wave of assaulters has captured the hill. But gazing down from the peak, I realize that we have been exposed all the way. Drill Sergeant Brown sits atop a bunker languorously lobbing imaginary grenades at bunches of charging troops, firing a few blanks at strays, wiping out everyone he sees like a gruesome quality controller.

We have captured the hill, panting and coughing, and at an undeniably great cost. Even with blanks, several of us suffer powder burns. We all would have been wiped out with real ammo. On top of the hill we have captured a classroom area already set up for our next class, Field Sanitation. In front of instruction bleachers stands a large diagram labeled “Garbage Pit.” Thus ends the charge of Garbage Pit Hill, to be remembered as long as Pork Chop and Hamburger, no doubt. It was exciting, I must admit, and great fun besides. No different from the games of Cowboys and Indians I used to play willingly.259

Peter Tauber

Photo from the Dustcover of Sunshine Soldiers, 1971

Michael F. David H’66

After USAF Officer Training School, he served at Chanute AFB, IL, Ft. Meyer, VA, and Andrews AFB, MD. His work was in administrative, personnel, etc. Although he never got sent overseas in this time of war, he did contribute his efforts as needed. It was a very good experience. As for his Hobart years.......he says now how fortunate he was to attend and graduate.

WASHINGTON, DC, CIRCA THE LATE 1960S

In the days of the Hawk and Dove, a DC tavern on Capitol Hill, the late ’60 s was a time for my USAF second tour-of-duty locale. That restaurant’s name encapsulates the Vietnam war politics. I started my officer training as a hawk. By the time my four years were over, I had become a dove.

To call the times of the late ’60’s a simpler time is an understatement. The president was LBJ, and his decisions about this massive war colored life all over the area. Opinions were given major news coverage, and I was one of the tiniest cogs in the big wheels of what had overtaken the US.

In my case, I was the commanding officer of a school detachment that housed future listening-post airmen and officers in specific foreign languages. I did not teach but rather was the admin side of life for these full-time students

who went to schools in Washington, DC. My duties were pretty perfunctory, at the level at which I was tasked. And the school terms for the majority of my men—no women were called upon—were right around one year.

There was no fraternization between officers and the enlisted men. So I only got to know a handful of the noncoms during their schooling. You might already be thinking that these listening-post airmen were culled from a highly intelligent, even some college grads, group. The work that they would later do is classified, and it was something that nobody discussed. But in my dealings with my full-time staff, we could cover lots of stories of both the actual Vietnam war, as well as all permutations of the politics of that war.

And when I left the airbase each workday -- well, news from the TV, newspapers, and radio was quite broad. Although, before Watergate, our Washington Post newspaper would cut its teeth on military doings, all across the hawkish or dovish persuasions. Its daily fare was to turn me into a news junkie rapidly. And in today’s over-reported news realm, I am still an avid customer!

So my tour of duty could be summed up as a small window on the war, an observation post of one. It still holds mostly good memories, and I am grateful for being an active player. The words of Oliver Wendell Holmes, “Not to have participated in the actions and passions of one’s time is to be judged not to have lived,” are a fitting coda.

Holden H’63

BA English -- USAF: Reconnaissance in Central and South America, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia. 180 combat missions in Southeast Asia. Distinguished Flying Cross (twice); Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. Author of the book: Moonglow. Hobart and William Smith Colleges: Alumni Trustee; SAA Board (Emeritus). His wife is a Skidmore graduate, and two sons and one grandson are Hobart graduates.

IN THE RB-57 AIRCRAFT

My orders sent me to Detachment One, 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, Tan Son Nhut AB, Saigon. “Detachment” meant three hopped-up RB57Es modified by Texas Instruments, General Dynamics, and Rome Air Development Center. The aircraft was a combat testbed for the latest photographic and infrared reconnaissance sensors. The test systems were deployed throughout the RF4C fleet for operational use if approved by tech reps. I flew with Bill Reeder, a newly promoted Major. Like him, I had three-plus years in high-altitude recon. We went through upgrade trading together and deployed to Saigon. Det One flew against the same targets as the RF-4s of the 12th and 16th Squadrons. Because we had state-of-the-art sensors, our mission profile varied. I mainly flew at night—low level. One thousand feet off the deck, chasing the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos and the mountains of Western Vietnam. The RF-4Cs had INS and radar. We didn’t. No one wanted to fly night missions in the RB-57.

on next page.

AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES’ LEGACY OF MILITARY

Henry

Michael David, 1966 Echo Yearbook

Hank Holden, right Continued

I flew 180 missions. There are several missions that stand out even now - fifty-plus years later: a low level run over the Freedom Bridge in the DMZ, where 37mm cannon fire destroyed a large section of the aircraft just behind my seat; a night run in bad weather through the Attapeau Valley (Laos), where after-action high-speed panoramic cameras in our nose cone showed a ridgeline 100 feet from the aircraft; a bomb damage assessment run following a night airstrike west of the Tchepone Pass, where a secondary explosion rocked the aircraft and caused us to lose our night vision. Every night there was the continued uncertainty that we might run into a “granite cloud” as we descended into a target area. Even today, some names bring back vivid memories: Mu Gia Pass, Ashau Valley, Dong Ha, Nakhon Phanom.

I wonder that a 26-year-old kid flew those missions as I write this. And, for what?

Scheeren H’59

He served in the USAF for 25 years and retired in 1984 as a Lt Col. trained in meteorology. He initially fulfilled weather support duties but moved into operational support and command.

AN AIR FORCE WEATHERMAN-WELCOME TO VIETNAM

Fast forward more than seven years after I graduated from Hobart College as an ROTC 2nd Lieutenant. I’m standing at the window of a Vietnamese hotel just outside the main gate of Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon, watching the place blow up under an intense mortar attack by the Viet Cong.

My friend, Landis Connelly and I are now captains in the US Air Force. It’s December 4th, 1966, and we just arrived

on a big, contract commercial airplane from the USA. It’s the first night of our one-year tour of duty during the Vietnam War, and it could well have been our last night.

“Landis, don’t you think there would have been someone here to meet us,” I observe as we stand just outside the airplane on the tarmac with our lumpy duffle bags around us. A friendly flight line GI says, “You officers better find a place to spend the night. It’s almost curfew. I’ll drive you to the main gate. There’s a Vietnamese hotel right across the street.”

“No food! No resarant! Curfrew! Curfrew!. “OK, we understand we are not going to get anything to eat. What’s that? A case of Bam-e-Bam (‘33’) beer and two bags of potato chips. We’ll take it.” Landis and I share a room on the fifth floor (luckily), drinking Bam-e-Bam beer (reputedly made with formaldehyde) and eating greasy potato chips. “This place is not that bad.” (Just wait). KA-BOOM! CRASH! It’s about 2:00 AM and the room is lit up as bright as noon. We rush to the window and see the big US Air Base, just across the street, exploding from round after round of Viet Cong mortar fire. We can feel the hotel shake with every explosion. The mortar attack doesn’t last for long, but we learn later that the ground fight between Viet Cong “sappers” and Air Force security forces goes on throughout the night.

It’s morning and we try a couple of times to get out of our room, but we are roughly pushed back in by US Army troops guarding the halls. We already feel intimidated in our heavy, starched and pressed, green cotton fatigue uniforms with bright blue name tapes and “US Air Force” on the chest. Everybody out in the hall is wearing crumpled jungle fatigues with black tabs. Their trouser bottoms are bloused over scuffed jungle boots, and they’ve got GUNS!

Finally, we get up our nerve, grab our bags, and rush out into the hall. We make it down the stairs to the third floor which is littered with debris. And there are a couple of

ominous looking long plastic bags lying against a wall. A rugged Army MP sees us, “You guys from the 5th floor? You have any casualties up there? It blew the hell out of the first three floors.” “Nope. Everything’s A-OK. 10-4”, and we rush down the stairs to a bustling street below.

Wouldn’t that have looked good on about the eighth page of some stateside newspapers? “Two Air Force weathermen shredded in a mortar attack on their first night in Vietnam.” That’s right. Landis and I are Air Force weathermen. We’ve been to school, learned meteorology, and supported military operations for the last six years. In my case, I spent four years in France (one year in Paris, ou la la!), I went to New Delhi and helped the Indians fight the Chinese. I have commanded a weather detachment of 35 men, and I volunteered for this wartime assignment. We are not rookies.

I will command a ten-man unit for the next year in the Central Highlands of Vietnam at a place called Dragon Mountain, attached to the 4th Infantry Division (US Army), providing combat weather support. My men and I will survive mortar attacks and cobras. I will live through choking dust and drowning rain. I will misappropriate many thousands of dollars worth of Air Force material to trade to the Army to keep my unit alive. The statute of limitations has expired on these crimes (I hope).

I got my unit up out of the mud. I helped some Army friends get up out of the mud. I got myself up out of the mud. Everything I did before my year in Vietnam prepared me for it, and everything I have done since my year in Vietnam has been influenced by it. I flew out of Vietnam exactly 365 days after the fateful night I arrived. ——I wrote a fuller, 80-page Word account of my experiences entitled “What I Remember - RVN 1967”. If you want to read it, write me at fscheeren7@verizon.net.

Fritz

Capt Frederick Scheeren in the Central Highlands of Vietnam in 1967

John M. Baxter H’67

Graduated with a BA in English, active in Little Theater. Worked at the HWS maintenance department as a senior and for three months after graduation as an assistant maintenance engineer identifying and solving problems. Served three years in the US Army, one year in Vietnam as a refrigeration mechanic and about a year and a half as an instructor at the Engineer School at Fort Belvoir. Awarded the Army Commendation Medal for service in Vietnam. Completed tour in the Army as a Specialist 5th Class.

AT CHU LAI

What impressed me most in retrospect about my year in Vietnam was the scale of the United States’ involvement and the sophistication of our equipment. I spent my first days at Long Binh, an enormous base near Saigon, with what seemed like miles of barracks for personnel. I ended up in Chu Lai, a significant base in I-Corps, the northernmost corps of Vietnam. Even there, a much smaller base, the scale, and sophistication of US involvement were things I think have too rarely been described.

Chu Lai was initially carved out of coastal Vietnam by the Marines, who had two Marine air wings based there. The Marines’ Chu Lai Air Base was so large it had power lines strung along substantial concrete and wooden power poles like you would see stateside. A large power plant with three immense 1000 KW Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines handled by South Korean engineers supplied electric power to the base. Nightly we could hear what appeared to be

stationary jet engines that somehow were accompanying the F-4 Phantom jets as they took off. More than 15 years later, I found out from a Marine vet who had served there that this was a land-based catapult, kept secret. This device could easily be transported overseas. Standard jet engines, presumably customarily held in stock, were used to power it, using the same fuel and repair parts as the fighter jets themselves. The avowed purpose of the device was to enable the jets to take off on a shorter runway—more easily carved out of the jungles of Vietnam. Using two jet engines and cabling, it would assist the Phantom jets during takeoff, thus saving their fuel to extend their range.

My activity involved fixing small, gasoline-powered refrigeration units fitted to military trailers. Our platoon ran convoys daily to LZ (Landing Zone) Baldy, 25 miles away, up Highway 1, from Saigon to Hanoi. The goal was to provide fresh food to smaller bases and, when possible, to give soldiers in the field one hot meal a day. Daily, convoys of about 30 trucks, many hauling jet fuel for helicopters in 3000-gallon tankers, would make the journey up Highway 1.

In some respects, the most impressive feature of the war on our side may have been those helicopters. Their rotors played the soundtrack of Vietnam, a sound that was eternally in our ears. Our motor pool was near Americal Division Headquarters, and choppers likely dispatching officers out to the field from headquarters were constantly taking off and landing. American troops frequently were shuttled to small landing zones (clearings) in the jungle to drop dozens of troops in short order in hot areas of the country, with the job of overwhelming Vietcong units by sheer weight of numbers of soldiers appearing suddenly. Of course, the Cobra helicopter gunships also carried powerful weapons like the famous “mini-guns” that fired at such a high frequency they buzzed, rather than roaring

like ordinary machine guns. As a result, the VC and NVA feared helicopters like nothing else. They often tried to rocket the helicopter maintenance facility in Chu Lai, near the logistics yard where my unit, a Class 1 Platoon, had its warehouse.

Even my lowly Class 1 (food distribution) platoon had special equipment. A large bank of refrigerators powered by several large Cummins diesel generators and a warehouse equipped with several special military forklift trucks enabled us to do our work. We also had a complement of 7 or 8 refrigerated trailers and 10 Army truck tractors to pull them. There was also a dairy in Chu Lai where powdered milk could be converted to liquid form using water cleansed by a water treatment facility. A few hundred feet down the road was a Navy seaport where all these provisions would arrive from what we called “The World,” meaning the United States.

The American units that fought in Vietnam were wellequipped and part of a massive effort to win the war there while also providing maximum protection to the American troops doing the fighting.

Schuyler Van Horn H’68

Van Horn served in the US Army from 1968 to 1972. Following graduation from Engineer OCS and being commissioned in Military Intelligence, he served in the US and Vietnam. Stationed in An Loc, Vietnam, Sky ran a provincial Phoenix team with the MACV Advisor Team 47. After leaving the Army, he went to law school and practiced in Geneva for 42 years. Sky is married to Carol, and they have two adult children.

THE LIGHTER SIDE OF VIETNAM

My journey with the US Army started on June 17, 1968. That was the day after I graduated from HWS and started looking forward to law school. On graduation day, my parents and I passed the old library with the Legend “Ye are the Hope of the World” carved on the portal. My world came crashing down the next day when in their mailbox was my draft notice. Law school would wait.

My experience was not unlike others. Mike Hanna, a classmate and later the HWS Athletic Director, also got his draft notice the same day. I followed Mike to OCS and Vietnam, where we were both Intelligence Officers working in the Phoenix program.

I arrived in Vietnam in the summer of 1971. My duty station was An Loc, 70 miles north of Saigon, near the Cambodian border. The Iron triangle, the Parrot’s Beak, and Black Virgin Mountain were nearby. I was assigned to MACV Advisor Team 47, a small group of 32 American

advisors. Our compound had a sign that said, “Welcome to Love Compound.” Next to it was a smaller sign that said, “Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here.” It was really comforting and took me back to the days of Western Civ and Dante’s “Divine Comedy.” At least someone there had a sense of humor.

An Loc was a sizable community of 15,000. Next to our compound was the headquarters of the 5th ARVN division, about 3,000. We sat astride Highway 13, commonly known as Thunder Road for the convoy ambushes.

It is true that there were long periods of absolute boredom punctuated by short periods of absolute terror. That is war. But, incredibly, during my tour, there were lighter moments. Let me tell you about some.

My boss was a hard-bitten major who also was a Ranger. It was his second combat tour. But he had a wonderful singing voice. We often barreled down Highway 13, singing “Over There” at the top of our lungs. We even once almost blew up his jeep engine by burying the speedometer.

My ARVN counterpart was a 35-year-old married captain who had been in their Army since 18. Before I left the states, I had had a two-month immersion course in Vietnamese. He spoke a smattering of English. I was his 5th American advisor. It was a regular custom in Vietnam for males to walk down a street hand in hand. He liked to walk with me that way. He once took me out “to dinner.” The main course was a cooked fish- eyes, scales, and entrails all served on rice paper. He insisted I eat the entrails since it was good luck. For dessert, we shared a Cambodian duck egg. It was rather large, and he knocked a hole in the top with a parfait spoon. Inside was the duck embryo to include eyes and bill. I ate it. That night I loaded up on diarrhea tablets.

Once a month, we made a trip to Tan Son Nhut, a large base in Saigon, to refresh our beer supply. We would take two “gun” jeeps and a two-and-a-half-ton truck for the booze. The gun jeeps were each mounted with an M60 machine gun that swiveled. Although it was only a 70-mile trip it took all day because the roads had to be cleared of mines, and there were numerous road checkpoints. By the time we got to Tan Son Nhut, our uniforms were almost red with sweat and laterite clay dirt from the roads. At our compound, we wore name tags but rarely rank. The bad guys would shoot at officers. I wore a booney hat with shotgun rounds stuck in it and carried a 12-gauge Remington shotgun. Usually, our first stop upon arrival was a mess hall. On one of my monthly trips I happened to look across the table and to my surprise, the guy was Lt. Doug Tripp, with whom I had pledged at Delta Chi. Small world. On one of these trips, I emerged from the mess hall, and some Army major accosted me about my slovenly appearance. My lack of rank and body odor offended him. My sin- not saluting him. Chicken stuff even in Vietnam.

On another one of these trips I was driving in my jeep across the base to return to Love Compound. Damned if a Military Police jeep didn’t stop me and gave me a ticket for speeding. I was really mad and tore the ticket up in front of the rather spiffy-looking MP. My comment to him was: “Well, what are you going to do to me- send me to Vietnam?” About the same time, my NCO idly pointed the M60 at the MP. The guy’s face matched his fatigues.

Christmas of 1971 in An Loc was interesting. On Christmas Eve day, I had attended a Christmas parade of military vehicles consisting of creches of the baby Jesus framed by flame-breathing dragons. Since An Loc was in the middle of the Michelin rubber plantation owned by the French, there was a heavy Catholic presence. Most of the people in An Loc were Catholic, while most of Vietnam

Schuyler Van Horn and Henry

was Buddhist. The parade was a curious melding of cultures and religion. On Christmas Day, there was a truce in place. Luckily everyone honored it. Those of us in Love Compound not on leave got wondrously drunk. I can honestly say it was one of the best drunks I can remember. It was dumb, but we were so glad to be alive.

During my tour, I acquired a dog named “Henry.” Our picture is on this page. Henry was my constant companion. He loved to go on VR’s (visual reconnaissance) in the helicopters. Several times he almost fell out. He actually fell out of the jeep a few times. Henry was quite the lothario, and I took him to the only Army vet in country at Tan Son Nhut to get him fixed. It did not improve his disposition.

I was one lucky guy. Three weeks after I left, An Loc was besieged by 30,000 NVA and VC. The siege lasted nearly 60 days and was finally broken by massive B-52 strikes and ARVN pluck. Because supplies could not get in, Henry ended up in someone’s stew pot. I could not afford to bring him home. I still miss the rascal.

Jim Albright H’66

Jim graduated from Hobart College in 1966; while there, he participated in AFROTC and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. upon graduation. He completed Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) in 1967 and served in the Air Force from 1966-1974 as a KC-135 and air rescue helicopter (H-43) pilot with

over 100 missions over Laos and North Viet Nam, and a 13-month tour in South Korea. Jim left the service as a decorated captain. In 1998 Jim was the featured alumnus speaker at the Hobart Charter Day dinner and was a leading member of the committee that created the Vietnam Memorial on campus in 2016.

MY VIETNAM ERA CAREER

My military career began in 1962 when I entered the Air Force ROTC program as a freshman at Hobart College, and it ended in 1974 when I left the military to start graduate school at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University to prepare for my future 45-year career in Healthcare Administration. The Viet Nam conflict was ongoing for the entire time I was on active duty in the USAF; therefore, I did not spend any time in the military during so-called “peace” time. My time spent after graduation from Hobart in 1966 began being sent to Selma, Alabama, home of Craig AFB for pilot training for 12 months. Selma had become very famous for MLK Civil Rights demonstrations and the march across the Edmond Pettis Bridge to Montgomery, the state capital in 1965.

Our first of 8 moves in the next 9 years began. Patricia, then only 20, and I, 21 were married in Rochester on New Year’s Eve 1966. Her first airplane flight was to Selma via Atlanta landing on January 1, 1967. We had never lived in the south, especially in a town with a national civil rights movement focus. Selma was a segregated city with many customs that we were never exposed to in Webster, NY.

There were white-only rules for restaurants, healthcare facilities, movie theaters, and neighborhoods everywhere except on base. We found an apartment overlooking the Alabama River. Patricia found a job as a nursing instructor in the all-black-only Catholic hospital; she was one of four white employees. Our new life began.

We had a very full life after receiving my wings in October 1967. First, driving across the country to Castle AFB in Merced, California in our 1966 VW Bug (no air conditioning or radio) with our most prized possession, our black and white TV in the back seat, on the way we ran into a tanker classmate checking in to a motel with his TV also in his back seat, stopping in Las Vegas for our first wedding anniversary on New Year’s Eve. Believe it or not, KC-135, tanker training was the most relaxed time so far in my career in the military. No in-flight emergencies or lost engines on takeoff or anything.

Off for another drive across the country to Plattsburg AFB, NY, for a couple of years. Not much time at home, every other week at home and in such wonderful places such as Labrador, Alaska, Greenland, and a nicer one Spain and spending many months TDY at Utapao AFB, Thailand flying refueling and reconnaissance missions over Laos, Cambodia, North and South Viet Nam, Hainan Island, and the South China Sea.

There were exciting experiences in SE Asia: The Surface to Air Missiles (SAMs) that targeted us over Laos and NVN, never got too close, nor did the Chinese fighters that launched from the mainland while we were in the South China Sea. The Navy recon vessels always warned us of their potential and turned us around and losing an engine on takeoff rotation and having to dump fuel in order to land. Also, flying into a sucker hole in a threeship formation and having the storm close around us and coming out in a completely different formation. We were very fortunate that we didn’t collide because the lead came out #3 after going through the storm. We had over a hundred scheduled refueling and recon missions and a few unscheduled diversions to pick up fighter aircraft to replace lost fuel or to escort damaged aircraft back to base.

Lt Jim Albright, abt 1967

R. (Toby) Pugh H’67

In June of 1967, it was clear that the military draft would be looking for me soon, and my eyesight prohibited me from getting into pilot school. My Hobart roommate, Dick Anderegg, and the ROTC instructors at Hobart recommended that I take the dreaded Pilot Proficiency Exam to see if I could get into navigation school. In 1969, I completed Officer Training School, Lackland AFB, TX, and Undergraduate Navigator Training School, Mather AFB, CA, and was combatready as a B-52 Electronic Warfare Officer by 1970. I deployed to Southeast Asia four times, flying 180 “Arclight Missions.” In December 1972, I flew four “Linebacker II” missions over Hanoi, North Vietnam.

Toby Pugh “100” Missions

ONE HARD-EARNED AIR MEDAL

There I was…18 DEC 72 flying B-52 Arclight missions out of Guam with much talk of “peace is at hand.” In the briefing room, the briefing officer stood up and said, “Gentlemen, your target for tonight is…” The slide came up and there was a big red star over Hanoi, North Vietnam. A hush fell over the room. These were experienced crew members who, as a group, had flown thousands of combat missions around Southeast Asia. But this was big. This was the most heavily defended target that aircrews had ever attempted.

As we left for our planes, I decided to attend an impromptu chapel service. We met outdoors, overlooking a stunning Pacific island sunset. I shared Holy Communion with a navigator that I knew casually as Bob Certain.

At the airfield, we performed our pre-flight checklists and then waited. It was quiet. This usually busy airdrome had none of the usual rumble of takeoffs and landings, or of support vehicles and air carts. Now we could hear birds singing until we heard one distant air cart start up, preparing to start the first jet engine. Then we heard another and another. Slowly, as an orchestra builds to a crescendo, more engines came to life, and before long we heard the rumble and whine of 87 B-52s, each with eight engines coming up to power.

We were in the middle of the second wave of 129 B-52s flying from Guam and southern Thailand, supported by an even larger number of aircraft from our Navy, Marines and no doubt, Army search and rescue. As the mission progressed, two B-52s experienced malfunctions and aborted their missions. Thus, we moved up from our takeoff position as Charcoal One, to the number two position in the three-ship cell ahead of us. We flew for over 7 hours just to get to our objective and listened to increasing radio calls describing North Vietnamese defense systems coming to life in the target area.

My job was to track and counter the opponents’ threat radars. As we flew towards our target, a North Vietnamese MiG came up on our tail, searching for us with radar, but staying just beyond firing range. Suddenly he disappeared, and just as quickly, three Surface to Air Missile (SAM) guidance radars came up on my screen. I announced the threats and their locations to the crew and went into full defensive mode, countering as many signals as I could find.

After weapons release, in our post target turn, through the co-pilot’s window both pilots could see the three SAMs tracking directly toward us. At the same time, we heard the distress call from Charcoal One, just two aircraft behind us, as a SAM hit their aircraft. Our pilot, Jim Page, was

highly experienced and instinctively made a hard left turn away from the missiles, followed by a sharp right turn approaching 70 degrees of bank, minimizing the visible image of our aircraft to the missiles, and losing altitude fast. I counted one, then two of the tell-tale downlink signals from the SAMs to their ground systems, telling me they had passed close by, but I never did see the third. Jim and our co-pilot fought to bring our buffeting aircraft under control and as quickly as we had entered the mayhem, we were stabilized and flying straight and level back to Guam.

Upon our return, I learned that Bob Certain, the navigator with whom I had shared Eucharist earlier that night, had survived the Charcoal One hit with two of his crew members, and they later served as POWs. Some 15 years later, quite by accident, I discovered that our aircraft had returned to Guam with 30 to 50 holes in the upper fuselage. I called our pilot and asked him if he remembered that damage and neither of us did. We surmise that the third SAM had, in fact, detonated near our aircraft, but because of Jim’s extraordinary airmanship, the SAM had caused non-fatal damage to upper parts of our aircraft that were not visible to us during out post flight walk around inspection.

So that was one hard-earned air medal.

Richard

Mike Hanna H’68

Mike Hanna enlisted in the U.S. Army immediately after graduating from Hobart in 1968 and served until his return from Vietnam in May 1971. Following Engineer OCS, Hanna served in the 18th Airborne Corps as a military intelligence officer at Ft. Bragg, NC. He was initially assigned to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade in Vietnam before serving most of the tour as a MACV advisor in the CIA’s Phoenix Program. Following his Army stint, Hanna enjoyed coaching stops at Johns Hopkins, the Naval Academy, and Princeton before being named Hobart athleticdirector, which he held from 1981 until his retirement in 2018.

JACK AND CHARLIE: MY TWO POW FRIENDS

One day in September day of 1973, during my second year as an assistant lacrosse coach and PE instructor, I was called to the office of Tony Rubino, chair of the U.S. Naval Academy Department of Physical Education. What did I do now? I held Tony in high regard, so I was glad when he said, I have a favor to ask. Sure, Tony, what can I do?

Since you’re a Vietnam Veteran, he said, and a squash player, I’m wondering if you’d reach out to a new department member and ask him to play…be happy to, I replied. Okay, now listen carefully…his name is Jack Fellowes, Class of 1956 and a Navy aviator…you’re going to need patience for this assignment, Mike because Jack was a POW for over six years and has only been back in the States for about 6 months…he’s far from full strength.

Jack was 40. I was 28. As an Annapolis grad, he was career military…I enlisted for three years the day after graduating from Hobart. I was a “grunt” while Jack flew A-6 Intruders off the USS Constellation. I arrived home pretty much whole physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and morally…he arrived home – after 2,381 days in captivity –wounded in all those areas…he was released on March 4, 1973, in Operation Homecoming.

So we met and played squash – slowly but a few days a week. Lots of brief breaks between points and we sat in the bleachers for spells between games. That’s when we got to know each other. He took the lead, curious about what my experience on the ground was like; I ask delicately about his experiences. No “war stories” exchanged, just an unexpected, patriotic friendship developed. Jack retired from the Navy as a Captain in July of 1986. A Buffalo native, he died on May 3, 2010 and is buried at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery.

The favor asked of me in 1973 was truly an honor for which I am forever grateful.

“Who Packs Your Parachute?” was the title of a magazine article that caught my attention…must have been in the late 1990s, shortly after I started the Napier Student-Athlete Leadership Seminar at Hobart. It was a brief article about a chance encounter in a restaurant…a fellow walks over to a couple’s table and asks, Aren’t you Charlie Plumb? I am, he replied, but I’m sorry I don’t recognize you…why would you know me? Well, on the day you were shot down (May 19, 1967), I was the rigger who packed your parachute.

Plumb was floored…while he spent 2,103 days in captivity; his parachute saved his life (as an Army paratrooper, I always had great gratitude for the “red hats” or riggers who packed our parachutes).

So I found Charlie and invited him to campus as a Napier Seminar “guest coach.” I can’t wait to get there, he said, followed by lots of questions about our college and Hobart Athletics. He addressed our team captains over dinner, then later told the parachute packing story to a packed Albright Auditorium crowd of Hobart student-athletes and members of Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 20 of Rochester, NY. The next morning, Charlie engaged the Hobart coaching staff over breakfast.

Charlie told us, “I needed to get shot down!” He went on…I never took the time to get to know the sailors on my ship (USS Kitty Hawk)…to pop into the riggers shed to see how parachutes are packed, much less to thank them…I was a Top Gun fighter pilot, and, regretfully, that was all that mattered to me at the time.

You see, he said, I was pretty good in the F-4 Phantom, but I was a lousy teammate…a leader without gratitude…I failed to embrace and practice servant leadership. Thank goodness I survived so I can help others to become great and grateful teammates and leaders who make those around them and their organizations better.

Charlie Plumb’s speaking skills are second to none I’ve heard over my 50 year career…riveting…please go on and on! And, his message as applicable to parents as it is to team captains…as helpful to a rookie assistant coach as it is to a CEO…look him up, and his autobiography is titled “I’m No Hero” (but both he and Jack are heroes).

Charlie is USNA Class of 1964. He was shot down on his 75th combat mission and was released during Operation Homecoming on February 18, 1973. Here’s another heartfelt Hobart THANK YOU to an extraordinary Statesman, Charlie Plumb!

Mike Hanna in Country

John Norvell H’66

John Norvell entered on active duty in 1968. He had been on track for flight training, but his vision worsened in graduate school. The Air Force assigned him to a tedious job in Washington, DC. It took four years to get into navigator training and another to upgrade into the backseat of the F-4. He immediately went to combat in SEA, where he flew bombing missions over Cambodia. In addition to his six years in the F-4 Phantom II, he served as an instructor navigator in other jet aircraft. He retired in 1989 in Washington, DC. Later he was Hobart Alumni Director from 1993-2002.

THE LAST F-4 BOMBING MISSION OF THE VIETNAM AIR WAR

Udorn RTAFB—Combat 1-15 August 1973

“Freedom Deal” was the name given to our air operations. We bombed the crap out of the commies around Phnom Penh but never heard that term. During this campaign, U.S. aircraft dropped 250,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia, flying more than 12,000 bombing sorties. Of that total, aircraft dropped 82,000 tons after 1 July 1973. All we knew was that the war had intensified, and there was a great deal of pressure to keep the Khmer Rouge from gaining control of Cambodia as that would have increased pressure on South Vietnam.

LETTERS HOME:

11 August 1973: It appears that with the end of the war we will be flying only training missions, but nobody knows for sure yet. I still don’t know about my pay, but if I get a big check, I’ll send you some next month.

13 August 1973: I think that I have flown my last combat mission; tomorrow I have the duty desk and a dental appointment Wednesday (15 August). I view this with mixed emotions: relief and yet I know it’s silly, but I would like to go down on the last day of the war. I feel sort of disappointed.

15 August 1973: The last bombing missions would launch on 15 August as Congress had mandated the end of the air war at noon, Thailand time. As August began, we heard that there had been a lottery among the senior officers (colonels) to see who would fly the Vietnam air war’s last official F-4 combat mission. All the leadership of the F-4 bases in Thailand participated; Udorn won the honor. I do not know which lucky colonel thought he was flying the war’s last mission, but that honor escaped him.

In one of those strange twists of fate, there were not enough crew members to cover the schedule that day. I, who thought I was not going to fly, was sent to the QRF alert facility at 5 a.m. on 15 August. About 9:30 a.m., we launched after the “last official mission.” We were the last unofficial F-4 combat mission of the Vietnam War to launch from Udorn. On 15 August 1973, we dropped what were in our minds the last bombs of the air war.

It had been a long, challenging journey. I arrived at Bolling in 1968, a short, stocky type not suited for the air force honor guard but later perfect for the backseat of the F-4. Now, in 1973, I was over the muddy Mekong on the final mission.

Then an odd call came over the radio, on Guard, as combat missions ceased, and the war ended:

“Little Orphan Annie has crossed the Blue Ridge Bridge, I repeat: Little Orphan Annie has crossed the Blue Ridge Bridge.”

We thought, what does that mean, wondering if it were a coded message announcing the end of the war. Then we heard it: the sound of a toilet flushing. A joke it seemed—a bad one given all who had died. That was how eight years of air combat ended.

There would be ongoing F-4 recce missions out of Udorn and isolated combat-related missions. But on that long-ago morning in 1973, we flew the last unofficial F-4 bombing mission of the war to launch from Udorn.

I wrote home: 15 August 1973: The end of the war is here. Well I ended up flying in the war on the last day. They scheduled me despite the fact that I had a dental appointment. So off I went. In fact we were the last flight to go to Cambodia from Udorn, that’s some distinction I guess. I took a tape and recorded the mission so I’ll have it to bring home. Then I can show movies and make a tape to go with them. I find it hard to believe the war is over

I have thought about combat now for nearly 50 years. I have worked through my mind my time in combat and read extensively about the experiences of others. The World War I British poet Siegfried Sassoon described combat in his poem The Dreamers this way:

Soldiers are citizens of death’s grey land, Drawing no dividend from time’s to-morrows260

For me, the first stanza always meant that in combat, there was only the moment to focus on—the past, the future held no sway. For many months, the moments in combat over Cambodia had been the center of our lives. Now that was passing, and now we moved on. Other thoughts would take the place of war, but these thoughts would never be alone. In death’s grey land, there is a threshold that one passes over; sometimes, the return from that place is hard. Sometimes events and thoughts linger for years. For nearly 50 years, I wished I had participated in the air war over North Vietnam. But we never flew combat again.261

Capt John E. Norvell, before a combat mission Udorn RTAFB 1973

AND OTHER EXAMPLES OF SERVICE

NOT ALL MILITARY STORIES ARE ABOUT COMBAT!

In the years following Vietnam, the US military often performed missions far removed from those in Vietnam. Furthermore, the military spouses were often crucial to the success of those missions. What follows are some of those stories ending with a first-person narrative on the role of military spouses.

Dick Anderegg, H’67

Col Dick Anderegg was a career USAF fighter pilot having flown the F-4 Phantom II and the F-15 Eagle. He is a Vietnam Veteran with 170 combat missions. He is also the former Director of Air Force History and Museums at the Pentagon.

THE ASH WARRIORS

Military service has many missions one of which is to respond to natural disasters. Americans frequently watch on their televisions clips of military rescue helicopters plucking survivors from rooftops and military transports moving food and medicines to stricken areas. As a career Air Force fighter pilot I didn’t envision myself involved in such responses, but I was wrong. What follows is a brief account of how American Airmen on the other side of the world faced the explosion of the second largest volcanic eruptions of the Twentieth Century nearly in the backyard of American’s largest overseas military installation. I was one of them—an ash warrior.

Clark Air Base nestled next to the Zambales Mountains in southeastern Luzon, the main island in the Philippine archipelago. In April of 1991 it was home of the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing and 15,000 American servicemen and women, their families, and a host of support personnel including two squadrons of F-4 Phantom II fighters. The base organization was common: a colonel commanded the Wing that consisted of several Groups each of which contained several Squadrons. The Wing was known as a “host” wing that provided support to a wide variety of functions; there was a huge regional hospital, worldwide communications facilities and an airfield complex that supported much of the military airlift transiting Asia. The Wing also hosted the Thirteenth Air Force headquarters with its commanding general and staff. It is not hyperbole to say it was a key strategic location for the projection of US military power in the western Pacific.

The usual first response of a host wing to an emergency—including potential war—is to form a crisis action team, or CAT, of key base leadership and chaired by the wing vice commander—the number two person in the Wing, and that was my job.

We awoke on April Fool’s Day, 1991 (I’ll ignore the irony here) to a tall column of steam rising from a small mountain in the Zambales eight-and-a-half miles west of the base housing area. Conversation with Philippine government officials revealed that it was the Mt Pinatubo volcano venting. Although the venting was not uncommon in that area, the volcano had not erupted for 600 years. It looked nothing like a picture book photo of a volcano; just one large hill in a series of large hills in the Zambales covered with verdant jungle. Some said, “Volcano? What volcano?” However, we had experienced a strong series of earthquakes ten months earlier, so there seemed a connection. At the request of 13th AF and with the support of the American embassy in Manila a US Geological Survey team of volcanologists arrived on base very quickly. The wing provided helicopter support for the USGS to set up a circle of sensors around the volcano that transmitted signals back to rotating drums for each sensor that could pick up seismic events very deep in the mountain and display them. Another key piece of their equipment was a program that could show each event, or earthquake if you will, on a three dimensional view of deep below the surface.

Early analysis of their data indicated the volcano MIGHT be moving toward an eruption. It seemed likely that the earthquake the previous year had reduced pressure above the magma layers which then allowed gas to come out of solution and expand (remember Boyle’s Law, kiddies?) The expansion could then fracture the overarching rock until it gave way. Each of these fractures showed on the USGS drums and displays. Furthermore, a “rockhound” geologist on the team identified evidence in the riverbeds that bordered the base to the north and south that indicated the land on which the base stood had been formed by the eruptions 600 years earlier.

We activated the CAT and started taking Volcanology 101. Pinatubo was not a Hawaiian volcano where lava majestically flows down the flanks; Pinatubo was a Plinian volcano that explodes like Mt St Helen and Vesuvius that killed Pliny the Elder. Of course the force of the blast might be devastating but the real killer is pyroclastic flows, or PFs to the in-crowd. An explosion ejects huge amounts of ash. If the amounts are very large the weight of the ash column collapses sending 100 mph rivers of super-heated flows of ash down the volcano’s flanks. PFs. Clark stood on previous PFs.

We coordinated a warning system with local officials and the Philippines’ version of the USGS. The main problem was the uncertainty of how Pinatubo would proceed since at any time the expanding magma and gases could encounter a rock layer strong enough to cap off the expansion. The USGS guys reminded us more than once that the last eruption of 600 years ago was an eye-blink in geologic terms. Predicting an eruption within days or even weeks is a risky proposition.

Meanwhile the CAT prepared for an evacuation of 15,000 people on short notice. We considered several options, but the best was to move everyone to Subic Bay, a US Navy port and air base about 35 miles southwest of Clark. Subic had a usual population of about 4,000 so dumping that many people on them took considerable planning. Consider this: in a population of 15,000 healthy young adults, how many are expectant mothers and fathers?

Our plan included keeping our entire security force of 900 that guarded a very large munitions storage area as well as government real property and property of the residents. Additionally, we intended to keep the general’s staff and the CAT. So that was a total of about a thousand. We surveyed a place some ten miles farther away from the volcano that was an agricultural college with dormitories. We started stockpiling food and water at the college. After one CAT meeting, a chief master sergeant from the fire department buttonholed me and said, “Perhaps we can fill our tanker trucks with potable water and keep in in storage.” I agreed and forgot about it.

A huge problem was communicating with the Airmen and their families. We had our own TV and radio station, but at times we were our own worst enemies by not passing along current information or, worse, leaving questions unanswered. The wing commander, cautious of panic, wanted to keep a lid on information until we knew exactly what to say. His support commander wanted to put everything out in the open. It was a constant tussle. Eventually we put everything out in the open. We told people that it was possible that we would evacuate the base, so be prepared. We provided checklists of what to take. Consider this: in a young, healthy population how many disposable diapers are needed per day? Formula? Medications?

By early June, only a couple of months later, it was clear we were in deep trouble. At every turn the volcano proceeded toward an eruption. On the 3D display the earthquakes were marching inexorably upward. We evacuated all our fighters and kept three helicopters. As we kept our superiors in Hawaii and the Pentagon informed of our preparations, we observed an interesting phenomenon: the farther from Clark that Air Force officials were the more skeptical they were about the danger. More than once, while on the phone to headquarters, I heard what I came to call the “Chicken Little” question: are you really sure it could be that bad?

The First One

On June 10th the warning level showed an eruption possible within a few days, and we ordered the evacuation. This never could have happened in a civilian town, but we moved 15,000 people off the base to Subic Bay in six hours, mostly in their private vehicles plus some buses. At 9 AM two days later, the volcano erupted for the first time: a towering column of ash up to 50,000 feet. A USGS guy told me, “It’s just clearing its throat.” It erupted that night at 9 PM and every 12 hours until the morning of the 15th. We wondered, is this like Old Faithful? But it wasn’t.

On the night of the 14th we finally got imaging infrared satellite data from the US. It revealed that the magma field pushing the volcano was three cubic kilometers. The Mt St Helen magma field was one cubic kilometer. Pinatubo was vastly more powerful. We watched the volcano through an infrared camera and in the pre-dawn darkness we saw a crack develop around the mountain. I debated ordering an evacuation of the security force, but I decided to let them sleep another few hours as they were exhausted from retreating from the edge of the base nearest the volcano to the far side—some five miles farther away. And now, for the info you aren’t going to believe. Two days earlier we learned of a typhoon headed for the Philippines. Typhoon Yunya was a super-typhoon. And it was headed directly for Clark.

The Big One

I had decided to blow the siren at 6 AM to order our planned “retreat” to the college. At 5:50 Mt Pinatubo blew. It looked like a bomber had dropped several nukes all along the Zambales. Fortunately the blast went away from us. But the entire western horizon filled with ash. We ordered the evacuation of all but 44 security forces and the staff to the college. A few hours later Typhoon Yunya hit, and for the next several hours it rained mud. It was totally dark at noon. We could hear the PFs rolling down the north and south rivers. The rest of us evacuated to the college that afternoon. Hollywood couldn’t have imagined a more hellish scene as Filipinos fled to the streets; pitch black darkness at mid-afternoon; earthquakes rumbling through every few minutes. The rain/mud fell so heavily that windshield wipers soon emptied as some took to pouring cans of soft drinks on the windshields to clear them. Later many would declare Dr Pepper as the best solution. But that was about the only humor, as my vehicle crept through streets clogged with people we stopped and kicked off the side mirrors to stop bumping peoples’ heads. A woman begged me to take her infant.

The next morning Clark looked like nuclear winter. There were several inches of ash fall exacerbated by several inches of rain. Hundreds of buildings with broad roof spans on the flight line collapsed. It was hard to drive as all the streets were the same level as the surrounding terrain. It was very disorienting. The base power plant was mostly collapsed. There was no water on the base as the earthquakes that had accompanied the eruptions had broken the water mains. And now a new term from Volcanology 101: lahars. Lahars are floods of wet ash and rocks down a watershed. Hot ash. On the base, lahars had blown through many buildings. Homes with shorter roof spans mainly survived the crushing weight of the wet ash.

But just as bad was the base at Subic Bay. The “safe haven” to which we had sent the evacuees was devastated as well. The typhoon had swirled the ash in the air, combined with the rainfall, into a mess that devastated Subic Bay. I know this is hard to believe, but satellite photography proved it. The satellite photos show Yunya marching toward Clark.

You can see the volcano’s enormous plume in the picture, but when the typhoon hit the ash cloud the weight of the ash in the air stopped the typhoon’s rotation, and it never came out the other side.

In response, the Department of Defense ordered the implementation of Operation Fiery Vigil and diverted a Navy task force to Subic Bay. The Navy base, crippled by the typhoon and ash, was unable to support the thousands of evacuees. When the task force arrived, on the 17th, it started loading evacuees by the thousands. My wife, Jean Sutherland, WS’67, worked on the docks at Subic. Although the evacuees had left Clark in their cars, often filled to the windows with possessions, they could take onto the ships only what they could carry, and that was often two small children. Fresh drinking water was rare. She said it was heartbreaking to see garbage cans full of family photo albums, dogs left to be euthanized, treasures thrown away. Ultimately the evacuees sailed on the fleet to an island south of Clark that had a runway and then flew to Guam. And then to Hawaii and then to the west coast.

Back at Clark we dealt with the immediate problems. First was water. For the first few days, we had the potable water from the fire trucks thanks to the genius suggestion of the fireman. A clever Airman figured out how to hook the firetruck hoses to the radiators at the power plant to start the generator and get some electrical power on. Once we had some electricity to power the well pumps, we could clear more radiators and generate more power. Over the next few weeks we gradually restored power and water, but we never even tried to clear the runways. The dried ash was like concrete.

Fortunately we were in the dry season, so there was little flow of lahars, but the rainy season was less than two months away. Less than ten days after the eruptions the US government announced we were abandoning Clark,

and a year later we would abandon Subic Bay. So we were faced with packing some 3,000 on-base homes and a few thousand dormitory rooms while we could still get around the base; we knew when the wet monsoon came it would close our streets with flooding mud, some of it super-hot. We were able to hire workers from all over the Philippines to pack household goods…and thousands of cars at Subic Bay. The magnitude of this effort: a typical household had 10,000 pounds of goods; a household goods shipping crate is made of eight sheets of plywood and holds a thousand pounds; so that’s 80 sheets per home times 3,000 homes. My major at Hobart was English, but I think that makes about a quarter of a million sheets of plywood---not counting the dormitory rooms. The logisticians and transporters were the heroes of this part of the operation. We moved the last of the household goods out just a few days before the wet monsoon started. Meanwhile, back at the evacuation the evacuees started arriving at three AF bases on the west coast where they were given plane tickets and cash to anywhere in the US they desired. All they had at that point was what they carried onto the ships at Subic Bay. Jean and our daughter, 14, were at the head of the evacuation stream and provided valuable feedback to us about how it was proceeding. The fact of which I am most proud: not a single American perished in this ordeal. Not one.

Here’s what I learned about leadership from this experience. When the pressure is on, sometimes the people you expect to be leaders don’t deliver, yet out of the blue, leaders emerge you never would’ve expected. My book on this experience is The Ash Warriors, and you may read it for free at afhistory.af.mil.

Kathy Platoni, WS’74

Col Kathy Platoni has been a practicing clinical psychologist for 40 years and is the former Chief Psychologist of the US Army Reserve. She is a member of the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame, the Greene County Veterans Hall of Fame, Dayton SWAT, and the editor of Combat Stress Magazine.

THE FORT HOOD MASSACRE

“Whom

go

Then said I, Here am I; send me.” Isaiah 6:8 (as is engraved on the hero bracelets presented to the survivors of the Fort Hood Massacre by the City of Killeen, Texas in November 2009)

I didn’t learn about soldiering at William Smith College. God knows, joining the military was about the farthest thing from my mind during my undergraduate years. I was no stranger to protest lines against the war in Vietnam...the war, but not those who fought it. When I took the oath of office on 24 September 1979, my closest friends were convinced that I had clearly exceeded the brink of insanity. It was my all-time best life decision. What I did learn from my years at the Colleges was to develop a strong sense of value, meaning, and purpose and to adapt and overcome every challenge on those pathways that presented themselves, often over 1,000 miles of bumpy roads. These are the basic tenets of military service, as well as those values of duty, honor, country, loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, integrity, and personal courage. Fear it and do it anyway. This has sustained me for my 41 years of military service. Nothing else in my life rivals this.

“There’s shooting!! There’s shooting in the other building!!” Those screams remain emblazoned on my brain, 13 years after the fact. I can’t shake them. I won’t. That would diminish the lives of those lost at the hands of a madman, who took a solemn oath to his Muslim faith to take as many lives of American Soldiers as he had rounds to kill. Thirteen perished. Thirty-three sustained gunshot wounds, some permanently disabling and disfiguring. It was at that moment that I learned what it meant to be a first responder. I haven’t stopped running towards danger since that fateful day. I am driven to live on the edge to assure that I am worthy of living. Little else matters anymore. I ran, with every ounce of strength I possessed, towards the door to get to my fellow Soldiers under fire, my other family for life, knowing not if I was running into a hail of bullets or a death trap. That didn’t matter either. I had a

mission. Nothing would stop me...except something did. There was no exit, as the bodies of the dying and wounded were being carried through those very doors. We needed to tend to their wounds. We had long ago pledged that no one would ever be left to die alone. The images remain on instant replay in living color. I can’t let these images stop out of respect for the fallen. Five of my friends were carrying the nearly lifeless body of Captain John Gaffaney. I had seen combat more times than I can count in the barren deserts of Iraq three years prior. Nothing compared to this. He was one of ours. The looks of abject horror on the faces of those trying desperately to move him to safety tears at my soul to this day, and those looks on their faces will accompany me to my grave. It was at that moment that I realized that our lives were forever changed, and that horror would be a constant companion. Two of us, one a

shall I send, and who will

for us?

nurse practitioner, and without any medical supplies on hand dropped to the floor to render emergency medical treatment, but it was too late for CPR and Captain Gaffaney was far beyond any lifesaving measures. He had no pulse. Captain Gaffaney had suffered mortal wounds as he rushed the shooter with a chair to try to save his fellow Soldiers. It was just like John to protect everybody else. He was not alone in trying to apprehend madness in its tracks. Others died doing the same. I ran through the room searching for water and any type of medical supplies at warp speed, but there were none to be had. I threw dozens of computers on the floor, grabbing at the blue tablecloths upon which they were placed to use as blankets, no doubt costing the Army thousands of dollars in digital destruction. We ministered to John, begging him to hang on until ambulances could get through (they were delayed because the shooter was still chasing down Soldiers and firing on them in and around other buildings in the complex) until we watched the light fade from his eyes. Kneeling at his side. I yelled at him, pleading with him not to go, sobbing because we couldn’t save him.

I can still hear my wailing at the horror of his death. This loss and those of the 12 others lingers as incomprehensible. I took his military ID and hero bracelet that he wore for a fallen Vietnam Veteran to give to his family. These were removed from my hands by Army Military Police as part of their homicide investigations. I launched a several-year investigation, trying to track them down to assure they were returned to Gaffaney family. To this day, it pains me that these items may have never been returned to them. In the moments following, and with all of us believing that there was a second shooter, I tore through the inside of the entire building to lock all the doors to keep any further harm from coming to those receiving lifesaving care and those trying to save them, without even so much as a BandAid on hand. Whatever we were experiencing exceeded what stark terror feels like. I shoved as many of the Soldiers as would listen out of the building’s back door and told

them to run for their lives. The gates of hell had opened and dropped us into the abyss. We stood by as one of the Soldiers assigned to my unit sustained six gunshot wounds, one resulting in a collapsed lung. We tried to calm him enough so that he didn’t bleed out or cease to breathe, begging him to hang on. There were so many others to tend to, so much of this remaining a blur. At one point, someone thought the shooter had somehow entered the building. We grabbed everyone we could and carried or dragged them into the first office we could find, barricaded the door, and hid behind desks until we determined that the coast was clear. One of those engaged in lifesaving maneuvers began to turn gray. She then noticed that she had been shot in her left arm. She was one of those carried back to safety. Minutes seemed like eternity.

As the rampage continued outside the building, medical personnel dashed into the building, secured the doors with a belt, and began rendering emergency medical treatment to the wounded and dying. Because the floors were covered with the blood of so many fallen Soldiers, it became impossible to reach many of them in time. As the shooter continued to fire at fleeing Soldiers outside the building, he was confronted by civilian police officer, Sergeant Kimberly Munley, exchanging gunfire with her and striking her in the thigh and femur. As she fell to the ground, her weapon reportedly jammed, and the shooter kicked it from her grasp. The shooter then encountered civilian police officer Mark Todd, who demanded that the shooter surrender. Firing five times at the shooter and injuring him seriously, Officer Todd kicked the pistol from his hands and handcuffed him as the shooter lost consciousness.

In the hours that followed, all those who had not been transported to Darnall Army Community Hospital and two other civilian hospitals, the former having been overrun with casualties, were herded into a large assembly room and placed on lockdown until the premises could be

secured and the final determination could be made that there was no second shooter. For the most part, stunned and stony silence ruled the room. Some Soldiers were sobbing, vomiting, screaming, and desperately trying to make sense of the senseless magnitude of the losses they had witnessed. Possessions were quickly gathered by CID for evidence. They confiscated phones, so few had the ability to notify their families that they were safe. I obtained permission from CID to pass my Blackberry phone around so that family emergency contacts could be made until CID shut me down. (In the process of running through the building to secure the doors and to try to locate the shooter, I had called home to let my husband know that I was okay and that there was a massacre in process, never letting on that I was trying to run straight into danger. He had no idea what was transpiring in the heart of Texas.) Some of us asked for food and beverages for the hordes of us locked between closed doors until late into the night, and we ministered to those who exhibited that 1000-yard stare and undeniably needed support and comfort. Each of us was interviewed by CID. The FBI also arrived on scene and interviewed all of us.

Dark into the night, we were released. My nurse practitioner fellow Soldier and I determined that no one should be alone with the horror of the day piercing their minds. We invited everyone to the women’s open bay barracks, threw lockers on the floor to use as tables, and ordered pizza. This day has never ended for far too many of us. At that point, we were left with the terrible and gnawing question of how many we had lost. Sleep would be elusive for a long time to come and long into our deployment to Afghanistan. PTSD is rampant among the wounded and the survivors. At least eight have taken their lives with nine actual attempts; very likely more by now. It Continued on next page.

was months later that I was informed that I was at the top of the Fort Hood shooter’s hit list. I was the ranking officer as a full bird colonel, assigned to be his direct supervisor. It is the enemy’s duty to “take out the brass: first.” I just happened to be in the wrong place to be in his sights. I probably will never forgive myself for the fact that someone else got the rounds meant for me. This is the force that drives me to this day, to serve humanity and make my life count for something as long as there is breath left in me.

We all dreaded the following morning, as we had yet to be informed of who among us never made it out alive, and who was wounded. I had been informed the night before. It was the first of many sleepless nights. In true military tradition, the “Final Roll Call” was conducted. The names of every Soldier assigned to the unit would be called and all those present were to acknowledge their presence. This formal military ritual serves as a tribute paid to our deceased comrades. For those who are unable to respond, their names are called three times. There were three from the 467th MED DET killed in action and two from our sister unit, the 1908 th MED DET. Thirteen of them were also wounded in action. Weeping and howling and rage filled the room. And this is how we began our deployment. This was my fourth tour of wartime duty. None of us have ever come all the way home.

5 November 2009 is a day that will live in infamy for the families of the fallen, the wounded, and the survivors of the Fort Hood Massacre, while most Americans have long forgotten this national tragedy and remain far-removed from the long trail of damages that remain. At 1:34 PM on that fateful day, a US Army major and psychiatrist opened fire in the Soldier Readiness Processing Center, gunning down 43 defenseless Soldiers readying for or returning from wartime deployments, and one civilian physician’s assistant, a retired Army warrant officer. Thirteen innocents lost their lives, many of them charging the

shooter with chairs and tables in an attempt to spare the lives of their fellow Soldiers and civilians, sustaining mortal wounds in the process of their heroic deeds.

Eyewitness statements indicate that after pausing to bow his head, the shooter, armed with an FN 5-7 pistol and a Smith and Wesson .357 magnum revolver, stood up and shouted without warning, “Allahu Akbar!” (God is great), seconds before spraying a hail of bullets throughout the room and taking direct aim at Soldiers in uniform, one a pregnant Soldier who pleaded for the life of her unborn child. In the ten minutes following and without regard for their own safety, dozens of Soldiers rushed to save the lives of the fallen and to remove them from harm’s way.

As a result of a gunshot wound to the spine, the shooter is now a paraplegic. He was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder with a unanimous verdict by military courts-martial on 28 August 2013. The death sentence was handed down after less than two hours of deliberations by a panel of thirteen senior military officers. He will be the first active duty Service Member to be executed since 1961. Many lives were shattered by the actions of this madman, to include the wounded, the families of the deceased, and those survivors that witnessed the horror of his acts, powerless to prevent them.

Yet today, the Department of Defense and federal law enforcement agencies continue to classify the Fort Hood Massacre as an act of workplace violence, committed by a disgruntled employee. All requests by the survivors and the family members of the slain to reclassify this mass execution an act of domestic terrorism have been denied. The shooter, considered a clear security threat to the United States by the FBI and the subject of several

investigations by the Joint Terrorism Task Force because of his involvement in operational planning for the Islamic militant group al Qaeda, had supported the shooter for his personal jihad against American Soldiers and blessed his acts against such military targets. The necessity of such legal proceedings has become a dagger to the souls of the victims of this rampage, as well as the grieving survivors and their loved ones, compiling accumulating trauma and wounds that will last a lifetime. The disdain for the survivors, the wounded, and the families of the fallen persists endlessly. That the Fort Hood Massacre continues to be classified as no more than an act of workplace violence is an enormous travesty of justice. This remains a fertile battleground for the few of us remaining to take up the fight.

This is the final lesson learned from one of this nation’s greatest tragedies: that we really are all on the same side and that those of us who have ever worn the uniform signed on that dotted line where it states that we will die for you, for every citizen of these United States of America; that there is no more noble deed that to lay down one’s life for one’s friends, and that evil is free to proliferate and infect if we remain silent witnesses.

John 15:13

(Portions of this article were reprinted from Lemon Wire with the permission of Kevin Paul, former US Army captain and Iraq War Veteran.)

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Jean Sutherland Anderegg, WS’67

THE WILLIAM SMITH SPOUSE PERSPECTIVE

No history of veteran service would be complete without talking about spouses and the multiple roles they play in the career of the military member. They are unquestionably the backbone of the military family and heroes in their own right. The profiles of HWS veterans that are included in this book reveal a great deal about the contributions of individual spouses to the success of their military member. We reached out to a few military couples who both attended Hobart and William Smith and asked them to share their experiences for this book. Jean Sutherland Anderegg, WS’67, Lois Magee Zehr, WS’68, Ann Pusack Wilt, WS’69 and Vaughn Polce Grace, WS’73 shared thoughts with us. Additionally, Fred Martin, H’65 recounted the contributions of his wife Mary Kendall Holt Martin, WS ’68 who sadly passed away in October of 2021. None of their stories are the same, but they were all Air Force families and have common themes. The word “adventure” is usually included in their narrative!

The Andereggs married in St John’s Chapel the day after graduation, worked at the college for a month and then drove their unairconditioned Ford Falcon to Laredo Texas for pilot training. Fred and Lois Zehr married after he graduated from pilot training and she from William Smith. Ann Pusack became a “career girl” in NY, working in the headquarters of a national insurance company for 18 months before she became Ann Wilt. Fred Martin waited until he was an AF captain to marry Mary Kendall because he wasn’t making enough money to support a wife up to that point. He went to Vietnam six months later, and she went to grad school to earn her master’s degree in Library Science. Vaughn and Thomas Grace married eight years after meeting in the HWS chemistry building.

Lois Zehr considers herself the “opposite of a military person. I don’t like standing in lines or wearing the same clothes as everyone else. I like making my own way, going at my own pace. I think and consider, which takes extra time. Being married to a fighter pilot had its own rewards, they really do fly hard and play hard, but their camaraderie means you have fast friends forever. Even after 50 years the friendships are rekindled in an instant. Traveling and moving around the world was an adventure. I loved living in Europe with its different cultures and ancient places. In

the 14 years we were married before we had children, I was a journalist and writer, I had no training just did it. I got the job because I had done layout for the “Echo and Pine” at HWS. I had small children while Fred had all the responsibilities of a senior officer which was an unusual situation. I managed to juggle the role of mother with my responsibilities to the AF family during Desert Storm, which was sometimes awkward but always rewarding. The Air Force gave us a pretty good life filled with adventures, travel, and friends. I grew up an ocean girl, swimming and sailing on

the Jersey shore. But now after living in the west (New Mexico and Colorado) I am a mountain girl, hiking and enjoying nature in the Rockies. I love the big sky and open spaces! Retirement with Fred in Colorado is very good!”

Mary Kendall put her new degree in library science to good work when the Martins moved to Germany for their first assignment together. She became an NGS-12 and managed three libraries for the Army. She engaged fully in all the volunteer opportunities on the bases where they lived in Germany, Florida, Virginia, and Massachusetts. She was an active volunteer at Family Services and in the community. She was a docent at the DAR Museum in Washington DC, a quilter and painter. For 20 years she was a member of the Brevard Symphony Orchestra board. She raised lovely cats. Together she and Fred traveled the world and immersed themselves in music and the community every place they lived.

The Zehrs

The Martins

When Ann married Nels Wilt she was “READY for her time as a military spouse, anticipating travel, adventure and challenge. I was even prepared for the required wives teas having spent many a Wednesday afternoon pouring tea in the living room of Comstock House! We were a lucky Air Force family because we didn’t move as ofter as many others but Nels’ job as an airlift pilot meant he was often gone for months at a time frequently with one day’s notice not knowing his return date. These were the times when the cohesiveness of the spouses left behind pushed us through the challenges of being alone and dealing with uncertainty. I did have a career path but with a conscious choice of part time work that was varied. The organizational skills I learned at William Smith were an asset while I worked in the buainess sector. I went from running a military based college program back into the insurance industry in accounting and sales and then helped with tax preparation at base legal offices. Along the way I got my MA Ed in Counseling and used it primarily in personnel while working for a computer software company. I am still active doing tax preparation at our church and working as the accounting manager of a medical office.”

“Our years in the sixties at HWS were especially challenging as the Vietnam War raged on. Our exposure to different and demanding situations in later years reminded us of our difficult dialogues and experiences while students. Personal losses at that time helped when we dealt with personal losses later. Nels and I learned to lean on each other, to communicate, to plan and to work together. There are many challenges as a military spouse but William Smith provided me with the skills and methods to deal with themcritical thinking and the ability to be a self starter. I even used my European History degree as we lived in Germany and traveled around Europe.”

Vaughn Grace grew up in a military family. “As a BRAT (term military kids use to describe themselves) I spent eight of our 17 years living outside of the US. It was an enriching experience. I learned firsthand that cultures are more than differences in language, aparel and foods. I saw masterpieces in person, visited Roman ruins from Germany to Italy, explored castles and museums and participated in festivals. I lived in Libya and experienced political violence and wore my own dog tags…I studied civil war history in Virginia, Texas & New York, gaining an insight into how perspective can affect the interpretation of facts. Each school I attended had its own rules and requirements and records were adjusted to reflect them. Translated over four high schools my 92 “B” from Virginia transitioned to a 70 “C” in New York. Unfair and sadly not unique.”

Vaughn and Thomas Grace were both research chemists after graduation. “I loved it, seemed almost like being paid to play but Thomas didn’t enjoy the work. He gave it three years but then went back to school on a Public Health Professionals Scholarship and eventually slid into the Air Force where I spent another 10 years living outside the United States. Chemistry proved not to travel well, and I fell back on the provisional New York state teacher’s certification I earned at HWS. But chemistry did open a lot of doors. A principal at a school in Massachusetts turned my provisional certificate into a permanent Massachusetts certificate so I could teach. Recertifying state to state as we moved was always a challenge and being hired to teach at government schools overseas was a nightmare.”

The Graces first Air Force assignment was a Clark AB in the Philippines where they fled the volcano, Mt Pinatubo. “On the plus side of our story, my vision was saved by an AF retinal specialist, and my daughter was saved from a lifetime of anti-rejection drugs because an AF pediatrician enrolled her in a trial surgery. Both our children saw museums and castles, participated in celebrations, and witnessed the political violence that characterized my childhood. Both experienced their own version of grade transformation. Both attended multiple schools but graduated at the top of their classes. Both now hold master’s degrees, one earned while serving in Afghanistan. Military families have a special way of telling time, not just the 24-hour clock; the years in our lives are marked by the places where we lived not the numbers on the calendar. And we all know someone in harm’s way!”

For 40 years Dick and Jean Anderegg were an active part of the Air Force family. “We have traveled all over the world and raised our children in more than ten different homes. Twice I have rung the doorbell to tell a young woman that her life is forever changed by the death of her husband. I have been honored to represent the Air Force family at the funerals of hundreds of airmen being buried at Arlington National Cemetery. I have experienced the transformation of the culture for spouses from the sixties when having your own career was almost impossible, and you were expected to perform in a way that would not

The Andereggs

negatively impact your husband’s career. Today the spouse is supposed to be treated like the asset they are, every effort is made to help them find jobs and enjoy meaningful careers. They are “asked” to volunteer or lead in a unit but not expected to. Thanks to national political support for the unique needs of military spouses and children, teaching and nursing certifications transfer easily from state to state, and children are not arbitrarily penalized because they have changed schools many times. It is a cultural revolution that benefits the military and the families who are a part of it.”

“I have decided that all generations of military spouses share some attributes. They love their spouse and embrace their noble calling to serve a cause greater than themselves. They learn to be resilient. Over and over again they move home, children, pets, jobs, and dreams to places where they have never been, knowing only that their spouse has a new job and is excited. They are brave. They are called to send their spouse off to war or temporary duty in some dangerous place for an unknown length of time, and they manage the keep the family going. They become really

good at “paddling under the water” to make what they do look effortless even when they are afraid. They are leaders and followers, friends, and mentors in the community of spouses because the greater military family needs them. They work and volunteer in their kid’s schools, in the communities where they live, and in the organizations created to meet the many needs of military families. And frequently they are lucky enough to be able to work at their chosen career but often put their plans on the back burner because the life they are living is just too complicated. “

“The Air Force family is smaller than you think! We started in Laredo Texas as did Fred Zehr. We loved our time at Tyndall AFB in the panhandle of Florida like Fred and Mary Kendall Martin. We thrived while living in Germany as did the Wilt family. Like the Grace family, we fled our home at Clark AB when a long dormant volcano in the Philippines came to life. If we were to gather together there would be lots of stories with laughter and tears. We share so many memories and experiences not the least of which are the years we were students at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, becoming adults who were eager to live lives of consequence.”

PART II

Hobart and William Smith Veterans’ Profiles

METHODOLOGY

HWS currently maintains a list of 440 alumni/ae who have military service. The Colleges’ alumni/ae office sent a link to an online survey to each on that list asking for the details of their service and their lives after service. More than 100 responded, and each complete survey is archived at HWS.

From each survey we extracted a draft profile, sent the draft profile to the responder, and then corrected or clarified the profile as the responder wished. The survey can be seen at Appendix 1. Most of the profiles include photos. The top ones are usually from the “Echo and Pine.” The lower ones were provided by the veterans as requested in the survey, so any photo credit is theirs. The profiles are ordered by class year.

Peter Foster, H’50

Peter Foster was drafted into the Army shortly after graduating Hobart. As a freshman there he recalls the “flood” of World War II Veterans on the campus using their GI Bills to pay tuition. He recalls, “I was five years younger than many of my classmates.”

In the Army he initially served as an infantryman near the Bavarian city of Augsburg. He was assigned duty as a typist in the Regimental Personnel Office. He relates the circumstances around his new duty as a typist, “They didn’t make me a typist because I had a degree in English from Hobart. No, they had actually reviewed my high school transcript and saw that I had taken a typing course there!” He completed his Army service in Germany. Six years later he and a friend traveled the world for nine months.

His travel gave him a taste for overseas experiences, so he applied to the Department of State for a job in the US Foreign Service. Although otherwise qualified, they turned him down because at the age of 31 he was “too old.” Since he had “Veteran preference” points he then applied to federal civil service and was hired as a personnel specialist. He first served at the Navy Propulsion Office at Indian Head, Md. then at other locations in Maryland. He also served two years overseas at Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippines during the Vietnam War.

He completed 20 years in civil service and retired. He resides in Williamsburg, VA.

Thomas Melly, H’52

Tom Melly was an officer in the Marine Corps 1952-1955 then served six more years in the inactive reserves. He joined to earn a commission and to serve his nation. He was a company commander and a battalion adjutant, finding both jobs challenging. He recalls a humorous side of being a commander. “One interesting night on shore leave when the power went off on St. Thomas, I had to drive around with my sergeant and try to keep the men out of trouble. After a period of drinking, things

got out of control. The Navy arrived there first but were outnumbered by the Marines. We used the dungeon of the castle in downtown St. Thomas as a brig.” Of his time in the Marines, he notes, “I learned command presence and leadership. I’ve used those skills throughout my life.”

After his service he worked in the insurance industry briefly. Then he bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and worked on the floor first as an odd lot broker and then as Goldman Sachs Floor Operations partner. He stayed with Goldman Sachs 25 years.

Melly has been an active volunteer at the Colleges, serving 10 years as the Chair of the Board of Trustees. The Colleges have given him the title Trustee Chair Emeritus of the Colleges.

Roy Dexheimer, H’55

Facing the possibility of being drafted shortly after graduation, Roy Dexheimer enlisted in the Army and served at Fort Benning, GA. 1955-1957. Noting that he did not serve in combat or any forwarddeployed locations, he says, “My service, I however will argue, was essential. The US Army decided that anyone lacking an IQequivalency test score of 100 or higher would be released from the service immediately! This translated into a whole lot of World War II and Korean War sergeants—heroes— about to be discharged summarily with 18 years of service and lost retirement benefits. The commanding officer of our unit noticed that my records revealed an intention to be a teacher. He called me in and ordered me to start raising the scores of these patriots—or else! So I began teaching our combat Veterans basic skills every afternoon for the next six weeks, after they had been in the field all morning. Every last one of them raised his score over 100, some actually doubling their previous scores. They

were decent young guys, black and white, who had been forced to stop their formal schooling around the fourth grade level. They were very skeptical of me at first but pitched right in out of desperation. And they came to learn that I loved them. Most satisfying teaching I ever did!” Dexheimer went on to become a life-long educator after earning a master’s degree from Teacher’s College at Columbia University and his doctorate in education from the University of Rochester.

He taught English at West Irondequoit High School in Rochester, NY for three years and served as superintendent at several school districts across New York State. He was district superintendent at Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES for 18 years, and was superintendent of Batavia City Schools, South Kortright Central School District, and was interim superintendent in the South Seneca and Groton Central Schools. For his educational leadership across the state, Dexheimer was awarded the 1999 Distinguished Service Award by the New York State Council of School Superintendents – the highest honor bestowed by the Council. He also received the Distinguished Educator Award at the 50th anniversary celebration of the School of Education at Michigan State University.

From 1999 to 2001, he served as interim vice president of Advancement at Hobart and was also president of the Hobart College Alumni Council from 1972 to 1973. He was elected to the HWS Board of Trustees in 1973 and in 2003 was named an honorary member. The Hobart Alumni Association and the William Smith Alumnae Association honored Dexheimer with citations for his service to the Colleges—the only person to receive both awards, and on his 50th reunion, presented him with the Hobart Distinguished Service Award for Lifetime Service to his alma mater.

He and his wife, Frances, reside in Ithaca, NY. Dexheimer’s granddaughter, Miranda Smith, is a 2018 magna cum laude graduate of William Smith and has followed in her grandfather’s footsteps to become a successful teacher.

Eric Hall Anderson, H’59

Eric Hall Anderson served as a gunnery officer and boat group commander in the US Navy 1960-1964 and then in the inactive reserves until 1972. He served on USS Muliphen and USS Arneb—a ship that carried Marine Corps amphibious assault forces. His job as a boat group commander was to guide the landing craft by using signal flags to the beach, standing on the captain’s boat. He wondered if, were it real combat, he “would be the first killed.”

Born in New York City and raised in New Jersey, he attended law school for one year but “flunked out.” With “the draft breathing down my neck” he applied to Navy Officer Candidate School and was accepted. He recalls an OCS classmate telling him, “Anderson, you didn’t make it in law school. You have to make it here.” That classmate didn’t make it, but Anderson graduated and started his Navy service, following in the footsteps of two uncles who served in the Navy during World War II.

While stationed in Norfolk, VA, his ship was ordered to Operation Deep Freeze in Antarctica. He spent seven months between Antarctica, New Zealand, and Australia. He comments, “New Zealand in the early 60’s was a sailor’s paradise.”

He left the Navy after completing his obligation and searched for work during the time that President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty was gaining traction. Anderson applied to the Job Corps with no education course on his resumé. Nonetheless he had a strong letter of recommendation from his ship’s captain, and he entered

the Job Corps as an instructor. He taught reading to high school dropouts, some of whom could not read a twoletter word… the reading program allowed the students to progress at their own pace, and he recalls it being very effective… and the “most rewarding job I ever had.” He emotionally describes success: “Can you imagine what it means to a young man, who could not read, to be then able to take his girlfriend to McDonald’s and read from the menu: hamburger, cheeseburger, coffee, tea, and milk…?”

He also directed a program for alcoholics and drug abusers, but finally the pay was so low that he sought employment elsewhere landing a job with Honeywell as a management training specialist. He taught managers for 11 years before taking early retirement.

Lt. Col. Frederick Scheeren, USAF (Ret), H’59

Frederick Scheeren served as a meteorologist and staff officer in the Air Force 19591984. He served in France, Vietnam, Spain, India, Germany, and Turkey as well as several stateside bases. His father was a World War I Veteran. He says, “While a student at Hobart College security for my future was very important to me. I elected to participate in the advanced AFROTC program to ensure a meaningful career upon graduation. After my initial tour in the USAF, I found that I enjoyed the life, the responsibility, the travel and adventure, the security, and the respect of serving in the military of the United States of America…I retired from the military in 1984 since I believed that I had achieved my full potential in my Air Force career field, and I wished to embark on the civilian employment phase of my working life.”

On one of his earliest deployments, “I was a member of the initial contingent of support personnel to deploy to New Delhi, India in late 1962 to provide airlift support to the Indian Government in their war with China in the high Himalayan Mountains. The 322nd Air Division C-130 pilots (six aircraft) airlifted troops and material into unimproved airstrips at 11,000 feet with mountain tops thousands of feet higher sticking up through the surrounding clouds. I was responsible for operational weather support to this mission for two months. The entire operation lasted for almost a year, and the US Air Force support was classified SECRET for many years. To this day there is no mention of it in the Wikipedia account of the Sino/India War of 1962.” He continues, “As a brand-new captain with less than six months in grade, I commanded for over two years, a 35-man weather detachment at Moody AFB, GA supporting a pilot training mission. The previous Commander had been relieved “for cause.” I reported for duty from France and asked the clerk, ‘...I’d like to meet the Detachment Commander.’ She replied, ‘I believe you are the detachment commander, Captain Scheeren.’”

In his last assignment he was the active-duty US Air Force advisor to 40 Air National Guard units around the continental US, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. Their wartime mission was to provide weather support to US Army operational units. His role required frequent visits during training periods to provide guidance and evaluation of their training.

Scheeren writes, “I retired from the Air Force at Langley AFB in Hampton, VA. We had a nice house and enjoyed the area. I initially hoped to be able to find meaningful employment in the area which took advantage of my skills and experience gained in the Air Force. However, available jobs were only in the “sales and services” career fields. After approximately two years and three “dead-end” jobs a long-time Air Force friend recommended me to his boss at Martin Marietta Corp. in Washington, DC, and I joined the “career” that would employ me for approximately the next twenty years.” His job was as a government support contractor providing services to the FAA.

Robert Zinn, H’59, served in the active duty Navy 1959-1962 and the Navy Reserves 1962-1981. He was commissioned through Navy Officer Candidate School, and “requested any destroyer, anywhere,” but was assigned to USS Coral Sea, a large aircraft carrier that was just coming out of an extensive retrofit. He spent the next three years on her as an officer of the deck (OOD). He writes, “While I had no other family members in the service, the Navy just seemed to be the primary topic when it came to talking about the service…I’m delighted I made the decision to serve!”

He recalls, “Every time you took over as an underway OOD, there was a great sense of responsibility, directing the movements of a 40,000 ton warship with supporting vessels in formation, flight operations going well past midnight at speeds of 30+ knots…the captain’s everypresent cigar would get progressively redder and brighter with increasing frequency as his anxiety increased!”

He credits his time at Hobart with giving him the opportunity of “working with a wide variety of different people in different situations…assisting me with dealing with the wide diversity of folks in the service.” He continues, “I would say that I certainly started developing my leadership skills [in the Navy], which I was able to apply and build on as I developed my business career. Further, of necessity, developing and ‘honing’ good interpersonal skills were certainly part and parcel of serving in the military.”

H’59

He had been recruited by Chubb while still at Hobart, so “I had a position waiting for me in Chubb’s training program whenever I finished up my active duty period. This emanated from an on-campus interview with Mr. JJ Schieffelin, the senior personnel manager in New York and a subsequent visit to Chubb’s office at 90 John St. Knowing of my upcoming Navy OCS assignment, several of my ‘interviews’ (including Mr. Schieffelin) were with former Navy officers and our conversations were in large part Navy oriented. Consequently, I left with little real understanding of what everyone did but, did come away with a number of observations. First, everyone I met, I liked. Secondly, everyone seemed to genuinely enjoy whatever it was they were doing! Finally, it struck me that there seemed to be quite a few young folks in responsible positions. That, coupled with the overall very high reputation the company enjoyed, convinced me that it would very likely to be a good spot to start. When I retired 35 years later, I still felt the same!”

He went on to management of three of Chubb’s branches finishing his career in Tampa responsible for all Florida operations. He had opportunities for greater responsibilities but turned them down to avoid moving to New York and to stay in Florida.

H’60

Ernest Greppin was commissioned through Hobart’s AFROTC program and served in the Air Force 1960-1963 as a supply officer in Germany.

Although he never planned on an Air Force career, Greppin says, “[I] greatly enjoyed ROTC and being in the Air Force, especially the individuals I worked with. I left the Air Force to return to graduate school.” He recalls his efforts, “to mature fast enough to meet the expectations of those I worked with.”

He traveled throughout Germany and Europe and enjoyed the perk of being able to take advantage of hopping back to the US on transports that had seating available. Furthermore, as a junior officer he was tasked at times to escort visiting officials—sometimes senior NATO officers.

After graduate school, Greppin ultimately became the chief financial officer of a manufacturing company. He notes, “As I became a CPA, I was constantly surprised to find what I learned as a supply officer was applicable in US industry.”

Commander Robert Zinn, USNR (Ret),

Ernest Greppin,

Larry Adkinson was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant through the USMC Platoon Leaders Class upon graduation from Hobart College in 1962. Adkinson, a Geneva, NY native, earned seven varsity letters in lacrosse and football and is a 1993 inductee to the Hobart Hall of Fame.

Although the USMC had him earmarked to be a lawyer, Adkinson elected, instead, to be a Marine aviator. After training in the A-4 Skyhawk, he went directly to Vietnam where he flew the first of his two combat tour ultimately logging 681 combat missions. His is a military family. His grandfather was a Marine rifleman in World War I, his father a Marine aviation ordnance man in World War II, and his son is a Marine attack helicopter pilot with combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Adkinson, states that he “had always wanted to be a Marine.” He was inspired to be an aviator by John Glenn orbiting the earth. Later, as Glenn was visiting USMC bases on a farewell tour prior to retiring, Adkinson got to fly with Glenn.

Adkinson’s combat experience paved the way for him to spearhead an innovative process for Marine aviators whereby single fighter jets could search for targets and then direct strikes of larger formations on the enemy. The tactic was called strike control and reconnaissance (SCAR), and it is used by not just the Marines but also the other services in recent conflicts. In many cases it is always a demanding mission and often very dangerous. To improve

his knowledge, he arranged to fly with the fledgling SCAR unit of the Air Force, callsign Misty, on five combat SCAR missions where valuable lessons were exchanged between the two services.

Even considering the demands of being a combat fighter pilot, Adkinson recalls that one of his most challenging assignments was as the leader of a group at the US Naval Academy teaching a class in leadership to third-year midshipmen. Not an USNA graduate himself, he states, “I was pedaling as fast as I could to learn all about the Academy and make sure our 3-semester-hour class was a worthy effort with really bright young men and women.”

As proof, he says that on his first day in front of a class he said, “I couldn’t have been admitted to this place with a loaded .45, but the government sent me here to give you grades. Nobody laughed! I had a huddle with the Commandant of Midshipmen later that day. We agreed that remark was probably NOT as humorous as I thought.”

That said, he credits his strong communications skills to his time at HWS, although he confesses to having hated freshman English, despite his mother, a school teacher in English and history, having majored in English in the William Smith class of 1934.

When he retired from the Marine Corps in 1988 in the rank of colonel, Adkinson had been awarded two Legion of Merits, the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Single Mission Air Medals, 44 Strike/Flight Air Medals, and the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V. He has been an active fund raiser for Special Olympics International for 15 years.

William H. Corwin served in the Air Force 1963-1967 as a communications and electronics officer and in the Air Force Reserve 1969-2000 as an admissions liaison officer to the Air Force Academy. He joined the Air Force because of the “draft incentive plus [it was the] best alternative to the job market, plus the sheer adventure possibilities.” He retired after serving 30 years in the reserves.

Although the then-mandatory two-year familiarized him with the Air Force, he had a non-engineering/science background from Hobart so found it challenging to comprehend the complexity and range of military capabilities ranging from air traffic control systems to highfrequency radio communications. He also learned how to deal with the huge diversity of people, cultures, languages, and living standards. He says, “[I was] absolutely impressed with the technical and managerial professionalism of colleague NCOs. I think the Air Force did more for me than I ever did for them.”

He relates his entry into the service. “[I] originally failed the OTS physical (grossly underweight!). Accommodating recruiting NCO went with me to Whitehall Street induction center and whispered into the right ear. Magically my induction paperwork now read a qualifying 130 pounds. In short: this ambitious NCO changed my life by helping him reach his recruiting target goals. Question: After 59 years should I be worried about this fraud?”

During his reserve years he made a career that was mostly academic. He was the admissions director at the Academy of Aeronautics in New York City, an admissions counsellor at York College, engineering co-op manager at Continued on next page.

Colonel Larry Adkinson, USMC (Ret), H’62

Lieutenant Colonel William H. Corwin, USAFR (Ret), H’62

Pratt Institute, career counselor at Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and associate director of career services at Princeton University.

In his community he has served as trustee of a local organization and as a volunteer for the Experimental Aviation Association’s “Young Pilots” program.

Colonel Donald Whitney, USAF (Ret), H’62

Donald Whitney served in the Air Force 1963-1992 first as a weather officer and then as a pilot, staff officer and commander. He also served in a nuclear treaty monitoring agency. Most notably he was the commander of the elite “Hurricane Hunters” that fly into hurricanes to collect meteorological data on the storms.

He writes, “[I] entered because the draft was “chasing” me. I taught high school math after graduating to keep draft off my back but decided it was not for me, so quit after one year. I stayed in AF because I enjoyed the people I worked with and loved the interesting work (especially flying and flying related jobs).” He continues, “Working with and managing people was the most rewarding experience, especially understanding how to make work environments enjoyable and rewarding for them.

He writes of his time at Hobart, “The two years of mandatory AFROTC introduced me to the military which gave me a leg up when I joined. My math major led me to the technical world (first meteorology, then flying, then nuclear treaty monitoring). But probably the biggest influence was the small campus environment and closeness of the other students that “taught me” how to work and enjoy the close comradery with others.”

Military life is challenging for families, and he says, “Our sons did not like to move every two-three years, having to

leave friends, and get re-introduced to a new environment (especially schools). My wife is a joiner, and loves meeting people, so she easily melded in with the new communities each time. I was lucky because I was always home for every Christmas and never had a remote (lived way from my family) assignment. Both facts unusual for a career military person. Even though the kids didn’t particularly enjoy the moving with each new assignment at the time, they learned to easily fit in over the years and now are at ease socially, and all three are employed where they manage people. So, they now understand that the military life was an excellent “training” environment for their future lives.”

After retiring from the Air Force, he sold real estate for ten years, and he is currently a volunteer on a nearby base and for Meals on Wheels.

Whitney is an inductee into the AF Technical Applications Center wall of fame for his work specializing in nuclear weapons treaty monitoring.

Henry Holden, H’63

Henry Holden was commissioned through the Hobart AFROTC program and served in the Air Force 1963-1969 as a navigator, first on C-130s then on RB-57Es. He learned to fly in high school, but a vision problem made him ineligible for Air Force pilot training. In the C-130 he had tours in Brazil, British Guiana, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia. He says, “Married with kids. In 2 years, was home 100 days. Missed every important date: birthdays, Christmas, you name it.” Then, in

mid-1966, he was ordered to Vietnam to fly low altitude reconnaissance with his pilot, Bill. He recalls that “[we] flew pretty much on the edge - together, we did things that neither of us would have done alone.” He flew 180 combat missions. He was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, ten Air Medals and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

After his combat tour, he went to the flight test center at Rome Air Development Center, Rome, NY. His duty included instrument testing using latest radar and infrared equipment from the center. He describes the low level night acceptance tests for what would become the terrain following radar for the F-111 as “very hard.” That said, he notes that it was the “happiest time as a family.” Nonetheless, transitioning to civilian life after that assignment was challenging. He writes, “I don’t look back on that time frame happily. I had migraines and I was depressed, I’m sure. I felt lost. Not my best time.”

He forged a successful career after his service holding various positions in the textile industry including a run as the chief operating officer for a major fabric concern. He changed careers and held several positions in the finance world, and he has been a stalwart of HWS. He co-managed the Annual Fund for two years, served eight years as a Trustee of the Colleges, twice participated in the Elizabeth Blackwell ceremony as chair of the Honors committee, and served 12 years on the Colleges’ investment committee. He is a long-time member of the Statesmen Athletic Association.

He currently serves on the Board for Creative Arts Center in Chatham as past chair, on the Board of the Cape Symphony and as past president and chair of the Chatham Fund.

Holden (R) and Bill Beside Their RB-57

Alan Davis, H’64

Alan Davis served in the Air Force as a fighter pilot, 1965-1970. Commissioned through Hobart’s AFROTC program, he completed pilot training at Craig AFB, AL then F-4 Phantom II training at Davis Monthan AFB, AZ. Assignment to Bitburg AB, Germany followed where he sat nuclear alert and flew ground support and air superiority training missions throughout Europe. He credits his education at Hobart with giving him an “appreciation of the evolution of western civilization and American contribution to that evolution…the ability to live in and travel through Europe was a great opportunity.”

He left the Air Force to pursue a career in corporate aviation ultimately becoming a chief test pilot operating a fleet of eight corporate jets throughout North American, Europe and Russia.

Sidney Margrey, H’64

Sidney Margrey served in the Air Force as a fighter pilot 1964-1969. He was commissioned through Hobart’s AFROTC program. He graduated from pilot training in 1965, qualified in the F-100 Super Sabre then flew 270 combat missions in Vietnam. He ended his commitment to the Air Force as a fighter instructor in the A-37 Dragonfly at England AFB, LA.

He says of his combat, “Some missions were boring while others were not. Missions with troops in combat was very challenging because you were dropping ordnance close to your own troops.”

After his AF service, he became an airline pilot, which became his “life’s career.” He says of his time at Hobart, “I got a very good education at Hobart, and it served me well throughout my life. When we make decisions in life, we depend on education, training, and experience, among other things. My education at Hobart helped me in making decisions.” He is also an attorney.

For his combat missions he was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star.

Ted Stock, H’64

Ted Stock commissioned through Hobart’s AFROTC program, served in the Air Force (1965 - 1969) in the security police career field. Among his varied duties were OIC of the off-base Air Police Patrol in San Antonio, TX; Base Security Defense Force Flight Officer, Phu Cat AB, Vietnam; and, Security Police Squadron Commander and Chief, Security and Law Enforcement, Otis AFB, MA.

He credits his Hobart experience with teaching him “the ability to analyze and synthesize information and the ability to express myself orally and in writing. I also think that the liberal arts background better prepared me to approach complex issues from a wider variety of perspectives.”

Of his Air Force experience he writes, “There were so many skills I learned/honed during my four years on active duty: leadership, management, organization, administration, planning, preparing and evaluating programs, written and oral communication, morale-building, team-building, listening, remaining calm and focused in pressure situations, public speaking, etc. I have made use of these skills throughout my work life. These are indispensable life/work skills.”

Ten days after being discharged, he and his wife attended graduate school at Columbia University, and “Like the rest of my family, I gravitated to a career in education. After military service I had a preference to work with college students rather than younger teens. My first civilian job was as Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Fordham University. Shortly thereafter I became Director of Financial Aid at Barnard College, Columbia University. Seven years later I moved across Broadway to be Director of Financial Aid at Columbia College where I stayed for five years. Living in White Plains, NY and with my children just starting school, I made a decision to stop commuting into Manhattan. I became a math teacher at White Plains High School. In addition to teaching, I coached tennis and some ice hockey, and was treasurer of the teachers’ union. I retired from teaching sixteen years ago after a career that spanned twenty-two years.

In 2008, he and his youngest daughter backpacked through Vietnam. “She had often said that someday she would like to see where I had been in Vietnam. So, being retired, it was time to go back to Vietnam. We met in Hanoi and started our three-week trek from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City by riding from town to town on the overnight bus. Unfortunately, in order to get to Phu Cat we had to go to Qui Nhon, which was not on the overnight bus route. We had to take local transportation from Hoi An to Qui Nhon. That was an unforgettable ride (you will never experience this on a Tauk Tour). We squeezed into a 10-person van now loaded with us and 15 Vietnamese. We were zooming down Hwy #1, a two-lane road. The driver had a heavy hand on the horn and a lead foot on the pedal as he frequently passed slower vehicles and played ‘chicken’ with oncoming trucks. By the grace of God we arrived in Qui Nhon safely. The next day we were able to hire a car and driver to make the 19-mile trip to the base at Phu Cat. Mission accomplished!”

When asked about awards and honors he may have received, he says, “I don’t judge accomplishments by awards and medals. I judge my accomplishments by the lives I’ve been able to touch and, hopefully, made better through my work. I am well pleased and satisfied.”

Geoffrey Wood, H’64

Geoffrey Wood was commissioned through Navy Officer Candidate School and served in the Navy reserve 1964-1968. He relates the following story. “I joined the U.S. Navy right out of college in 1964 and later that year became an engineering department officer on an old World War II destroyer. Two years later a recruiter stopped by one day and offered me duty aboard a new guided-missile destroyer based out of San Diego. I would get to see the Pacific and participate in the ongoing Vietnam War, but I had to extend my four years of service by six months. This didn’t bother me as I enjoyed my time in the Navy. I worried that I would become bored, but it never happened. So, I extended and soon found myself conducting nighttime shore bombardment off the coast of North Vietnam. We conducted these at night because the North Vietnamese had no sophisticated radars that could track our ships steaming off their coast in the dark. Daytime bombardment was another game, however. Their shore guns could shoot at least three miles farther than our five-inch guns, so we were at a distinct disadvantage during daytime. This never became a problem until President Johnson needed some photos of our Navy being shot at to help finance an unpopular war. We were one of the ‘guinea pigs’ selected. My job on the ship as the Damage Control Assistant, was to organize the crew to fight fires and repair any damage to the ship’s structure or hull. I also had the responsibility for advising the ship’s captain whether the 410-foot long destroyer could remain afloat in the event it was hit with explosive shells from the shore. I spent the entire night before the event re-reading and trying to understand how many compartments could be damaged or flooded, but still allow the ship to remain afloat. How much the ship listed to one side or the other after a

shell hit, was the best indicator of the ship’s seaworthiness and whether I would have to advise the captain to consider abandoning ship. I’m sure that the enemy fired at least 75 rounds at us that day during our three-mile, high-speed, zigzag escape run. Although we did hear shrapnel hit the sides of the ship underwater and could see rounds exploding in the water around us, fortunately, we never once took a direct hit. About twenty years later, I asked an old Navy friend who happened to be on the bridge that day with the captain, how we avoided all those shells. He told me that it was not all luck; that the captain immediately headed the ship in the direction where the last burst of shells hit the water. Of course, the enemy at the same time were adjusting their guns for somewhere else because they missed the target with their last salvo. So, what protected the ship and some 400 Navy personnel that day was not the steel sides and deck of the ship, not the five-inch guns or sophisticated radars and guided missiles that we carried, but the brain cells in the captain’s head—something that can be developed at a good liberal arts college.”

After the Navy, Wood took a law degree and made a career in real estate development and management where he created and managed twenty real estate partnerships and LLCs for investors. He developed and built more than one million square feet of office, warehouse and residential space in California.

John Ake, H’65

John Ake served in the USAF as a communications officer from 1965-1969. Commissioned through the Hobart AFROTC program, he attended the Communications Officers’ Course and was assigned to the 5th Mobile Communications Group at Warner Robins AFB, GA. An Ohio native, Ake’s father and uncles served in the Army in World War II.

He says, “The ‘Fifth Mob’ as it was called had mobile versions of everything electronic in the Air Force inventory and could move and man it anywhere in the world on short notice. All the deployments were interesting, and each presented different challenges and were learning experiences. The entire group had some of the most interesting and capably men I have ever known, officers, NCOs, and airmen.”

As a civilian, Ake recalls, “I had never thought of a career in telecommunications, but my Air Force experience opened a new horizon.” He joined Ohio Bell Telephone as a line foreman, leading a crew installing residential telephones. He remembers, “installing basic telephones was not very challenging compared to what I had dealt with in the ‘Mob’”.

His career in Ohio Bell progressed as he moved through various management positions where he found that his economics major at Hobart served him well. He recalls “I moved from operations, to Data Processing, to Treasury finally and to Regulatory handling relations with the Ohio Public Utilities Commission.” The breakup of the Bell System saw him move to Chicago as part of the “baby bell” Ameritech where he organized their dealings with the FCC. He concluded his telephone career as the regulatory officer at Illinois Bell. Retiring in 1994, he ran his own business providing regulatory advice to then deregulating electric utilities.

Active in community service, Ake considers himself “privileged to have served other organizations”, among them, President of the Illinois Telephone Association, Trustee and Board Chair of the North Shore Country Day School, Board of Governors of the Northwestern University Library and as a Trustee of the Congregational Church in Sanibel Florida.

Robert Burley, H’65

Robert Burley was commissioned into the Air Force through Hobart’s AFROTC program in 1965 and left the Air Force in 1974. He followed his father and uncle into military service. They served in the Army in World War II. Burley’s two sons served in the Gulf War.

Burley says he was fascinated by airplanes since childhood, and Hobart’s AFROTC programs offered him the opportunity to pursue aviation at a highly ranked college with an ROTC stipend. (Ed. Note: it was $100/month for juniors and seniors.)

He was an intelligence officer at several levels and at bases from Massachusetts to Okinawa and Taiwan. Much of his job was to gather, analyze and brief target intelligence and prepare the nuclear mission plans for 8th Air Force Headquarters, a component of Strategic Air Command. He also served as an intelligence analyst and briefing officer for Vietnam War operations. He describes the job, “No matter the assignment, mission complexity and diversity the clock always ran and we simply had to make [the deadline]. The ‘behind the scenes’ work for [combat operations] required the extensive analysis, assembly and presentation of multifaceted elements integrating intelligence (analysis and interpretation), multiple mixed aircraft type characteristics, weather, refueling, contingency plans, etc. all against a hard deadline. Some of the most challenging involved Khe Sanh, Mu Gia Pass, the Hanoi raids, and all as the North Vietnam Air Force upgraded from MiG-15s to -17s, -19s, and -21s, and the proliferation of [surface to air missiles] in the North. The Pueblo mess was like ‘wrestling an octopus’ in addition to the normal mission rotations. Working

with the SR-71 intelligence staff at Kadena AB, Okinawa to both: 1) get the recent electronic intelligence, signal intelligence and real time photos (the huge 9” format) hot off the aircraft and 2) request new sortie target data really upped my professionalism.”

He credits his Hobart experience, “Aside from the science, economic, math and degree requirements, Western Civ helped develop a higher task saturation tolerance for adulthood. Hard deadlines are GOOD. Get stuff done before panic. Western Civ overload was good training for the USAF and even better for my civilian career as it provided me with an uncommon (among my peers) ability to consider the attitudes and histories of the multiple foreign nationals, governments and companies with whom I have dealt in the subsequent careers.”

He continues, “I consider my total military experience to have given me a significant advantage in understanding the full systemic strengths and weaknesses that are essential to managing complex systems. As I ascended the corporate ladder that became one of the keys to rapid advancement.”

After leaving the Air Force, Burley rose through corporate ranks ultimately becoming the Chief Operating Executive, Commercial Systems Division, Digital—Hewlett Packard where he was functionally responsible for a $20 billion division. He says, “The CEO was the titular head, but I had the more fun, being responsible for all the operations and hitting the $ numbers. Pressure sharpens focus AND I got to put my wrenches on all the levers and elements to make things happen.”

His passion for flying has not waned. He owns and operates his own back country airplane around the northeast US.

H’65

William Butcher was commissioned through Hobart AFROTC in 1965 following in his father’s footsteps, the commander of Hobart AFROTC. He attended communications officers’ training at Keesler AFB, MS.

After a year of ground combat training at Eglin AFB, FL he was assigned to Vietnam, Monkey Mountain and Dong Ha in I Corps which extended to the DMZ. He relates the story of how he was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star flying with the 1st Air Cav. during the Tet Offensive.

“On Jan. 31, 1968, the start of the Tet Offensive, I was in a Huey gunship, and we were directed to a “ville” near Khe Sanh where a Marine Corps platoon was pinned down. Many WIA/KIA and the slicks (Ed Note: lightly armed Hueys) couldn’t get in to take them out. We attacked and were taking heavy fire ourselves. On the 5th pass the entrenched [enemy] hit the tail rotor and we were then headed to terra not so firma, aka a rice paddy. The Cav guys left me behind hanging upside down out cold. Needless to say, I didn’t have many nice things to say about the crew. Eventually I cut myself free and then the race to safety was, shall I say, interesting.”

Despite this harrowing experience, Butcher recalls other skills he learned in the Air Force, “Organization skills especially while in ground combat training and in Viet Nam. These were used throughout career, especially while managing people and even life generally.”

After leaving the Air Force in 1969, Butcher earned an MBA and then went on to a 25 year career with Citigroup in many locations worldwide. He is now a private investor living on Key Largo, FL and at Viroqua, WI.

William Butcher,

James Day, H’65

James Day was a graduate of Hobart’s AFROTC program and served as a dentist 1965-1977. He served in Tucson, AZ and Kansas City, MO. He found his education at Hobart transferable, saying, “The most beneficial takeaway from Hobart was the ability to critically think and transfer my biology skills from class to the dental profession.” Of his military service, he says, “the experience was enjoyable and valuable in both the training and friendships made and renewed…it was a great life.”

After the Air Force he entered private practice in New York, Washington, and Arizona. He served on the faculty of the University of Washington School of Dentistry, was the Director of Education, Post Graduate Education, at the Scottsdale Institute, and he has been a consultant and lecturer with Align Technology, San Jose, CA.

He is an active volunteer having served on his town’s planning board and the Johnstown library board as well as multiple positions with the American Dental Association.

Douglas Leavens, H’65

Douglas Leavens served as an officer in the Air Force Logistics Command 1965-1969. He was commissioned through, and a Distinguished Graduate of, Hobart’s AFROTC program. He followed in his father’s footsteps who had been commissioned through Army ROTC and served during World War II. Son Leavens took advantage of the GI Bill and took a master’s degree in International Relations on-base while on active duty. He says, “By the time my four years of service were up, I had a graduate degree that opened doors to an international career, and [I had] a wealth of leadership experience.”

As he left the Air Force, he recalls, “I had served for four years at the same AF Base doing essentially the same job as a supply officer. I had seen little of normal military life or made the types of personal connections that would create lasting friendships. I loved my time in the Air Force and continue to be grateful I had an opportunity to serve. I must say during my time in Hobart ROTC, Captain Ted Shorack (Shorack was killed in Vietnam after leaving Hobart) was a tremendous mentor and role model for me, and for many. His demeanor as an officer, total commitment to duty and service, and love of the Air Force prepared me with a positive attitude and a commitment to be the best I could be. Those lessons have served me well during a long and wonderfully varied life.” Furthermore, he says, “[I learned] Organizing priorities. Paying attention to detail and double checking. Finding solutions to all kinds of problems, being creative and using what was available to get the job done. Working collaboratively with

enlisted and civilians of all grades, treating everyone alike (I was pretty junior). Learning that just because I had bars on my shoulders didn’t mean I knew it all or was right all the time. I grew up a lot while in the Air Force. I was much more mature and confident starting in my civilian career.”

After leaving the Air Force, he “…joined the Chase Manhattan Bank as a management trainee and spent the next 21 years as an international banker rising to Vice President. Overseas assignments included Paris, London, Brussels, and Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and periods at the HQ in New York. I traveled extensively to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.”

Mid-career he decided it was time to leave lending to the rich and try a career in development finance, lending to the poor. He said “…it was the right choice.” For the last 30 years he has worked on a wide range of economic development projects, mostly funded by USAID across Africa. He started venture capital funds in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda that are still operating and went on work in Kenya for 3 1/2 years as senior technical advisor with a microfinance NGO running lending operations in five East African countries. He joined his current company in 2007 when he had just turned 65; it was not yet time to retire. He says, “it’s been a great ride working in the West Bank, Iraq, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and making many lasting friendships along the way.” Along the way, he served as chairman of four small business finance companies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan more than 13 years. He plans to retire this year, 57 years since graduation from Hobart in 1965.

While serving he received national recognition as an outstanding supply officer as shown in the photo with Leavens on the left.

Major Fred Martin, USAF (Ret), H’65

Fred Martin served in the Air Force as an air weapons controller, electronic countermeasures officer, space and missile warning officer, and senior engineer 1965-1985. He gained his commission through Hobart’s AFROTC program and served in Vietnam, Germany, Iceland, and several stateside bases. He was married to Mary Kendall Holt, WS’68, for 53 years until her passing in 2021. He writes, “When I went to Vietnam, my wife returned to her native Kentucky to attend grad school at UK in Lexington. She finished her MS in Library Science the week I got home. When we landed in Germany, I started grad school myself and we both took a couple of German language courses. I already spoke German, but Mary Kendall had had only French. We were determined to get out of the American community and travel in Germany, which we did. She got a job as a GS-12 equivalent librarian with the Army and so had solid work experience from that. We traveled all over Western Europe and got to Thailand and Malaysia as well.”

He says that being a commander was his biggest challenge in the Air Force, continuing, “I definitely learned how to do staff work and became very efficient at learning new jobs.” He also credits his time at Hobart as a learning experience. “I learned a lot about how to study and do research; I learned French and Russian, which were useful and still are; and I learned to be permanently skeptical of ‘Experts.’ (Thank you, Dr. Stover!)”

Martin went to the “think tank” world after retiring from the Air Force. He writes, “I worked as a Sr. Systems Analyst for Analytic Services Co. (ANSER) in Arlington, Va. for 14 years. Most of that work and all of my subsequent employment was in export management. I retired from ANSER at the end of the 20th century and moved to Florida’s space coast to work for a new company supporting Kennedy Space Center (‘We launch spaceships.’) I had a two-year job with EADS, working on the Air Force

tanker replacement program proposals and for a company that operated 22 different types of aircraft for the State Department in the Middle East and in Latin America. It was all challenging and interesting work. When I was a month short of my 70th birthday, it was clear to me that no one in my area was hiring men my age, so I retired for the third time.”

During his Air Force service, Fred was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal twice, the Air Force Commendation Medal three times and the Outstanding Unit Award with “V.” The last one is the one he is proudest of.

Richard Ugelow, H’65

Richard Ugelow served in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps 1969-1973 at Fort Dix, NJ and later at the Pentagon. He joined because “I was draft eligible. In considering my options, I decided to apply for Army JAG. It was a wise choice for me. I am happy that I served, but the military was not a career choice for me or my wife.”

He discusses life in the Army, “My wife reminds me that she was a nonperson at Fort Dix because she needed to use my social security number for medical and other appointments. She, too, made wonderful friends at Fort Dix. Susan worked at the Army Education Center at Fort Dix. It was a growth experience for her, too. Overall, a good experience for us.”

As for practicing law in the Army, “Exposure to different cultures and socio-economic groups was the most important life skill [I learned]. Professionally, I was exposed to an entire range of legal issues from criminal law to

family law I learned, particularly, that I did not want to practice criminal law or family law but was interested in public interest law.” Hobart’s “broad-based liberal arts curriculum was invaluable to making me a more curious learner. In particular, I took a course on the fourteenth amendment which had a lasting impact on me and my career interests.” His second year in the JAG corps he prosecuted a rape case. He says of it, “I learned a great deal about race- and gender- relations, the Army Criminal Investigator Division (CID), and military command structure during this proceeding. The military justice system worked. In retrospect, I believe the military justice system works quite well. It has many safeguards to protect the accused. Importantly, at least at Fort Dix, soldiers received quality pro bono representation; far better than is generally available for civilians.”

Humor in uniform also was alive and well for the Ugelows. “[My Army friend] graduated from the University of South Carolina, while [his wife] graduated from the University of Tennessee. Both large universities, obviously. Neither had heard of Hobart College. The joke was that Hobart was a figment of my imagination and that I was the only graduate. From time-to-time, I would point out a newspaper article that mentioned Hobart. [One of them] would ask ‘How much did it cost me to have the article placed in the newspaper?’ Whenever we met another HWS graduate, they would ask if ‘that was the other graduate?’ This continues to be a running joke. I gave [them] a Hobart sticker that they proudly placed on their car, which resides in Columbia, South Carolina.”

After the Army, Ugelow was a trial attorney and deputy section chief in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice for 29 years. Then was a full-time faculty member at American University’s law school until 2019. Currently, he is a term appointee member of the Personal Appeals Board of the Government Accountability Office and a complaint examiner for the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC.

Ugelow is the recipient of the Doar Award, the highest award given by the Civil Rights Division to an attorney.

Bernard Aaron, H’66

Dr. Bernard Aaron served as a Navy physician 1974-1976 specializing in internal medicine and gastroenterology at NAS Patuxent River hospital in Maryland. He says, “I was very fortunate in that I was part of the Berry Plan (the physicians’ draft) and was able to finish my entire training before entering the Navy. I did not have to serve in Vietnam. There were many physicians who did not survive Vietnam, so I was very grateful for the ability to serve in peace time.” He credits Hobart with learning to have intellectual curiosity about subjects other than medicine. Furthermore, he “learned how to exercise critical thinking and how to see different points of view about a whole host of things.” He points to his Navy experience as the opportunity to learn “a lot about general practice. We were the last of the ‘Berry planners’ and the Navy was using specialists as general medical people.”

After leaving the Navy, he started teaching at Stonybrook Medical School at the Northport V.A. Hospital in 1976. He then went into private practice in New Jersey from 1977 until the present time. He works very little now, two mornings a week and volunteers at a clinic for indigent people without health insurance. He also teaches physical diagnosis to medical residents a couple of hours a week and gives lectures to residents in gastroenterology. He is on the faculty at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine and at Rutgers’ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology.

He volunteers extensively in his community. He’s in the choir at his synagogue and is also on the Shiva committee

that leads services for families who have just lost a loved one. He’s also on the COVID Task Force at the synagogue with two other physicians and lay members of the synagogue’s staff and members. They evaluate and decide the extent of COVID risk and what restrictions are needed for the safe use of the synagogue.

Dr. Aaron left Hobart early to go directly to medical school, and he is extremely proud that the Colleges presented him with an honorary baccalaureate degree in 2010.

James Albright, H’66

James Albright served as pilot in the Air Force 1966-1974. He flew KC135 air refueling tankers early in his service then transitioned to rescue helicopters. He says he entered the Air Force because of a “Desire to serve my country and become a pilot and because of time spent in ROTC at Hobart with Major Ted Shorack. (Ed note: Shorack a highly respected AFROTC instructor and mentor at Hobart, was a pilot killed in action in Vietnam shortly after leaving Hobart.) Albright “[L]eft the military at the end of the Viet Nam conflict because my career track was leading me to return to SAC as a Command Post Controller and flying T-29’s on the weekends. I had been assigned on my return from Korea as a twin engine Huey (new at the time) instructor pilot in Special Operations. I was disappointed when my orders changed on my way to Hurlburt AFB in Florida. Also, I wanted to attend graduate school to receive a Master of Health Administration from Duke University using the VA benefits. I had been away from home over 400 days from 1969-1972, when our children were under two years old, and we had moved eight times in six years.”

His duty in tankers took him to “places such as Labrador, Alaska, Greenland, Spain, and many months at Utapao

AFB, Thailand, flying refueling and reconnaissance missions over Laos, Cambodia, North and South Viet Nam, Hainan Island, and the South China Sea. There were exciting experiences in SE Asia: The Surface to Air Missiles (SAMs) that targeted us over Laos and NVN, never got too close, and also Chinese fighters that launched from the mainland while we were in the South China Sea. The Navy Recon Vessels always warned us of their potential and turned us around.”

In 1970 he qualified as an air rescue pilot in the HH-43 “Huskie,” and was assigned to Osan AB in South Korea… an assignment that does not allow family members to accompany the airman. His wife, Patricia, spent the whole time living in an apartment with a 1- and 2-year old in their hometown. Of his service there, he writes, “Korea was a very rewarding assignment. Being in [air rescue] was even better.” After extensive flooding struck the nation, he recorded 129 saves, “a Kaman Huskie world record in one day, lifting families off their roofs and levees, some while floating down the river.”

Albright graduated from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University after his Air Force service. He was a distinguished graduate and started a successful career as a health care executive, CEO, consultant, and expert witness. He is the author/editor of numerous publications and speaks in the US and internationally. He was on the faculty at USF, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, and UNF. He has served on numerous not-for-profit boards both as a member and chair.

John M. “Andy” Anderson, served as an intelligence officer in the USAF for 20 years. Both of his parents had served in the Navy during World WarII. He chose AFROTC at Hobart rather than expose himself to the draft. He says, “I well remember one of my fraternity brothers declaring he would stay in grad school until the Vietnam War was over, rather than submit to the draft.” Two decades later, Anderson retired from the Air Force to allow his wife, an Air Force colonel at the time, to take a position as a military attaché in Hungary, a position which required her to have ‘a wife.’ He says, “It was a great move.”

During his earlier career in intelligence, Anderson was hand-picked to be in the initial cadre of the Soviet Awareness Program. It was a Chief of Staff-directed program to reach all Air Force personnel to demonstrate that the Air Force still had a job following the end of the Vietnam War. He continues, “and that job was to confront our main adversary - the Soviet Union. Our job was to [educate] the entire Air Force, at the [grassroots] level, through an in-depth program at Bolling AFB, and via a traveling team- ‘The Red Eagle Road Show.’”

His post-duty challenges were unusual. He writes, “after I left the service I became a “dependent spouse” to accompany my wife, the Defense and Air Attaché to the US Embassy, Budapest Hungary, from 1988-1991. Essentially, I left my organization on a Friday and the next Monday I returned in a civilian suit, and went through a

year of language training and indoctrination in working in a denied area. At the end of our first hour the instructor said: ‘OK ladies, you can return to your husbands now.’ Driving through the Iron Curtain was an experience, particularly after having studied the Soviet problem for so long. We arrived in a communist country, watched the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, and returned home.”

Anderson continues his Hungary experience, “the basic intelligence stock in trade is how to research, write and deliver a compelling story. The same is true of history. When we got to Hungary, we found local historians wanting to share their half of the World War II story, put on hiatus for 50 years. [I met] an individual who had 150 US-dog tags on a string, found in the yard of a former SS interrogation center and hidden in his closet until conditions improved. I became a go-between with access to Hungarian military archives and the US Air Force and National archives, mostly regarding US aircraft and aircrews downed in Hungary.”

In retirement Anderson has continued his devotion to history. He is past-president and historian of his local historical society and serves as the historian for the local American Legion Post. He is proud that he was the leader of a team that won the David Douglas Medal for 2006 from the Washington State Historical Society as well as winning the Distinguished Service Award from the Oregon-California Trails Association for travelling over the Oregon Trail with a 100-year-old covered wagon and a yoke of oxen. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from his county’s Heritage League in 2021.

H’66

Mark Bayer served in the Army Signal Corps 1966-1969. He applied for Officer Candidate School to avoid the draft, and after commissioning, the Army trained him in automated data processing and assigned him to the Defense Intelligence Agency in Arlington, VA where he served out his commitment.

He writes, “I had always wanted to work with computers, but Hobart had no computer sciences courses back in the day. However, computers were very new and very few schools had computer courses. And when I say computers, I mean mainframes. What I learned in the service helped me land a job with computers after I got out. I was a math major and that helped me get the assignment I wanted. I was in the information services industry, even before the internet was born.”

He continues, “I was fortunate that I did not get assigned to Viet Nam. My Army post in Arlington had a basketball team and my experience on the Hobart varsity helped me make the post team. We won a First Army championship one year and finished second the following year. It was sure better than being shot at in Nam.”

Lieutenant Colonel John M. Anderson, USAF (Ret), H’66

Mark Bayer,

Richard Beck, H’66

Richard Beck was drafted into the Army three years after graduation and served 1969-1971 as a clerk-typist and later as an administrative specialist. His father served in the Army in World War II, was grievously wounded in the Philippines and received two Purple Hearts.

He writes, “I was the lucky SOB!! In early 1969 my number came up when I was in my third year teaching (high school vocal music). I was 24 and, out of curiosity, I visited Local Board 75 to learn they had mistakenly drafted me with the 25-year-olds! Really?!?! After a discussion about my birthdate and the rumors of a possible draft lottery, I decided being a 24-year-old private seemed somehow better than being a 25-year-old private.”

“Basic Training at Ft. Dix in July 1969 found me the “old man” leading (AFROTC remember?) a platoon of 18–19-year-old kids. My MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) there seemed to be ‘pots and pans.’ My roomie, Bill M., and I both came down on orders to Ft. Lewis for Advanced Infantry Training (AIT) along with six others. The least responsible of this group was given all our files and shot records and told to never let them out of his sight during the cross country flight. Of course, he checked them with his duffle bag at the airport. Upon arrival at Ft. Lewis (just in time for rainy season) we learned that American Airlines had lost his bag. OMG, another round of shots?”

“The only combat I ever saw was a huge bar fight in Seattle. The USS Kitty Hawk was in port and the bar was full of sailors and Marines plus me and five other GI’s. Words were exchanged and the 20+ Marines took exception to our

khaki uniforms. The sailors apparently decided it wasn’t a fair fight and joined in on our side. When the SPs arrived, I escaped out a back door. Go Navy!”

“Midway through AIT, American Airlines found the duffle bag with our files and shot records. The next day I learned orders were being cut to send me to clerk-typist school at Fort Huachuca, Az. (someone noticed I could type 75 wpm and I was ‘old.’). Then I came down with pneumonia (still rainy season) and was confined to the URI ward at Madigan Hospital. After a few days, I shook down my thermometer and talked (barely whispered, actually) an MD into releasing me. I said goodbye to my roomie, Bill M.”

“I eventually brought my wife from Rochester to be with me. While driving through the Ozarks, I listened to the first ever draft lottery numbers being called. My birthday was #240 and they only got to #195 that year. As my training company was closing, I was transferred to Navajo Army Depot (AMC) near Flagstaff where they “quality controlled” 500-pound bombs headed for the Ho Chi Minh Trail. We stayed there a year until Nixon’s Vietnamization program shut down the ordnance depot and, now a short timer and a SP5 (E5), I returned to a new job at Ft. Huachuca’s hospital.”

“At 0252 hours on what was supposed to my last day in the Army, our daughter was born so I extended for two months as an active duty reservist. I returned home (Rochester) with my new family. I wrote to my roomie as we’d agreed to meet once our two-year hitch was over. That’s when I learned that Bill M had been killed in action on 30 April 1970 while a door gunner on a Huey.”

John Culbertson served in the Navy 1965-66. After boot camp he was a mess cook at Kilauea Military camp on the flanks of the Kilauea volcano, HI. He retrained as a plane captain and serviced aircraft at NAS Barbers Point on Oahu. On aircrew orders as a plane captain he flew all over Hawaii, Midway and Guam. The draft was the main reason for him enlisting because “Hobart suggested that I find other things to do after my sophomore year. It was just before the Gulf of Tonkin incident.” It was the start of the Vietnam War.

He comments on his biggest challenge in the military, “Learning to take orders from idiots and smile about it. Seriously, that was a life skill that you learn few other places. Learning that there was no such thing as entitlement.” Further, he says, “Taking pride in your job, and knowing that lives really did depend on it.”

He presents an interesting perspective on returning to Hobart after his Navy service, “A story that I have actually told at reunions is related to my Hobart experience. I started with the class of ‘66, got booted out and returned in Jan, ‘67 as a member of ‘68. Same campus, same faculty, half the same students. But, a totally different universe. I basically left Geneva in the ‘50’s and returned in the ‘60’s. Left mandatory chapel, ties at dinner and came back to protests, Tommy the Traveler, and firebombed ROTC.”

He comments, “[I] finally graduated from Hobart, went on for an MBA from Cornell (thank you Cold War GI Bill). Acquired a CFA and managed money for charities, foundations, and, endowments.”

John Culbertson, H’66

Michael David, H’66

Michael David served as an administrative officer in the Air Force 1966-1970 at Chanute AFB, IL and later in the Washington, DC area.

His commissioning came through Officer Candidate School. He writes, “I wanted to serve because of a deeply felt obligation, which came from my immigrant parents.....who were ever grateful to be naturalized Americans. I left after my stated obligation was met, honorably… Suffice it to say that if I had children I would preach to them the value of military service, even so far as to make them understand ‘Duty, Honor, Country.’” He highly values his service and points out that he learned “’ Attitude determines altitude’ was important and being empathetic toward all of my training unit’s student population plus permanent party.... these ‘people skills’ were to hold me in very good stead throughout civilian life.”

After leaving the Air Force, he was a manufacturer’s representative in the giftware, collectibles, social stationery, souvenir, and holiday merchandise field for more than 35 years. He was self-employed and on the road in the MidAtlantic States. He says, “I built up a lucrative career from scratch, and worked business to business with wonderful customers, some of which were of decades long duration.”

Geoffrey Goodman was commissioned through Hobart’s AFROTC program and served as an intelligence officer in the active Air Force 19661978 and in the Air Force Reserve 1978-1992. After being a Civil Air Patrol cadet in high school, he thought he might become a USAF pilot, but he learned that his “eyesight wasn’t good enough. I became very interested in the field of military intelligence, growing to adulthood in the era of James Bond fiction. I then became an intelligence specialist, a career that I pursued in many forms over the decades. I feel that I was born to be an intelligence specialist, and I had good success doing it. Along the way, I was involved in Air Force assignments in signals intelligence collection in Japan and Vietnam, assignments at the National Security Agency, and duty as a target intelligence officer at Strategic Air Command HQ, and the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff.”

His time in Vietnam was challenging to a young officer. He says, ‘My most challenging assignment was the 6924th Security Squadron at Da Nang, RVN. As an ops flight commander, I had responsibility for 55 collection and analysis specialists, and direct responsibility for timely intelligence reporting. It was a full-time job, by which I mean no days off. The most challenging day was 27 April 1969. The Da Nang bomb dump, one of the largest in the Pacific theater, blew up in a series of massive explosions over nearly 24 hours. After that, our unit went through a series of changes, working to restore our operational capabilities. One of these temporary operations was at Monkey Mountain, co-located with a radar site about 10 miles from main base Da Nang. I worked there for 49 straight days, 12 hours on the site plus about 45 minutes

each way on a deuce and half [truck]. We got pretty tired. Also, this wasn’t the safest place to live. In addition to fairly regular rocket attacks, we were subjected to a deadly threat we didn’t know about until later - Agent Orange. Two of my Da Nang contemporaries died later from cancer, probably related to Agent Orange exposure.”

He reflects on his student days at HWS, “I am generalist who is interested in every aspect of what an adversary might exhibit: Strategy and tactics, technology and weaponry, history and politics, culture and language, economy and geography. My background as a history major at HWS prepared me for the career path that I followed. And there’s one other aspect. My career has involved an enormous amount of reading and writing. I pursued the studies I did at HWS because of these interests, and my undergraduate education began to hone these skills.”

Goodman’s children have followed him into the military. His son is Air Force Academy graduate who served in special operations, and his daughter is also an academy graduate and an aircraft maintenance officer. She has served as an advisor to the Afghani Air Force. Goodman does the math, “As of this writing, we have served in the Air Force for 56 consecutive years.”

Robert Gurian, H’66

Robert Gurian served in the Army as a transportation officer 1966-1969. After he separated from the Army he graduated from Brooklyn Law School. While in law school he and Loretta Schoen, WS’66 married. He practiced law in a suburban law firm specializing in estate and trust and real estate matters.

Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Goodman, USAFR (Ret), H’66

Colonel Martin Harding, USA (Ret), H’66

Martin Harding, served in the Army 1966-1992 with duty in Thailand, Italy (four tours), Vietnam, Germany, Virginia, and the Pentagon. Harding was born in England. His father was a captain in the Army who met his English wife on a troopship. His grandfather served in the Army in World War II. His brother, who spent time at Hobart, too, was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for valor. Harding was drafted months after graduating. He says, I was drafted months after graduation. I was working as a reporter for the Cleveland Press. After basic and advanced Infantry training, I applied to and was sent to Quartermaster Officer Candidate School.

“I met and married my Italian wife in Vicenza, my first Italy tour. The first of four to that beautiful country. Except for the year in Vietnam, she stayed by my side through every assignment. We, and our three children, loved our time in the Army. They speak Italian and all three treasure their experiences as ‘Army brats.’ All have graduated college in this country and have children of their own. One is a senior now at William Smith.”

He recalls as a commander of a Field Service company at Fort Lee, VA soon after the war in Vietnam ended, “It was a very difficult time for the Army, with low morale and drug issues. My company had a ditch digging platoon, which became used as a holding organization for AWOLs and soldiers waiting for all sorts of discharges and courtsmartial. It was a challenge to keep them motivated, drug free, and present for duty, let alone accomplish military training too. Fortunately, my battalion commander understood what we were up against.”

He recalls, “The liberal education I received at Hobart was the foundation of my military and civilian career. I was exposed to so many different disciplines and out of my comfort zone. Though I never appreciated the import at the time. I didn’t like ROTC, for example. All that marching - what was the point? But looking back, I found a niche that others had difficulty filling - that interpreter between the user and the technician - was due to the wide education I received at Hobart.”

He posits that a sense of humor is important to military service. “To keep my NATO comrades awake during the build-up to Desert Shield, I needed something to liven the briefing. The ‘Stars ‘n’ Stripes’ newspaper ran a photo of chickens being used as chemical ‘alarms’ by Marines in forward areas. The general was very eager to show that we were doing our part and chemical detector kits were hard to come by, which gave me an idea. (Properly cleared by my Admiral, of course). The next day, I stood up to give my five-minute briefing to the assembled staff (in a World War II tunnel bunker in Naples). I began by showing a Vu-graph photo from the ‘Stars and Stripes,’ and then announced that ‘Iceland has pledged 1000 chemical detectors for Desert Shield. The poor CINC, turned to the audience and blurted ‘Finally, you see? Even Iceland is contributing.’ Then I deadpanned: There is only one problem – ‘they really are kits and may be missing parts,’ and held up a frozen package of chicken drumsticks. It took several minutes to restore order.”

After his Army service, Harding served in several government agencies.

Steve Hecht, H’66

Steve Hecht served in the active Army reserves 19671973 as a clerk-typist at the Curtis Bay Army Reserve Center in Maryland. His father served stateside as an Army lieutenant during World War II, and his son, a graduate of Princeton and its ROTC program, served six years in the Army. Hecht notes, “To be honest, I joined the Army Reserve to be able to stay home, raise a family, and pursue a career during Vietnam. At 21, I was a young husband, and a father at 22.”

He found basic training to be challenging and rewarding, writing “Looking back on that, I was in the best physical condition of my life and found out that I could do things I never dreamed of.”

In addition to monthly drill weekends, reservists are required to participate in a two-week training period each year. Hecht recalls an amusing start of one such session, “When my unit met at our reserve center for the bus trip to our regular 2-week “summer camp” at the Brooklyn Army Terminal in NYC, we were all dressed in very casual civilian clothes, and were carrying golf clubs, tennis rackets, etc. Greeting us was a 2- or 3-star General, who was not amused. Needless to say, that was the last time we were not in uniform when we were together as a unit.”

During his reserve service, Hecht started his career as an independent insurance broker and is still working. He is an active volunteer in several business, religious and charitable organizations, most of which he has “had the honor of leading.”

Lieutenant

John Heil, H’66

John Heil served in the Army as an infantry officer and military intelligence officer 1966-1969 including a year in Vietnam. He joined because, “there was a draft, and we were at war.”

He is married to Bonnie Mahoney, WS’66, and he went to Vietnam when their son was two months old.

Some 40 years later he returned to Vietnam and traveled from Hanoi to the Mekong Delta, the area in which he had soldiered, along with a friend from Officer Candidate School, Stuart Hoyt, husband of Susan Hershiser, WS’66. Heil says, “It was the most amazing trip I have ever undertaken.”

His civilian career was as an FBI Special Agent. He also served 22 years as a Court Appointed Special Advocate.

For his military service, Heil was awarded the Bronze Star, Air Medal, and a series of “thank-you-for-participating” medals.

David Kaplan, H’66

David Kaplan was drafted out of law school and served in the Army 19661967 as a personnel clerk at Fort Dix, NJ. He found his military service to be valuable, saying, “As an enlisted man I lived with men from all over the country, most of whom I never would have encountered in my Life as an upper middle class lawyer. That experience led to lifelong friendships and an understanding of other points of view that I never would have had.”

He received a hardship discharge after his father died. He then worked briefly at ABC network and returned to law school. His first job after graduating was as a public defender where “I coincidentally represented one of my

basic training mates. I went on to being a trial lawyer and a partner in various law firm iterations.”

He continues, “I was, I think, a pretty good trial lawyer and tried all sorts of cases of local import. I always enjoyed the “combat.” I was a partner in a local Amherst law firm and mentored other younger lawyers, teaching courses in trial practice throughout Massachusetts. I think my kids, who are both very successful in their work and their families, is my greatest accomplishment. Not to mention that I have been married for 48 years which as we all know is no small accomplishment.”

He coached baseball from little league through American legion for 15 years in Amherst, MA and served on various town boards and committees. For the last 10 years in Pacific Palisades, CA he has served on the community council where he is currently the vice chair.

Alan Michigan, H’66

Alan Michigan served in the Navy 1967-1971 and the Naval Reserve 19711978 as a commissioned officer. He served on a rescue and salvage ship in the Atlantic Fleet and then on a destroyer in the Pacific Fleet as a communications and operations officer. He says, “I thought it was my duty. Had some notions about Rousseau’s “social contract” as we learned in Western Civ. Also thought of my grandparents, all four refugee immigrants who fled for their lives, and this country gave them refuge and a home. Thought I owed something for that. Chose Navy because I always had a fascination about ships and the sea, though as far as I know, nobody in my family ever got closer to that than a passage in steerage.”

He relates a wonderful story about flexibility. On his destroyer “several Jewish crewmen petitioned the captain to be put ashore to celebrate Passover. The old man was NOT about to do that, but wished to accommodate their

religious sensibilities, so designated me as “Jewish Lay Leader” and told me “You WILL organize and conduct a Passover service.” At the time, we were escorting an aircraft carrier doing flight operations. Nowhere near a source of matzos or the other stuff normally used for this celebration, including the prayer book. Well, we had an Italian kid who was a cook, from Brooklyn and knew what a matzo was. He baked some stuff up that was barely edible, but sorta ‘kosher.’ I used the Old Testament part of a Catholic bible. Other stuff needed was improvised as best possible. Conducted the service in our helicopter hangar whilst the ship was doing 30 knots, rocking and rolling 15 or 20 degrees. Later encountered a Jewish Navy Chaplain, told him the story, he opined ‘it was the most authentic Passover in two thousand years.’” Of what he learned in the Navy, he says he didn’t learn any skills but “did learn an attitude: the job ain’t done until it’s done, and YOU ain’t done until then, either. No excuses. Served me well in my later legal career.”

He relates his experience after the Navy. “Having been a liberal arts bum, with no marketable skills, I decided to go to law school. Had no money, so registered at night and worked days as a clerk, after school as a taxi driver, weekends as a furniture mover, plus Reserve pay and a few bucks from GI Bill. Though night school was supposed to be four years, I finagled it in three - was feeling overaged at the time, you know, approaching 30! Anyhow, lived like a poverty-stricken dog for three years, but managed to graduate with no debt, passed the bar exam, and embarked on a reasonably gratifying and successful legal career of 40 years or so.”

About 40 years ago he involved himself with Veterans’ affairs and was appointed by then New York City Mayor Koch to his Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial committee. He was also instrumental in the city’s “Welcome Home” parade and marched at the head of it, an experience he says was “an extraordinary event and experience that made the national news.” Afterward he was a founder and officer of the Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program, intended to assist and direct disadvantaged vets into jobs and stable lives.

John Norvell served as a fighter navigator, professor, and historian in the Air Force 1966-1989. He gained his commission through Hobart’s AFROTC program. His family history of military service encompasses the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and Korea. Norvell is a Veteran of the Vietnam War having flown combat in the F-4 Phantom II.

After passing all the tests for aircrew training, Norvell elected to complete a graduate degree in American history prior to entering active duty. However, after finishing the degree, his visual acuity had declined, and no longer qualified for aircrew training, he reported to an administrative position in Washington, DC. He persisted in pursuing aircrew training and requalified three years later.

He earned his wings at navigator training. Of it he says, “I had always done well academically and did not see that as an issue, but I quickly learned that I had to work hard to get through nav school. Unlike college, nav school required study and practice, practice, practice. I had to commit to it in a way that I had not previously experienced in the Air Force or college… As a navigator, I always approached our work from a detail-oriented perspective. At Hobart, as a history major, I had to be well organized, able to deal with a great amount of material, and well prepared. Things I learned at Hobart.” He then attended fighter training in the F-4 and was assigned to RTAFB Udorn in northern Thailand where a few months later he flew the last bombing mission of the war from that base.

The Air Force sent him to Elmendorf AFB, AK, again flying the F-4. He spent four years there flying “Top Cover for America.” His advanced degree made him perfect for a teaching position afterwards, and the Air Force selected him for the history faculty at the Air Force Academy. A few years later the Director of Air Force History and Museums selected Norvell to be his executive officer, responsible for the administration of the office that supported 450 historians and museologists around the world. He retired from that position after serving 21 years on active duty.

In 1993 he became Alumni Director at Hobart and William Smith. He writes, “It was a job that used my skills as a writer and as a teacher at the Air Force Academy. I also raised money for the Colleges. I did this for the next nine years until 2002 when I moved to a new fund-raising job.

For his combat missions, Norvell was awarded three Air Medals, and he earned four Air Force Commendation Medals. He is a member of the Society of the Cincinnati in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Company of Military Historians, the Air Force Navigator/Observer Association, the F-4 Phantom II Society, the Red River Valley Association, and the Order of Daedalians.

He thanks his wife, Bonnie, for supporting him with patience and love despite constantly uprooting her for many moves.

Bishop George Elden Packard, H’66

George “Skip” Packard served in the Army as an infantry officer starting in1968 and then in the Army Reserves as a chaplain, 19761997, until his retirement as a lieutenant colonel.

He enlisted after graduation, attended OCS, and then taught at the Ranger Training Command, Fort Benning for a year before being posted to Vietnam. His Benning time was invaluable as he spent much of his wartime experience as a platoon leader on patrol doing tasks he had repeatedly done with the Rangers. He notes how his Hobart experience translated to military service: “How to study information with intention. To be sociable with a variety of people and to expect that my body could perform, as it had to in sports, under stress. To assume leadership positions.” He says that his most demanding time was “By far, slogging it out in Vietnam.”

He received the Silver Star and two Bronze Stars with “Valor device during this assignment.

Despite the rigors of ground combat, he found humor. “I was wounded by my own grenade and my medic, Dave, picked pieces out of my back punctuating every fragment as he threw them one at a time into my inverted helmet. Saying as he did in cadence to the metal hitting the helmet, “You...are...one...stupid...son-of-a-bitch!”

As vets have experienced, the residue of combat life affects everyday life. He remarks, “…no one wanted to hear I’d been in Vietnam. I still have PTSD in certain situations, and I’ve lost the hearing in my right ear. My exposure to

Lieutenant Colonel John Norvell, USAF (Ret), H’66

Arlington National Cemetary 2022

Agent Orange is the gift that keeps on giving. But coming to grips with the people I’ve killed, and the uselessness of that war and its moral wounding just continues inside me.”

Packard tried to integrate that understanding by serving as a chaplain in the Army Reserves for decades while concurrently being a parish priest. So, after his active-duty Army service, he attended Virginia Theological Seminary, was ordained, and served a variety of churches culminating as the Canon to the Bishop at the Cathedral in NYC. During Desert Storm he was mobilized and assigned to the Pentagon where he received a commendation for writing the Defense Department’s plan for the pastoral care of casualties.

As his vocation progressed, Packard was elected Suffragan Bishop for the Armed Forces, Veterans’ Affairs, Healthcare, and Prisons for the Episcopal Church, 2000-2010. As chairperson of the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces, he represented all faith groups before the Department of Defense. Later, he organized and led the chaplains’ support on 9/11 at the impact site in lower Manhattan and did the same for the Diocese of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. His community service is noteworthy: Occupy Wall Street, Veterans for Peace, Midnight Run for the Homeless, Executive Director of the largest senior center in the Bronx with extended outreach to all homebound seniors in NYC. He led the Occupy Wall Street protest that became the seminal action against Trinity Church Wall Street. He was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to a period of community service. He remains committed to social and street action. “It defines the Church’s future.”

H’66

James Piazza was commissioned through Hobart’s AFROTC program and flew 229 combat missions as an F-4 Phantom II pilot over North and South Vietnam, and then flew 140 combat missions as a KC-135 air refueling pilot. He entered the Air Force because he “wanted to fly…the war was not being fought the way it should be.” Of his service he writes, “Being a young pilot all my assignments were flying in combat. The skill I learned was leading a crew during my last few months in the military. I used my communication skills in private business.” Furthermore, “I told my children and grandchildren war is not a game. I lost two roommates and three instructors in combat.”

He says, “My wife did not appreciate the two years I was in combat and was happy I was able to get a job with General Electric. My children were very young during my years in the service. One was born when I was in Vietnam, and he was five months old when I returned.”

After his stint on active duty, he flew with the Air Force Reserve for a few years while making a career at General Electric with positions in sales, tech marketing, manufacturing, and quality. He worked in the Motor Group for 18 years and then 22 years in the Silicone Division. He is a Rotarian and assisted in county elections for 20 years.

For his service he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with 13 oak leaf clusters.

John Ross served as a finance officer in the Army 19671969. He joined because he “wanted to serve,” and was commissioned through Army Officer Candidate School. He separated after his commitment and took his MBA at the Wharton School.

After his service, Ross spent more than 30 years in international banking with 20 years at the Bank of New York and ten years with Deutsche Bank where he was Global Treasurer, then President & CEO Asia Pacific Region, then President & CEO The Americas, then Global Chief Operating Officer. After retirement from Deutsche Bank, he joined the board of DBS, Singapore where he also served as Chairman DBS Bank China.

He has served on numerous not-for-profit boards, and two publicly traded corporate boards.

James Piazza,

John Ross, H’66

Robert Scolnik, H’66

Robert Scolnik served in the Army as a transportation officer 1966-1970. He enlisted in 1966, and, after basic and advanced training, attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. After graduating aircraft maintenance officer school, he had a short temporary duty in Vietnam then was posted to Pusan, Korea. He finished his service as the senior advisor to the Army Reserve in West Michigan.

He writes, “After graduating from Hobart in 1966, I began a program in the business school at the University of Buffalo that would lead to an MBA. Early in the fall of my first semester, I had a breakup with a long-term romantic interest, and I withdrew from school and joined the Army. Since my student deferment was ending, joining and having a choice seemed a much better option than the draft. Plus, I needed a life change and a serious challenge. My military service was one of the best experiences of my life. I loved the service. But Vietnam was winding down and Army had too many people. I was not a West Point graduate and had no combat experience. Plus I had gotten married while in Grand Rapids and my wife was a teacher. A military career was not in the cards. So, I left active duty.”

He says, “My most challenging assignment was related to an additional duty that I was assigned while serving as the senior advisor to the Army Reserve in West Michigan. I was the “Survivor Assistance Officer” as an extra duty. About seven times during my year in Grand Rapids, I’d receive a phone call, usually in the middle of the night,

telling me the name of a Soldier who had been killed in Vietnam. I’d get an address, phone number, sparse details and then I would go to the survivors’ home and tell them the news. No telegram, phone call from Washington. Just me with my NCO as a backup. It was terrible. I felt awful, and I had no experience with any close family members dying at that point in my life. After the notification, I helped with meeting the remains, the burial, military honors, benefits, and anything else the family needed.”

After leaving the service he started a business and sold tools for about seven years as a Snap-On Tools distributor in West Michigan. He took over a failed territory in Muskegon, MI and seven years later was a top 75 dealer out of about 2200 nationwide. Looking for a new, larger opportunity, he bought an existing company in Muskegon, MI with about 10 employees, and after 20 years, he had grown the company to 100 employees with five main lines of business. he sold the company at age 53 and retired.

He writes, “My next career was non-profit work and politics. I’ve served with many non-profits, ultimately serving as chairman or president of many. I served 30 years as an elected official and currently serve as chairman of the Muskegon County Board of Commissioners.” He was named Muskegon Entrepreneur of the Year in 1990.

His community service has been extensive: former chairman of the Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce; former president of the Michigan Pine & Dunes Girl Scout Council; former president of Hackley Visiting Nurses & Hospice; former chairman of the United Way of the Lakeshore; director of Michigan Association of Counties.

H’66

George Sutton served in the Air Force as a transportation officer and transportation squadron commander 1966-1970. The son of a career Air Force officer, he decided “at the end of [my] sophomore year at Hobart to join the advanced AFROTC program…based on what I was seeing and hearing about Vietnam it was a foregone conclusion to me our military would be there. I also felt duty bound and that it was obligatory for me to serve my country and I ‘knew’ the USAF after spending over 20 years as a dependent.”

He cites his experience as a dorm proctor and head proctor at Hobart as being beneficial. “I learned to get along with other people as well as accomplish what needed to get done while working at Saga washing dishes, and just dealing with complaints from someone trying to study about the other guy next door playing his stereo too loudly.”

His first assignment after technical training was to Hancock Field in Syracuse, NY as the base transportation officer followed by assignment to Thule AB, Greenland, an isolated duty station for 12 months that did not allow dependents. His wife and daughters returned to her hometown and lived with her parents. This long separation plus other shorter ones, and the potential for more long separations, were a main reason for him leaving the Air Force.

George Sutton,

While assigned to Thule AB an international incident occurred when a B-52, armed with nuclear weapons, crashed about six miles off-base on the arctic ice. This was just one of many missions flown at the time 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by Strategic Air Command B-52’s fully armed and loaded with nuclear weapons. The US lease treaty with Denmark specifically prohibited ANY nuclear weapons being anywhere near or around Thule regardless of any circumstances. The Danes staged huge protests in Copenhagen and complained bitterly to the US Department of State about this violation. There was fear the Danes would terminate the 99-year lease on Thule over this aircraft crash and contamination of their island. The sheer amount of material and the logistics involved for the clean-up was daunting as it involved everything from food to sunglasses. Being the base transportation officer, he was under the gun to provide anything and everything imaginable required to “clean up” the plutonium spread all over the ice six miles out in the ocean. This kept everyone busy as the operation, once commenced, ran 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The effort took five months.

Later, when he was a transportation squadron commander at Perrin AFB, TX, Sutton’s squadron won the USAF-wide Outstanding Unit Award for 1969. He comments, “Being the best in your field was quite an honor for me and my squadron considering how many other transportation squadrons there were in the USAF…I was most fortunate in seemingly always to have really good people in my unitsmade my job fairly easy as commanding officer, and I truly enjoyed my time on service.”

Colonel C. R. Anderegg, USAF (Ret), H’67

C. R. “Dick” Anderegg, was commissioned through, and a Distinguished Graduate of, Hobart’s AFROTC program and served as an Air Force fighter pilot 1967-1997. He served in Thailand, England, Japan, Germany, the Philippines, and at several stateside bases. He flew 170 combat missions over North Vietnam and Laos in the F-4 Phantom II. While at Clark AB, Philippines, he directed the emergency response to the eruptions of the Mt. Pinatubo volcano that were Earth’s second largest eruptions of the Twentieth Century. His actions included planning the evacuation of more than 15,000 airmen and dependents days prior to the eruptions of the volcano that was eight miles from the base. He writes, “A typhoon hit us at the same moments of the biggest eruptions. The combined ashfall and rain devastated the base, and the US ended up abandoning it. It had been the largest overseas US military installation.”

During his service, Anderegg was twice an instructor at the Air Force Fighter Weapons School, an F-15 squadron commander in Germany, twice a fighter group commander, and twice a fighter wing vice commander. When he retired, he had flown more fighter hours than any active duty AF pilot.

After retirement, he authored several books and monographs, mostly on Air Force history, and he worked for five years as a senior military analyst at the RAND Corporation. He then returned to the Air Force in the Senior Executive Service as the Director of AF History and Museums Policies and Programs at the Pentagon 20032013. As chief historian of the Air Force he was the leader of 400 historians, archivists, and museologists worldwide. He also served as the historical advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff.

During his military career, Anderegg was awarded two Legion of Merits, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, six Meritorious Service Medals and 12 Air Medals. At his retirement as Director of Air Force History and Museums he was awarded the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal.

He is a long-time volunteer in his communities. He has built more than 30 houses for Habitat for Humanity and served as the construction committee chair in Northern Virginia for several years. He was a girls’ golf team coach, a Little League official, Team Rubicon volunteer, and a volunteer in the restorations division of the National Museum of the USAF.

He and his wife, Jean Sutherland Anderegg, WS’67, are members of the Wheeler Society, and he is the recipient of the Hobart Alumni Association’s 2021 Medal of Excellence.

John Baxter, H’67

John Baxter served in the Army 1967-1970 as a refrigeration mechanic first in Vietnam and then in Virginia as in instructor in that field. He writes, “I was not interested in grad school upon graduation in ‘67 and this was at the height of the buildup of troops for Vietnam. The Army offered me an opportunity to sign up for a 3-year hitch and go to refrigeration school. I had worked in the college maintenance department, so I had learned much about HVAC but wanted to learn the refrigeration cycle, so this seemed an ideal way to handle military service. I left when my 3-year hitch was over as I was not interested in serving where one cannot live where one wants and may not have weekends off! Also, I did not understand the Vietnam War and was wary of being sent back. I have since matured and developed a very different attitude about Vietnam and military service. I have the ultimate respect for those who served and their sacrifices. In fact, for years I had a recurring dream about rejoining the Army and doing it all over again, obviously the result of at least mild guilt feelings about not doing more for the cause.”

Baxter sees a sense of humor as a must-have in military service. “Life in the Army is just like reading Catch-22… at times, appearances seemed to be more important than winning the war. I once reported to the captain in charge of our motor pool, looking quite greasy and dirty due to working on our equipment. A master sergeant who saw me looking like a ragamuffin ordered me to clean up and report back to him as I waited to speak with the captain. Fortunately for me, the captain, who was more interested

in feeding our troops than in my appearance, overheard what had happened and told the sergeant in no uncertain terms (using a common curse word) that I should just go back to work…one MUST always keep his sense of humor HANDY while serving in the military.”

Of course war can be shocking as Baxter learned while repairing the post’s morgue refrigeration system in Vietnam. He says, “While the work itself was not terribly difficult, seeing body bags filled with your dead comrades and occasionally the mangled bodies of others who had not yet been processed can become a haunting experience many years later.” He reports, “My only obvious problem in this area was a mild case of PTSD (Fear of the Dead) which gave me a period of about 1 1/2 years of insomnia in the mid-1980s. Dealing with Vietnam--the purpose and whether or not the war was justified likely slowed me down a bit during the early years of my career.”

He has worked since the Army mainly as an automotive and general book editor and a magazine writer dealing with truck technology and maintenance. He says, “I am basically a technical writer, but I have also ventured into the field of advanced diesel combustion research as technical director of a small venture, and I have contributed to literature in the field. In some respects, practical experience with diesels and other devices while in the service advanced my knowledge of combustion, especially since the Multifuel Diesel the Army used in Vietnam also employed an unusual form of advanced combustion.”

He is an active Rotarian and has served as an elder in his church. He is also active with the National Motorists Association in promoting sensible driving regulations for which he has been recognized.

H’67

Rick Clarke served as a transportation officer in the USAF for 21 years serving in many places from Virginia to Korea. After a staff tour at the Pacific Air Forces headquarters in Hawaii, he was selected for the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) doctoral program in operations management at the University of Texas where he was a distinguished graduate. Afterward he returned to AFIT as an instructor for a few years and then retired. He is currently a Professor Emeritus of Management at Clemson University.

Clarke has some significant military roots. “My father was a combat pilot in World War II and retired as a USAF Colonel after serving as the base commander at McGuire AFB, N.J. MY great uncle Bruce Clarke was retired as a full General in the USA. He was a brand new one-star when he commanded an Army division that held off a much larger German force near the town of St Vith, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. When the weather cleared my father actually flew combat close air support mission in the same area.”

Of his time at Hobart, he states, “My education at Hobart helped in several ways. As mentioned above it helped prepare me well for graduate-level education. My leadership experiences in ROTC and in my fraternity helped build leadership skills which I relied heavily on as a young USAF

Lieutenant Colonel Richard Clarke, USAF (Ret),

officer in charge of over 65 diverse young Airmen, older sergeants and civilians. I entered the USAF because of my father and my great uncle’s service. I felt it was my duty and there was a war going on in Viet Nam.” Sometimes the challenges of service happen outside combat zones. “While serving as the OIC of Passenger Services in Korea two heavily armed Korean soldiers hijacked a military charter B-727 on the ramp right outside my office. I was armed and had to keep everyone in the terminal safe for two days until the crisis was resolved. The passengers were released, and the hijackers and the crew flew to North Korea. The American crew was ultimately released but not the aircraft.” He credits many learned skills while in the military among them managing people “caring about their welfare. And staying calm in all situations.”

At Clemson he established an internship program for his students that helped more than a hundred students land good jobs after graduation. He is especially proud of being the co-founder of Clemson’s study abroad program at Oxford University. To date more than 200 students have completed the program at Oxford.

Dake, H’67

Gary Dake served in the USAF as a pilot 1967-1973. The first part of his flying service was on KC-135 tankers; later, he flew air rescue helicopters. Dake’s father was a bomber pilot in World War II, and his uncle, shot down over France in World War II, was captured and imprisoned at Buchenwald. Treated reasonably well because he was an officer, he survived the war.

Dake writes, “I received a draft notice within weeks of graduation from HWS. Two years mostly wasted in the Army didn’t appeal to me, so I immediately contacted the Air Force and volunteered to join their pilot [training] program. I passed the admission tests and [joined]…I left military service because I had options back in Rochester in a family business that were appealing. I served with some of the best people I’ve known in my life but my tour in Vietnam soured me on a life in the military.”

Upon returning to Rochester, “I went right back to where I left off. I started running construction jobs for our family building business. In 1978 I started my own building company called DGA Builders, Inc. Today it is one of the largest and best known commercial building companies in Rochester.”

Dake, for his service as a rescue helicopter pilot in Vietnam, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with five oak leaf clusters (six separate awards) for successful rescues of Air Force, Navy, and Marine aircrews, and one unsuccessful attempt to recover Lt Col Gene Hambleton—call sign Bat 21—made famous in several books and a movie.

Chris Flanagan served in the Navy Reserve 1967-1968 in the navigation division of USS Boxer, an Essex Class carrier. He volunteered to avoid the draft and left when the Navy cut reserve personnel. He credits his Hobart education with giving him comprehension and writing skills that helped him in his position as a navigator’s yeoman.

He says, “When I talk to my grandchildren I mention how exhilarating it was to take the helm of an aircraft carrier and look out and see the flying fish and dolphins in the blue waters of the Caribbean.” He continues, “Based on information requested about my education when I got onto the USS Boxer, I was assigned the role of ship’s French interpreter as a secondary billet. I didn’t give this a second thought. That was, until we sailed near one of the French-speaking islands in the Caribbean and learned that labor unrest was unfolding on the island. I was notified one evening that I might be called upon to interpret for the ship’s captain the next day. In truth, my French skills were sadly lacking, and I did not sleep at all that night worrying about what might happen if I was called to interpret. To my extreme relief, our ship was able to move on without the French interpreter being called into action.”

After his service, Flanagan used his GI Bill for law school and began a career in banking and investment management. He has served on the boards of the Bangor (ME) Community Orchestra and the Cape Cod Symphony. He was also a trustee of the Duxbury Free Library.

Gary

Christopher Flanagan, H’67

Mark Golde, H’67

Mark Golde served in the Army 1968-1970 as a radioman. His service was mainly with the 1st Calvary Division in Vietnam followed by a brief stint at the Letterman Army Hospital. His service was difficult. He says, “most of my compatriots were poorly educated folks. They followed the company line.” He continues, “the liberal arts education that I received at Hobart allowed me to gain a perspective of what I was involved in…a greater understanding of what we were doing to not only the ‘enemy’ but also to the Vietnamese people, and to ourselves. I was a whistleblower who witnessed an event that I called out as murder, not war…and for eight months was ostracized for that…never took an R&R because I feared that I would never go back.” When queried about his accomplishments while in the Army, he responds, “I survived…I have a beautiful wife, Carol, that deals with…me.”

After being discharged, Golde took a master’s degree from Missouri University and moved to Jackson, WY where he spent 27 years as a UPS driver. He comments, “my counselor says that is a typical escape from society.” He serves on two search and rescue teams in Colorado and central Oregon applying the skills he learned from his Army training and experience.

He points out that the “VA has helped me deal with issues which are as real now as 50+ years ago…and I spend every Tuesday at the Vet Center with eight other combat veterans…PTSD and waiting for the Agent Orange shoe to drop.” Last year the VA granted Golde a full serviceconnected disability.

Commander Milt Long, USN (Ret), H’67

Milt Long served on various ships as an unrestricted line officer in the Navy 19671991. He also saw service in Washington, DC and as a Navy ROTC instructor at the University of Rochester. His family has a wide-ranging experience in military service spanning the Civil War, Boer War (British light cavalry), World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He says he joined the Navy because “There was a draft in 1967, [and] family tradition inclined all of us to serve. [I] had not planned a Navy career, but one good job led to another.”

Some jobs were more dramatic than others; he writes, “[I deployed on a] Middle East deployment as the operations officer on a destroyer. Went around Africa because Suez not yet cleared after 1973 Arab-Israeli War. Went to Dakar, Accra, Mocamedes (Angola), Mombasa, Djibouti, Jidda, Assab, Bahrain, Karachi, Columbo (Sri Lanka).”

“Each port had its story. Mocamedes was intended to be a brief stop to refuel, but the State Department had arranged for us to host representatives from the four rebel groups trying to become dominant when Angola gained independence; had to have them leave their sidearms and submachine guns at our quarterdeck prior to joining us in the wardroom for lunch. Assab port visit found nobody in Assab; they all knew the Eritrean rebels were about to overrun the town. Naval Intelligence also figured it out and had us leave port with haste! Djibouti was home to a unit of the French Foreign Legion where drinks were shared with two former U.S. Marines each with his own story.”

He says about his experience at Hobart, “The HWS classic liberal arts foundation particularly the Western Civ core curriculum was the foundation for success in a variety of experiences in later life. Having HWS for a sound education and Univ of Rochester business school for sound training in all things financial gave me opportunities to do everything from qualifying to command a Navy ship to managing the development of part of the Navy budget to a successful business formation and operation.”

After active duty he transitioned to another twenty years of related service by creating a technical services company focused on system engineering related to Navy combat systems. Early work involved assisting the Navy test the then new AEGIS destroyer combat system. During Desert Storm a fascinating project was done in support of Navy Seals. A commercial project required installing “our ride control” equipment in Chinese Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) tenders used to ferry crews to ocean drilling platforms.

He writes, “After selling my company, I collaborated with a like-minded asset manager in analyzing and understanding the underlying macroeconomic causes of the Great Recession and to acquire stock assets in anticipation of the nation’s financial ship righting itself. Asset management remains a focus.”

Richard Pugh, H’67

Richard “Toby” Pugh served in the Air Force as an electronic warfare officer on B-52s 1968-1973. He flew 184 combat missions including four during Operation Linebacker II over Hanoi…the operation many historians credit with bringing the North Vietnamese seriously to the peace table. His mother’s brother had been living as a civilian in Germany during much of World War II, and he and his family came to live with Pugh’s family as war refugees when he was a preschooler. Pugh entered the military partly as a response to the gratitude shown to the US military by his German refugee family. About to be drafted upon graduation, he sought qualification as a flying officer in the USAF. Even though his vision was not good enough for pilot training, and only marginally good enough for navigator school, his testing scores qualified him for navigator training, and he entered USAF Officer

Carol, Mark, and Best Friends

Training School. After commissioning he graduated from nav school and then electronic warfare officer training followed by B-52 training.

He recalls, “Flying an aircraft with a crew of six, and coordinating with other aircraft and ground crews, required intense coordination and teamwork. While flying, one’s position and “job” had more authority than one’s rank. Thus, while flying as a captain as part of the defense team, [I] got used to giving orders that would be followed by those who outranked him militarily.” (Ed note: see his story about a mission near Hanoi earlier in this book.)

He never returned from a deployment to a parade or a large celebration. In fact, he usually left and returned under the cover of darkness, to be greeted by families only after going through a thorough and tedious US Customs inspection. For several years after transitioning to civilian life he says he felt that he was treated with disdain by some who had not served. Public comments such as “Who could be stupid enough to think bombing a third world country would be a good idea” (Marian Wright Edelman, c. 1992 speaking at his church) were, he felt, judgmental and demeaning. Through counseling at Viet Nam Veterans Outreach and through over three decades of 12-step work he has learned to let others’ commentary simply belong to them. After all, he says, “part of our military service was intended to allow for freedom of expression.”

Pugh was drawn to New Mexico after visiting relatives and friends in the Taos area. As he was transitioning out of the Air Force, he was accepted in the Master of Architecture program at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and was granted Master of Architecture degree in 1980. He opened his own office in the mid 1980s that was unsuccessful. He worked for a variety of companies one of which led him to a remodel of the Las Vegas Hilton—a project so successful that it led to a job offer as an architect at Walt Disney Imagineering. He took the opportunity and worked as a Walt Disney Imagineer and architect

from early 1996 until late 2016. He was project architect for Disney California Adventure, then Director of Codes and Standards for Hong Kong Disneyland, and Executive for Standards and Specifications for Shanghai Disneyland.

In 2015 his body of work was recognized by the American Institute of Architects, and he was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects, an honor bestowed on only about three percent of its membership.

Lee Seidel, H’67

Lee Seidel served in the Air Force as a management analysis officer 1967-1971. A product of Hobart’s AFROTC program, Seidel says, “I had no clear plans beyond graduating Hobart. I valued the ability to serve my country. USAFROTC just seemed like a good idea and opportunity.” He writes, [Hobart] taught me how I could teach myself. Except for some of my professors/courses in American history, generally I was intellectually bored. I just wanted to get through Hobart and move ahead.”

Such was not the case in the Air Force, as he writes, “I learned a great deal about systems management and working with a highly skilled professional workforce of senior officers and civilian employees. My four-year career was in AF Systems Command where I was involved in new weapon systems development. At Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright-Patterson AFB I Initially worked on the project to develop and deploy laser guided bombs to Vietnam; after that I worked in the Systems Program Office (SPO) for the development of a VSTOL [vertical short takeoff and landing] fighter aircraft as a joint program with the Federal Republic of Germany. I then spent almost three years assigned to the SPO to develop the FX air superiority fighter, later known as the F-15. As a management analyst my role was to establish management systems requirements for the defense contractors and then use these systems to monitor and report project status.

He relates an interesting experience with an allied officer. “As an American history major at Hobart, I studied many aspects of World War II. While working on the development of a VSTOL fighter I shared an office with a Federal Republic of Germany lieutenant colonel. Although we were never friends, we were friendly. As a young German Nazi pilot this [officer] was shot down in defense of Berlin in 1945, captured by the Russians and finally returned to Germany in 1954. As he admitted, he disliked Americans but really hated the Russians. We spent many hours comparing perspectives on World War II. My views were based on the western (and winners’) scholarship of the war and his was based primarily upon his experience. It was eye opening. He taught me to honor alternative perspectives.”

Seidel finished his Air Force career as the Aide to the Commanding General of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB. After being discharged he attended Penn State University to earn master and doctoral degrees in health and hospital administration. He worked for the office of the Mayor of New York City (John Lindsey) involving Medicaid reform systems and for Arthur Andersen and Co., where he worked with medical centers and large non-profit health sector organizations. Eventually to get out of “the consultant rat race,” he accepted an academic position at the University of New Hampshire planning to spend a year or two just “teaching.” He eventually retired as a professor emeritus in 2014. He says, “I totally enjoyed working with students!

Jeffrey Treby, H’67

Jeff Treby was drafted into the Army shortly after graduation. He served 1967-1969 mainly in Vietnam as an intelligence analyst. He died in 2014 from Parkinson’s Disease as a result of exposure to Agent Orange.

Information for this profile was provided by Jeff’s family who recalls that he was “very quiet about his time in Vietnam, guess that is why he was in intelligence—he could keep a secret.” They remember a story he told once about sleeping under a tank in the jungle and identifying artillery by the difference in the sound of outgoing or incoming.

After being discharged, Treby worked for Chase Manhattan Bank for 25 years where he became a vice president in the budget department. During that time he took an MBA in business/accounting. After leaving Chase he went on to get a certified financial planner designation and worked as a financial planner at MetLife in the private banking division. He ended his career at a private financial firm.

His family says, “Jeff was highly regarded and trusted by all who knew him. [He was] a very warm, friendly, caring, and honest person. He was a great father who loved his family and friends.”

While serving he earned the Bronze Star, the Good Conduct Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Expert Marksman ribbon.

Frederick J. Zehr, Jr., USAF (Ret), H’67

Fred Zehr was commissioned through Hobart’s AFROTC program and attended Air Force pilot training followed by assignment to the F-105 Thunderchief in which he flew a combat tour in the Vietnam War. He served 1967-1992 as a fighter pilot, staff officer, squadron commander and group commander. His father served in the Army in World War II, and his father-in-law was a B-24 pilot in World War II. He is married to Lois Magee Zehr, WS’68.

Of his Hobart experience, he writes, “I learned the hard way that you need to stay up with your class assignments. After almost flunking out at the end of our sophomore year, Dean Atkinson gave me a second chance. I never fell behind with my class work again and even made Dean’s List in my senior year. I was either a distinguished graduate (or very nearly) [of schools] in my Air Force career.” He entered the Air Force because AFROTC was mandatory for freshmen and sophomores and the draft was getting hot in 1965, [so] I thought that the Air Force was a good idea. Then one of the ROTC Instructors, Major Theodore Shorack, took me up for my first flight and recruited me for pilot training. Like so many things in life, serendipity played a major role.”

Zehr’s biggest challenge in the Air Force was “commanding an Air Support Operations Group and deploying from Germany to Saudi Arabia in support of the U.S Army’s VII Corps for Operation Desert Shield/Storm. We had

already deployed six Tactical Air Control teams in support of Allied units and were undermanned at about 85 per cent of authorized strength. Drawing augmentees and equipment from units in Germany, CONUS and the Pacific, the men and women performed flawlessly.” He learned to “Walk around all the work centers. You will find out the condition of the equipment. After about three months, the airmen will be confident enough to start suggesting improvements. Changes are easier to implement if the airmen brought them up themselves.” He advises, “If someone admits an honest mistake, give them a second chance - you’ll have a loyal subordinate who won’t make another mistake.”

When asked about a second career following his Air Force service, he responds, “None. I became a golf and ski bum. Also, a house husband after Lois started working at our local elementary school.” He adds, “I have been a volunteer researcher for the Adirondack Mennonite Heritage Association for the last nine years. It is located on my great, great grandparents homestead farm.”

During his military service, Zehr was awarded the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Air Medal with eight oak leaf clusters, and the AF Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster.

Colonel

Award of the Bronze Star

Tom Bozzuto, H’68

Tom Bozzuto was drafted into the Army and served 1969-1970 mainly in Vietnam. He writes, “While in grad school at The Maxwell School of Citizenship, I got a Ford Foundation and USAID fellowship to study urban planning in Calcutta. I needed to extend my deferment to be able to take advantage of the fellowship so [I] went to the draft board, where some blue haired lady told me (a bearded, long-haired young man) that there was another part of Asia that needed me more. Within ten days of my visit to the draft board, they got me. Initially, I signed up for OCS, but after basic and AIT, and with some counsel from my commander at the latter, I refused to sign-in to OCS, had my commitment shortened from three to two years, and was sent to Vietnam. In Nam, I was originally scheduled to be a forward observer but before reporting to my assignment, I managed to talk my way into a job at the 25th Division Information Office as an information specialist and combat correspondent. I spent a year at Cu Chi. While in my role, I wrote for the division paper and “Stars and Stripes,” escorted the press into combat, and provided daily news briefs to reporters. Like many draftees at the time, I thought the war immoral and the army miserable, so I got out as soon as I returned from overseas… the toughest part [of the job] was watching the truth be distorted so that what we were doing over there sounded glorious when it wasn’t.”

After the Army he “made [his] career as a real estate developer, navigating bureaucracies for permits to build large apartment communities. Part of what I learned from the Army, which is nothing more than a big bureaucracy, was how to navigate that terrain.” He credits his Hobart experience by saying, “I was an English major at Hobart. My ability to write, and write well, is what allowed me to convince the folks in the Information Office to hire me as a writer. It was what I learned at Hobart about writing that kept me alive.”

In 1988 he started his own company. He has built more than 60,000 homes and created a company that today manages 90,000 apartments and employs about 3,000 people. His community service is wide-ranging: chair of the Baltimore Citizens Planning & Housing Association, chair of the Baltimore Community Foundation, chair of the Maryland Science Center, board member of the Walters Art Museum, chair of the National Multifamily Housing Council, chair of the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Board of Trustees, and participation in several other community service organizations.

He says he is proudest of his family, writing, “I am happily married after 52 years, have two great children, one of whom now runs my business better than I did, have two great in-laws, and six very special grandchildren, all of whom live within five miles of my home.”

Richard Champion served in the Air Force from 1970-74 as an intelligence specialist mainly at Kadena AB, Okinawa. He was a communications analyst and covered the North Vietnamese air defense system, primarily radar-controlled anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missile sites. Originally slated for a possible flying job in the F-4 Phantom, he did not pass the final physical which turned out to be a blessing in his view. He writes, “[An important part of my job was] locating North Vietnamese SAM missile sites which were knocking down many F-105’s as well as F-4’s, like the ones I might have been flying in if I made it to flight school. A SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE like the Dylan song.”

He credits his military experience with teaching him strong analytical skills. “When discharged I went into commercial banking where in the normal process of lending money, we had to determine credit worthiness of various types of businesses. This involved a lot of financial analysis.”

Living with his wife and small children in Okinawa was a cultural experience for all of them. He says, “My wife was a nursery school teacher on Kadena AB and also taught yoga. She loved it, and the kids got used to parts of the Japanese language and also the dietary habits of Asian folks. When we got back to Newark and went to our first restaurant (Italian) both kids took off their shoes and asked for chicken fried rice.

Champion’s post-Air Force career was in commercial banking.

Richard Champion, H’68

H’68

Pat Falvey served in the Army Signal Corps 19691971. Both his father and his father-in-law are World War II veterans. After commissioning through Army Officer Candidate School, Falvey attended signal officers’ school and reported for duty at Fort Hood, TX where he eventually became a company commander. He later reported for duty with the 13th Signal Battalion of the First Cavalry Division in Vietnam providing telephone, radio, teletype, and cryptographic services to the division. The day he arrived in Vietnam his father gave the annual Veterans’ Day address at the local American Legion Post.

He separated from the Army and returned to his wife, young son, and other family settling in Penn Yan, NY until he entered the John Marshall Law School in Chicago where he graduated in 1975. He and his young family returned to Penn Yan where he passed and was admitted to the bar. After 12 years of private practice, New York’s governor appointed him Yates County Judge where he served as county judge, family and surrogate court judge and acting New York State Supreme Court Justice for more than 28 years until he reached mandatory retirement age. He has remained active in the law in several capacities including a position as Judicial Hearing Officer of the New York State Unified Court System.

Reflecting on his Army experience, he relates the following advice:

• Don’t hesitate to look towards your faith when needed.

• A successful leader should first trust subordinates by authorizing, deputizing, and supervising them properly.

• Be supportive of your staff.

• Assume nothing.

• Develop a sense of humor and know when to use it.

• Be humble, show compassion and be willing to listen.

• Think critically and do your own research.

• Set a positive example in both your work and personal affairs.

• Keep your emotions to yourself.

• Develop good temperament.

• Learn to organize and be decisive in decision making.

• Have a plan “B” and how to implement it.

• Speak clearly and concisely.

He credits his Hobart experience, especially Western Civ and freshman English, with providing him valuable skills in critical thinking and writing that he has used in making and authoring judicial decisions. About his bench experiences, he writes, “I found dealing with children and families in various crisis situations as the most challenging but often times most rewarding when a just resolution was reached through the application of a combination of many of the aforementioned tools.”

Judge Falvey’s lifelong commitment to community service has garnered him numerous awards: New York State Conspicuous Service Cross; 1996 Center for Dispute Settlement’s Distinguished Jurist Award; 2016 Yates County Chamber of Commerce Emily F. Seager Memorial Pride Award; 2017 Dewitt Clinton Masonic Award for Community Service; Honorary Lifetime Membership in Johnson-Costello American Legion Post No. 355; 1999 National American Legion Americanism Award. He earned for his Army service three Bronze Star Medals for Meritorious Service, the Air Medal, and the Vietnam Service Medal among others.

He says, though, “My first and foremost accomplishments are having been married to my wonderful wife, Suzanne, for over 53 years, being part of raising our two great children, and being involved with our wonderful grand kids.”

William Patrick Falvey,

T. Ferris, USNR (Ret), H’68

Bill Ferris was commissioned into the Navy shortly after graduating Hobart, spent four years on active duty then joined the Navy reserves serving a total of 28 years. His first assignment after training was as the officer in charge (OIC) of a Swift Boat operating along the coast and on the waterways of Vietnam. Heavily armed but lightly armored with a crew of six to eight, these small, fast boats did a wide variety of missions. He writes, “My daily routine was patrolling the rivers and canals, showing the flag, engaging in fire fights, transporting Montagnard’s to areas for their insertion, and at night I worked with a Seal team. I would transport them to a secret location, and then when directed, pick them up, usually after they had engaged in some fire fight. Except when the moon was out, it was pitch black, making navigation on the rivers tricky.”

Ferris was wounded on one such mission and underwent a series of surgeries and rehabilitation. He says, “I was not ready to be discharged from the Navy and asked my surgeon to help me walk again. He agreed, and with his surgeries and a great physical therapist, and also pain medication, I went from a wheelchair, to the parallel bars, to crutches, to a cane. Over the next few months, I continued to improve. At my request, my surgeon recommended I return to full duty despite some physical limitations.” The Navy then assigned him duty as a communications officer until he moved to the Navy reserves, ultimately graduating from law school after returning to civilian life.

He worked in the Suffolk County, NY District Attorney’s office for 23 years and then entered private practice focusing on criminal law, state and federal courts, as well as municipal law and other civil areas. He ran for district attorney in 2017 but withdrew and supported another candidate who won the election and asked him to join him as the Chief Assistant District Attorney.

He has volunteered his time to the County Bar Association and the Criminal Bar Association, presenting lectures and demonstrations on many topics, including ethics, trial advocacy, evidence, and criminal procedure. He was elected Dean of the Suffolk Academy of Law, the training organization of the Bar Association, and subsequently, President of the Suffolk County Bar Association. He is also active in his church, serving several years as a warden, vestryman, lay eucharistic minister, and occasionally conducting morning prayer and delivering sermons. Additionally, he has worked with the Vietnam Veterans Association assisting veterans charged with criminal offenses. He served on New York’s Grievance Committee for Nassau and Suffolk County, reviewing complaints against attorneys.

Of his time at Hobart he writes, “I didn’t realize it at the time, but the two-year course of Western Civilization has had a tremendous impact on my profession and my view of what is happening in our county and in other parts of the world.”

Ferris lives on Long Island with his wife and two children one of whom is a Hobart graduate.

For his military service he received the Purple Heart and a Navy Commendation Medal.

Captain William

Anthony Griffin, H’68

Anthony Griffin served in the USMC 1968-1971 as an artillery officer and infantry officer. His father had served in the Army and his brother in the Navy.

After training he was ordered to Vietnam where he served as a forward observer, infantry platoon commander, artillery liaison officer, and fire support coordinator. He says, “I took a deferred enlistment to USMC officer candidate school to avoid the draft. My notice for the draft physical came the day after graduation. Hobart gave the ability to think critically and how to learn. I found that I was very competitive with graduates of the naval and military academies.

Though I had an offer for a regular commission I concluded I was not cut out to be a career Marine officer. I was too likely to go against the grain and therefore not maximize my career potential.”

He recalls his most challenging experience as “leading young Marines in combat in Vietnam.” He continues, “I consider my time in the Marines [as] my MBA. I learned how to work with young men of different backgrounds and motivations to accomplish missions. I realized that I enjoyed the responsibility of leadership. I subsequently used my military experience in my career as a city and county manager.”

He says, “I did not experience much difficulty in transitioning [to civilian life] because I used the GI Bill to go to Virginia Tech to obtain two master’s degrees. I kept a

low profile and did not talk about my military experience except in my applications for school and work. I frequently did observe the poor reception that Vietnam veterans received.” His master’s degrees were in urban management and urban and regional planning, and he started his municipal management career in Arlington County, VA in 1975. In 1984 he became the city manager of Falls Church, VA and five years later was named as the deputy county executive for Fairfax County, VA. He later added public safety to his skills and ultimately became the Fairfax County Executive. He retired in 2012.

Presently he is a trustee of the county employees’ retirement system that is the second largest in Virginia. He is also the at-large board member of Fairfax Water, the largest water system in Virginia. Previously he served a sixyear term on the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and served on the board of DC Water. He is a former vestryman of his church.

In 2007 Griffin was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, and in 2011 he was selected for the career excellence award by the International City/County Management Association.

H’68

Mike Hanna served as a paratrooper and intelligence officer in the Army 1968-1971. Drafted the day after graduation from HWS, he immediately applied and was accepted to Army officer candidates’ school and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He credits professors Dick Ryan, Maynard Smith, and Bill Stiles—all World War II veterans—as setting the example of service for him. He says, “their dignity and resolve were traits I aspired to.” Hanna, who captained the Hobart football and lacrosse teams says, “I had been a teammate of some sort since Little League baseball, and this was a call to continue that keen sense of teamwork.” Of his combat tour in Vietnam, he recalls, “Night ambush patrols and air mobile operations have their challenges as does jumping out of smoothly running aircraft. But my most challenging was my first real leadership position as the officer in charge of a basic training rifle and target detection range at Fort Bragg. The challenges were twofold: 1. Along with 2 NCOs, I was responsible for teaching basic marksmanship and camouflage to platoon after platoon of basic trainees. The ‘challenge’ was that we knew - this was 1969-70 - that these guys would be in an infantry unit in Vietnam within months. Don’t think while growing up in Corry, Pa. or during a Bill Hosking Econ class, I had ever anticipated I’d be teaching teenagers how to be good with a rifle or detecting a hidden enemy. 50 years later, I pray we did a good job and that a percentage of the hundreds we taught came home to live productive lives. 2. The 2 NCOs - Army sergeants - were the other challenge. [They] had each served longer than I had been alive. And here I was, a rookie 2nd LT, their ‘boss.’ No academic or professional development class could have taught anywhere near what

Michael J. Hanna,

I learned from that experience and the relationships I formed with them…truly priceless. From no trust of me to tears and hugs a few months later when my orders to Vietnam arrived. Just awesome.”

He continues, “My hometown was a middle class town whose economy was based mostly on manufacturing and farming…a variety of nationalities and all white. And there was little diversity on our HWS campus. So, the lessons learned from my Army experience have served me beyond what words can describe. The religious, race and economic diversity I experienced and learned from is unexplainable if one hasn’t lived through it…and the critical need for teamwork…I remain close to several Army buddies just as I do with high school and Hobart friends. Along with my Advisory Team, I lived among the Vietnamese so had a year-long crash course in foreign cultures. We are all God’s children.”

After leaving the Army, he coached at Johns Hopkins University, the US Naval Academy, and Princeton. He then became athletic director at Hobart for 37 years. He remarks, “I can’t believe I got to do that.”

The Army awarded him a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, and he is a 1996 inductee into the Hobart Athletic Hall of Fame. A lacrosse All-American, he says, “…a good number of team and individual awards have come my way. I am grateful for each of them but far more special and interesting are the relationships with special people… who are the reasons why my military and civilian careers were so rewarding.” He continues, “Over our 50 years of marriage, my wife, Mary Anne, has been a strong, strong supporter of veterans. Her gratitude certainly eased my reentry into civilian life, and I know our three children grew up with high regard for veterans, thanks to their mom’s example. Our daughter Katie, an Army Veteran, served tours in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Iraq.

Lieutenant Colonel Martha Stuart Jewett, USAR Army Nurse Corps (Ret), WS’68

Marty Jewett served in the Army for 31 years as a medical, surgical, coronary, emergency room, and OB GYN nurse. She also set up a field hospital at Fort Indiantown Gap, PA, which she commanded earning her an Army Commendation Medal.

She tells the story of her enlistment, saying, “While in my senior year of HWS, during a blizzard, trudging up Geneva’s main hill, the only open door was the Army recruiting office; I popped in explaining I was graduating from HWS in biology and accepted into Cornell Hospital School of Nursing for a two-year clinical BSN degree; what program might they have to help me pay my bills?

Since I opposed our involvement in Vietnam, the recruiter suggested we would be out of Vietnam by the time I graduated. I joined owing two years and stayed in 31 years. I am very grateful for the education, training, leadership experience, health care then and now, and retirement pension this decision has given me.”

Jewett’s family association with HWS and the military spans more than 100 years. Her family has been part of HWS since 1915 when her grandparents graduated: Grandmother Gertrude Goodspeed Stuart (Phi Beta Kappa) and grandfather, Rev. Donald Cameron Stuart, who fought in World War I as an infantryman after

graduating from Hobart then going to General Seminary, NYC becoming an Episcopal priest and staying in the Army reserves. In World War II he became post chaplain at Walter Reed Hospital. Later he retired as a colonel in the Army.

Her father, Donald Cameron Stuart, Jr., a freshman at Hobart, joined the Army after Pearl Harbor and gave four years as one of the greatest generation. Her mother, Jean Preston Stuart, worked as a secretary at Sampson Air Force Base on the east side of Seneca Lake. Her brother, Peter James Stuart, started at HWS then finished at West Point ‘74 staying in the Army to retire as a lieutenant colonel.

She writes, “All my education in sciences and western civilization, liberal arts as well as regular chapel at HWS was the basis of my work in nursing throughout my career. I could not have done my service without the help of my former husband, Charles Wood Jewett, Jr., HWS ‘66, who cared beautifully for our children and was very supportive. The spouses of veterans should be acclaimed for sure!

In retirement she serves on a board for Alliance to Preserve Civil War Defenses of DC. “We celebrate every July, Fort Stevens Day, the only battle where our President Abraham Lincoln was shot at in combat by a Confederate sharpshooter from a tree on Walter Reed campus.”

She further serves her community as a certified Faith Community Nurse at her church, Christ Lutheran, DC.

Robert Platten, H’68

Robert Platten served in the Navy as an operations officer 1968-1972. He was being drafted before he could graduate, so he enlisted in the Navy. “[I] would rather serve in the Navy than as a foot Soldier in Vietnam.”

He recalls tense times doing “Middle East escort duty behind an aircraft carrier expecting war at any time as Israel and the Arab nations were at crossed swords. I had to attend a meeting of various military personnel at a village called Elat, the southernmost city in Israel on the eastern arm of the Red Sea. Getting there and back by jet, helicopter and jeep was an adventure of its own, but I stayed overnight with a local fisherman who lived in a one-story adobe house. In the middle of the night when it was pitch black, he woke me up and hurried me up a ladder onto the roof. I thought we were under attack or that he was hiding me -- but he pointed to the southwest and told me to look, look, look - I could see a small bright light and thought it must be a nuclear bomb or some explosion on the far horizon. I finally figured out that we were looking at the peak of Mt. Sinai. It was night still, but it was dawn on the peak of that mountain way off to our southwest. It was spectacular, but my shorts were wet, and it took me a long time to catch my breath.”

“My ten days in Vietnam was harrowing. I was there to learn what the Vietnamese faced so I could train Vietnamese Navy Officers who they planned to send to various US ships - This never happened. I can’t imagine what soldiers who spent a year there lived through.”

Of his Hobart time, he says, “[I excelled] at organizational skills and writing skills, but the Navy did not like independent thinking or strive to be efficient. So, mostly it was a very frustrating experience for me.” He recalls, “Juggling many assignments --- as an officer on a small ship I had numerous military and civilian responsibilities, including navigation, intelligence, electronics, and communications, but also postal officer, education officer, morale officer and more.”

He continues, “I won some sort of prize for intelligence photography, getting the first shots of two Russian warships after they first appeared with a new array of electronics equipment. This required analysis and a response from our side to counter whatever new capability they had developed. I never was told what it was all about, but my photographs as we sailed near these ships got a big Bravo Zulu (Ed note: a bravo zulu is Navy jargon for attaboy) from the fleet commander.”

After leaving the Navy, he took an MBA, worked at an ad agency in New York City, then transitioned to a multinational company as the marketing manager for 35 years.

Roger Turner, H’68

Roger Turner served in the Navy from 19681972. He writes, “My father had been a LTJG in the Navy, stationed on a missile testing range in Arkansas (he was a mechanical engineer). After graduation from Hobart, I of course was re-classified 1A, had no interest in joining the military, and wanted nothing to do with guns. I flirted with joining VISTA; I applied and was accepted but faced with the possibility of spending one or two years in VISTA, then regaining 1A status, I decided to enlist in the Navy, reasoning that I would avoid weapons training and combat in return for a commitment of four years. I was the oldest of four boys and the only one who was drafted.

“My first assignment was to the small naval ordnance outpost for the Newport Naval Station which was located on Prudence Island in Narragansett Bay. I gravitated toward the kitchen and then applied to Commissary School in Newport for my next duty assignment, because I thought that someday I might like to operate a ski lodge in Vermont. In anticipation of a new set of orders when I completed CS school, I inquired about whether there was any duty in the Navy that you could volunteer for and learned there were two: Vietnam and Operation Deep Freeze. After a visit to headquarters across the Bay in Davisville, RI, I volunteered for Deep Freeze, and while all my classmates who weren’t returning to a previous duty station got orders to Military Assistance Advisory Group –Danang, I was going to Antarctica.

He says, “I worked one day on and one day off in the galley, cooking in the summer, including a month at a research camp of 37 men on Amundsen Glacier, 240 miles from the South Pole, and baking during the winter. In my free time I got to know some of the scientists in McMurdo and

would spend time with them at their research sites, or in their dark room with unlimited supplies. I also became a member of the exclusive 300 degree club, the temperature differential between their 200 degree sauna and the outdoor Antarctic winter air. I traded a case of steaks for a flight from McMurdo to the South Pole. Following my year in Antarctica, I requested orders for summer duty at Deep Freeze’s advance headquarters in Christchurch, NZ, a safe ask after wintering over. Later I spent my last eleven months on the USS Fulton, a submarine tender which I boarded in New London, CT, and left in Sardinia.”

He continues, “I did not want to go in the service and spent the time before and during trying to avoid trouble and danger. While I gave four years of my life to service, I have always been uncomfortable on Veterans Day. The GI Bill was plenty of reward for me, paying for a 60-credit master’s degree, setting me up for a career in Special Education. The Vets who are worthy of respect, admiration, and understanding are those who put their lives on the line in unimaginably dangerous situations, regardless of how they may have felt about the “mission,” but with the greatest sense of responsibility for supporting, and for those who were officers, leading, their comrades in arms. Also truly deserving of our honor and respect are those who volunteered for, and for some made a career of, military service based on a belief in, and support for, the general mission of the US military. For me, Veterans Day is special only as a day to honor those vets, not me.”

Schuyler Van Horn, H’68

Schuyler “Sky” Van Horn was drafted the day after graduation, enlisted, went to OCS for commissioning, and served in the Army as a military intelligence officer 1968-1972. His family’s military service extends back to the Revolutionary War. After the Army, Van Horn graduated Albany University law school and practiced law in Geneva, NY for 42 years.

He continues, “I grew very close to my ARVN interpreter, SGT Vung. The night before I left my compound, he gave me a large South Vietnamese flag with the following inscribed on it:

TO Van Horn FROM Vung THIS IS MY COUNTRY

“SGT Vung was killed in the Battle of An Loc just after I left. The flag hangs in my study. Not a day goes by that I don’t look at it and think about my Vietnam experiences.”

He writes of his service in Vietnam, “Most challenging assignment was in Vietnam running a provincial Phoenix Program. The Phoenix Program was designed by the CIA to target the civilian infra structure of the VC (Viet Cong). Each province had a shadow government of the VC. The idea [of Project Phoenix] was to take out these people so the food, recruits, and intelligence to the main line VC units would dry up. I wasn’t particularly fond of targeting civilians, and I thought it kind of smacked of the Gestapo. Accordingly, I kind of gravitated towards more of the role of a traditional intelligence officer and became involved with the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) regional and popular forces (known as the ruff puffs). These were the local homegrown guys who got the second-hand equipment from the regular ARVN army and wore black sneakers and generally were mere teenagers. Since my boss was a no-nonsense infantry major Ranger type he had little use for the Phoenix program, and I kind of did my own thing…[I] learned the skills of leadership times 10. And being under constant pressure to make reasoned and thoughtful decisions and orders in minutes. As a lawyer concentrating in divorce and family law, I was often faced with clients in distress and had to use all my skills to get them under control.”

With Henry at An Loc

He says, “I was bitter for decades. When I was in OCS at Fort Belvoir, VA several of us got a weekend pass and we went to Georgetown and Washington, DC. We were wearing our uniforms and two people spat on us. On my way home from [Vietnam through] San Francisco, I sat down next to a woman who immediately asked the stewardess for another seat. Even though I had been discharged I was wearing my uniform. She did not want to sit next to a “baby killer.” Twenty or so years later Carol and I were at O’Hare and a group of Army personnel got on the plane and we all clapped. By then Americans had come to realize they could separate the war from the warrior.”

In his post-service years, he was active in the Geneva community. He was involved in several local organizations to include the Red Cross, Boy Scouts, Planned Parenthood, [his] fraternity Delta Chi, and Seneca Yacht Club. At the yacht club he served a term as commodore, but the job he liked best and held for over a decade was beer chairman. He opines, “No Hobart man from the 60’s should ever have been allowed to graduate until he knew how to properly tap a beer keg.”

He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry for his service in Vietnam.

Robert Williams, H’68

Rob Williams, commissioned through Officer Candidates’ School, served in the Navy 19681971. “My father was a bomber pilot who flew out of East Anglia three times but came back twice, spending nine months in Stalag Luft III beginning in August 1944. I had two uncles in the Navy in the 1940s and another uncle who was chased around Korea in 1951.” He continues, “Prior to being commissioned as ensigns, we were offered choices; I chose Japan as it sounded far away and the uncle who had been in Korea had fascinating things to say about his time there. I was sent to Yokosuka Naval Base, the one-time headquarters of the Imperial Navy, but then the home of the US Seventh Fleet. When back after cruises to the South China Sea, and particularly on shore leave, there was much to take in about the Japanese people. We watched the local yard workers come aboard to effect repairs; they wore tabi, and their saws cut on the up-stroke. The ways of the world were multiple. The ship to which I was assigned in February 1969 was a supply ship, USS Mars, curiously named after a town in Pennsylvania. Mars was never fired on, and other than some air target practice with its popguns, never shot at anything on or beyond the beautiful beaches of Viet Nam. I became responsible for maintenance of the after portion of the ship and oversight of vertical replenishment operations. Mars was used as a torpedo target in 2006 and now rusts on the seabed off Hawai’i.”

He recalls the spectrum of his responsibilities ranging from the humorous to the deadly serious. “One [of my jobs] was making sure the ice cream didn’t melt on the helo deck while transfer to other vessels was occurring. Another was giving orders on the midwatch when responsible for driving a ship with a crew of over 400 (men only, as it was at that time, most of whom would have been asleep).” He recalls, “I profited by coming away with a broader understanding of the intra- and inter-personal differences existing within a broad cross section of an enclosed community. A 28 year-old sailor who worked for me had been in the Army, was discharged, enlisted in the Navy. He was essentially illiterate. That didn’t jell with my middleclass background - how could this be? Judgements needed some reflection.”

While on leave he climbed Mt. Fuji and recalls, “It is said that ‘Only a fool climbs Fuji-san twice.’ I’m glad I had the chance to do it once and still have the climbing stick that was hot-branded at every rest stop. The stick was fashioned into a Torii Gate that sits on a shelf and brings back some memories. Among them is reflection on the will-power and self-discipline of the Japanese people to pick themselves up after the destruction of their nation in 1945.”

Williams moved to Australia in 1971 and became a conservation biologist for the New South Wales Fisheries Department where he worked until retirement. He is married to his Australian wife, Jann, and they have four children.

Lieutenant General John Woodward, USAF (Ret), H’68

John (Jack) Woodward was commissioned through Hobart’s AFROTC program and served in the Air Force as a communications officer ultimately rising to the top of his career field and retiring after 35 years of service as a three-star general.

Initially a communications officer, he rose through the ranks along with the Air Force’s increased emphasis on communications, computerization, command and control capabilities, and information technology. He served as a commander at every USAF organizational level: squadron, group, wing, center, and headquarters. He was the Air Force’s first Chief Information Officer reporting to both the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Air Force Chief of Staff. He remarkably survived as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs J6 while also serving as the Head Communicator for the USAF simultaneously for six months. Jack successfully served as the head communicator for three Major Commands and a Unified and Combined Commands. He is widely recognized as a space communications pioneer and as a leader in the effort to make GPS signal-free to Americans and the world several years earlier than planned. He was a two-time

winner of the prestigious McClelland Award for best group in the USAF communications arena and recognized as the number one Comm Group Commander in the USAF.

He earned a master’s degree in business administration, took several law courses, and graduated from several professional military education schools including Squadron Officers’ School, the Joint Staff College, and the Air War College. Along the way he earned certified financial planner credentials.

Following retirement from the Air Force, he joined Accenture Federal Services as a senior executive in strategic planning and business development then retired after ten years.

He says, “[I] married a great lady, Susan Leach, and we had two special children, one of whom is an aerospace engineer and the other a special education administrator. Both children [are] very successful contributing citizens hav[ing] survived many schools and more than 25 family moves around the world. I can’t express how grateful we have been to command wonderful people so many times and maybe just add to the value of their lives and contributions. Thanks Hobart, Thanks Delta Chi, Thanks USAF, Thanks Industry, Thanks Parents and Friends! And Thank God!”

James Asthalter, H’69

James Asthalter served in the Navy 1970-1975 and in the Navy reserves 1979-1984. From 1970 to 1972 he was an enlisted radioman and then was selected for Navy Officer

Candidate School and then served as a junior officer at the Naval War College as an administrative officer and escort officer for the international officers attending the Naval Command College. As a reservist he served during his premed and the first years of medical school. His father served in the Navy during World War II as a supply officer in Washington, DC.

On his reasons for entering the military, he states, “Like many of us, I was against the war in Viet Nam and wanted to avoid military service. I even put off graduation until the following trimester hoping for a miracle. Instead, mine was the first number drawn in the first lottery. That fact made me famous for the next couple of days.” Of his experience in the military, he writes, “As a result of my experiences as both an officer and enlisted, I had really grown to respect the people I worked with and seriously considered accepting orders to a guided missile cruiser in the Mediterranean for another tour. I ultimately decided on graduate school since I wasn’t convinced I was willing to make a career in the service. I’m certain that those experiences helped, in many ways, with my doctor/patient

relationships.” He continues, “I’ve become a big proponent of the draft or mandatory government service. I would hope that it would give people a sense of commitment and service to our democracy.”

A self-described “late bloomer,” he took a graduate degree in the management and policy areas of oceanography while working in an outdoor equipment store. After graduating he worked in San Francisco as an underwriter for commercial marine and private yacht insurance. In 1982 he returned to New England for pre-med at the University of Rhode Island and medical school at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. His internship was in inner-city Detroit in 1988 followed by a residency in family medicine at the University of Wyoming in Cheyenne 1989-1991. He practiced in Colorado and Montana until 2016.

Douglas Brooks, H’69

Douglas Brooks served as a pay disbursing specialist and payroll team chief in the Army 1970-1972 and in the Army National Guard 1972-1973. His active duty time included a year at Long Bình, Vietnam in the Central Finance and Accounting Office. His father was a World War II infantry captain.

He says he enlisted in the face of the draft as his lottery number would have been called anyhow. He writes, “It was painfully obvious that by the time my number was up that the War in Vietnam was at best a huge mistake. We had no business being there. Most of the college grads figured out a way to avoid it and the ranks were primarily full of 19-year-old high school grads from poorer sections of the country. Most understood they were there because they had gotten the short end of the stick. My country required that I serve. I did.” He continues, “I didn’t learn any skills in the military unless you count learning very basic typing. My learning, which has served me well over the years, was more along the lines of lessons of life. I understood just how incredibly lucky I was not to be crawling around in rice paddies dodging bullets. Don’t complain. Someone else always has it worse. Make the best of your situation. I was able to see a war and what life was like in a 3rd world country. I understood then how incredibly fortunate I was to have the family that I did, go to school where I had, and live in a country like the US with its freedoms, its opportunities, and its wealth.”

He notes, “There was a great deal of dysfunction and insubordination in the ranks during my stint in Vietnam. Many of the GI’s felt resentment being dragooned into the Army and shipped off to Vietnam. There was a lot of racial tension and substance abuse. Marijuana was ubiquitous and heroin was available to anyone who wanted it. The dysfunction, insubordination, and low morale

that I saw and experienced, in my opinion, helped bring the war to a close. It was important to keep busy. In my spare time I helped set up a small library and was paid to be an academic advisor in the evenings when I staffed it. I worked [there] three or four nights a week. Read about 50 books that year, from War and Peace to the latest potboilers. It was a great little gig. My ‘safe space.’”

After the Army, Brooks was offered a spot in the management training program of a local bank where he worked for several years. He left to use his GI Bill to take an MBA at the University of Maryland, concentrating in finance. He then started a career at the investment firm Alex Brown and Sons in Baltimore where he ultimately rose to become a vice president. He stayed there until retirement 29 years later.

Brooks has served as an officer of the Howard County (MD) Chamber of Commerce and chaired a successful campaign for the county executive. He served on the board of a continuing care retirement community and is a volunteer in English as a second language classes.

Len Buchakjian, H’69

Dr. Len Buchakjian served in the US Army Medical Corps as a prosthodontist from 1973-1975. He treated patients that had returned from Vietnam with facial trauma. He says, “Actually I performed procedures in the service that I would never attempt in civilian life. I have told my children and will tell my grandchildren that war is horrible. There is no glamor and the human toll is devastating.”

He continued in private practice dentistry for 47 years after leaving the Army.

Douglas Edwards, H’69

Douglas Edwards was a Navy officer 1969-1973 that included “365 days in Vietnam where I provided logistical support to the Naval Advisory Group. Although located at the Vietnamese Navy Headquarters, I traveled just about everywhere the Navy had river or coastal patrol boats…[that] gave me an informed awareness of the ‘in the field’ perspective. As a member of the Naval Advisory Group, I had significant interaction with our allies, which gave me an informed knowledge of their view of the war.”

His family’s military service as citizen-soldiers is long, extending through the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. Of his service, Edwards says, “Simply put, I felt that the country deserved my service. To avoid service would put someone else in harm’s way and that seemed wrong to me. I chose the Navy because I had an interest in naval history. I left the Navy after about four years in the fall of 1963 to return to civilian life. I had done my patriotic duty, and it was time to move on with life.” He continues, “My most challenging duty by far was my service in Vietnam. I arrived as a newly minted ensign who was ‘thrown off the end of the dock to sink or swim’! Fortunately, I was surrounded by great fellow officers who helped me succeed,” and he offers an example. “Shortly after arriving in Vietnam, my commanding officer recognized my lack of confidence and fear of public speaking. He cured me of that fear by quickly sending me to make a presentation to the top admiral in Vietnam. I tried to avoid it, but my boss said, ‘it’s an order,

go do it’! Well, I survived and never feared public speaking again. In fact, it greatly helped my overall confidence… My year in Vietnam was the most formative of my life in every way.”

It was not unusual for those serving in Southeast Asia to correspond via cassette tapes, but he notes a special use in his case. “I had a girlfriend when I left for Vietnam. After a few months in Vietnam, I proposed by audio tape, and she accepted by audio tape. Remember, phone calls were not possible. She made all the wedding arrangements, and I walked down the aisle 10 days after returning from Vietnam. We are still together over 50 years later!”

His return from the war, though, was not always pleasant. “On a number of occasions while in uniform I was asked how many babies I killed and told I was a war criminal. I knew they were absolute fools, but their words hurt.”

After leaving the Navy, he took an MBA at Northwestern University. His first career was in corporate finance, but his longest career was in the executive search and assessment industry. He was a partner in the largest European executive search firm and then a partner in one of the largest American-based firms. Many of his projects were international, which benefited from his European history major and near-major in Asian studies. At Russell Reynolds Associates he founded and ran the global executive assessment practice. This career took him to about 35 countries with close interaction with many global companies.

For his Navy service he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V.

Wilson H. Faude, H’69

Bill Faude was drafted into the Army after he graduated from Hobart. He served at Fort Lewis, WA and Fort Sam Houston, TX. He loved his country but was opposed to the Vietnam War. He became a conscientious objector, remaining in the Army as a non-combatant medic. He completed his service and was honorably discharged in 1971 with the rank of E-5. After the Army, the GI Bill provided Bill the opportunity to get his MA degree in history from Trinity College.

At Hobart he was a “Druid,” the senior leadership society, and according to the press was one of the first students in the country to serve on a college’s trustee presidential search committee with a voice and a vote. At graduation he received the Canterbury Leadership award and an honorary diploma from the Dean of William Smith College.

Shortly after leaving the Army, he was hired as the first curator of the Mark Twain House and undertook a scholarly restoration of the author’s house. It received the Finley Award from the National Trust for excellence. He was a founding member of the group that saved Connecticut’s Old State House from demolition in 1975. From 1978-1982 and 1985-2001 he was the executive director of the landmark, enlivening the downtown with daily cannon firings, costumed interpreters, a window tax, historic reenactments; concerts, happenings and exhibits ranging from Latino art to Norman Rockwell, Connecticut crafts, the Boston Athenaeum, Zimbabwe, New Yorker Cartoons and Hartford Street Gangs. For his efforts to open the landmark to all, the United Way nominated him for the Voice of Conscience Award.

The achievement of which he was most proud was saving the Old State House’s east lawn from the city of Hartford’s proposal to replace it with bus lanes. In 1981 he co-created Riverfest, Hartford’s July 4th celebration, returning fireworks to the city after years of absence. In 2002 he became executive director emeritus. He later served as a guest curator at the Wadsworth Atheneum, archivist for the Hartford Town/City clerk. He received the Civitan

Man of the Year award; the Thomas Hooker Award for Community Service; the Distinguished Advocate for the Arts award; PRSA’s merit award; and listed in Who’s Who in America 1994. His needlepoint won 1st prize at the Eastern States Exposition 1997 and 2011.

He authored 14 books on Hartford and Connecticut history. He served on the Connecticut Commission of the Arts; the Connecticut Historical Commission, 12 years as chair; the Historic Preservation Council; the Governor’s Residence Conservancy; the boards of the Girl Scouts of Connecticut, the Stowe Center, the Connecticut Volunteer Services for the Blind and Handicapped (CVSBH), Renbrook School, Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, the Founders of Hartford, among others. Since 1986, he volunteered for the Greater Hartford Unit of the Talking Books Program for the Blind (CVSBH).

Bill Faude passed away in 2017.

Rodney Frelinghuysen, H’69

Rodney Frelinghuysen was drafted and served in the Army 1969-1971 mostly in Vietnam in the 93d Engineering Battalion (Construction). He recalls, “getting through heavy rain heat and humidity, and occasional mortar rounds. Loved serving with soldiers from Alabama and Mississippi, who built roads by day that the Vietcong traveled by night.” On a humorous note he says, “Only during my last two weeks in Vietnam did my company commander know that my father was a sitting Member of Congress.” Frelinghuysen says that after he was honorably discharged at Fort Dix, “no one really cared to ask…where I’d been during my time in the Army or where I’d been for two years.”

At Hobart he was President of the Student Association, which he notes, “Prepared me for most everything.” He embarked on a political career after his Army service, first as the Morris County Commissioner, then as a state legislator, and then served 24 years as a Member of Congress for New Jersey.

He is “honored to have my service medals from Vietnam and to be a member of the VFW and American Legion.”

James Hamilton, H’69

James Hamilton served in the US Coast Guard 19691973 as a quartermaster on the bridge of two ships. Faced with the draft and wanting “some control over my fate,” he thought serving in the Navy or Coast Guard “would offer more attractive options than the Army, even though a longer enlistment was required. He liked that the Coast Guard also has a humanitarian mission: providing maritime law enforcement and safety and saving lives and property at sea.

On his first ship, a CG cutter out of Portland, ME, he worked on the bridge supervising helmsmen while determining and maintaining the ship’s position. His next duty assignment was in the South Pacific serving on a Guam-based buoy tender servicing buoys and providing logistical support to long-range navigation stations in the Marshall, and the Caroline and Marianas islands.

The Coast Guard provided many travel opportunities: crossing the Atlantic to the UK and in the Pacific visiting Hawaii, Micronesia, Philippines, and Japan. But he did not see the Coast Guard as a viable career choice after his enlistment ended in 1973. Looking back nearly fifty years he had some memorable experiences: “using a sextant, piloting ships, seeing the Northern Lights, visiting tropical islands. and even flying fish! I am proud to have served my country and I am proud to be a Coastie. Semper Paratus!”

Howard Harris, H’69

Howard “Hy” Harris served in the US Army Reserve 1969-1975. He writes, “I entered the military because I had to. I graduated from Hobart in 1969, lost my deferment, registered for the draft and passed my physical. Then I got serious about my options, since I had no desire to evade the draft, by going to Canada or any other means. I explored officer candidate school in the Air Force and Navy. However, it required a 6-year commitment, and I didn’t want to make that commitment. I was not interested in becoming an officer in the US Army either. I explored other opportunities by which I could obtain a deferment. I was offered a teaching position but decided not to accept that. I signed up for a spot in an army reserve unit, but never really thought I would get in as the waiting list was very long. I resigned myself to being drafted and was at peace with that decision. I was just trying to enjoy my summer before the inevitable draft notice was received. I opened the notification that I was drafted in August of 1969, but on the same day the Army Reserve unit told me they had a spot for me. I called the reserve unit to turn down the spot because I had been drafted. I talked to a warrant officer in the reserve unit, and he just asked which I preferred, being drafted or joining the reserves. I thought about that and told him I would rather be in the reserves, so he said that he would take care of the draft notice, and somehow he did. An important factor in my decision making was that I would be able to get on with my life. Villanova Law School would hold my place for one year, but not two. The biggest reason I chose the reserves was that I wouldn’t be shipped off to Viet Nam, a war that I saw no reason for the US being involved in…I left the military as soon as my commitment was over, because nothing I experienced in the military gave me any desire to stay in it. In retrospect, I wish I had joined the Peace Corps for two years which was an option I passed on. At least I could have done something valuable with my time.”

When asked about his most challenging military assignment, he replies, “Well, this is a hard one. I was on KP a lot and dealt with a lot of boredom. Probably the most challenging assignment was being called to active duty to patrol the streets of a town destroyed by a flood…just seeing the damage and meeting people whose lives had been turned upside down, by the destruction of all they owned.”

Later, as a partner in the tax division of a CPA firm, he helped grow the firm from a few partners and 12 employees to one of 77 partners and 750 employees.

Lieutenant Commander

Thomas Hasselbacher, USN (Ret), H’69

Thomas Hasselbacher served in the U.S. Navy for 25 years (1969-1994). The first 8 years as a Navy Corpsman and the last 17 as a commissioned Medical Service Corps Officer. He faced draft proceedings just two weeks after graduation from Hobart. As many young people entering military service quickly discover, significant responsibilities are thrust upon them very early. Hasselbacher served aboard USS Nautilus (SSN-571), a nuclear-powered submarine, where he was the only medical/dental supervision and treatment source for 120 men. Other major shipboard responsibilities included atmosphere monitoring, sanitation, food safety, and radiation dosimetry. In 1977, on USS Nautilus, (the submarine that made the famous trip under the North Pole in 1958), he made a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean to participate in NATO exercises. He comments, “We were old and noisy and played the part of

a Russian Submarine.” At this point Nautilus had been in operation for 21 years as the very first nuclear powered submarine. This was the ship’s last significant operational deployment and was decommissioned two years later. After his commissioning in 1978, the Navy sent Hasselbacher to graduate school at UMASS Lowell, where he took an MS in Radiological Science from the physics department. After he left the Navy in 1974, he continued a 19-year career as the radiation safety and training officer at four northeast universities. He “stopped going to work every day in 2013.” He is now a retired lieutenant commander, and USS Nautilus is moored at the Navy Submarine Museum in Groton, CT. He enjoys taking his grandchildren on trips to visit “Popi’s Submarine.”

David Holland, H’69

David Holland entered the Air Force through Hobart’s AFROTC program and served as a navigator on KC-135 Stratotankers until his separation in 1974. His family’s military service extends back to the Revolutionary War. During the first two years of college, it was clear military duty was likely; so rather than face the draft, he chose AFROTC as the path to enter as an officer which provided more options for assignments and career possibilities. He says, “the Hobart Air Force ROTC program provided a valuable transition to military life, respect for authority, honor in serving and a sense of tradition as an important part of the country’s defense.” At the end of his 5-year commitment, the Vietnam War had wound down. The end of the war was a paradigm change that led to thoughts of what he could do in a civilian career. Having reached the rank of captain, he felt the only way to find out was to leave the service.

Holland’s service in Southeast Asia brought him to the Gulf of Tonkin in 1972, based at Andersen AFB, Guam. He was part of a KC-135 crew tasked with refueling fighter and bomber aircraft during Linebacker II - the bombing of North Vietnam military targets in December 1972. He writes, “the high-altitude perspective of seeing the horizon on fire is an indelible memory of the tragedy of warfarean argument for a strong defense to deter future wars.”

Holland then rose to instructor status in a specialized version of tankers qualified to refuel the SR-71 Blackbird whose extreme speed and altitude gave it exceptional aerial reconnaissance capability. He writes, “The navigator’s radio-silent mid-air rendezvous with the receiver Blackbird required skill and timing to arrive at the planned point of contact sometimes orbiting off a land mass 80 miles away by radar in 150-knot orbit cross-wind. My first test in these circumstances came on my first deployment to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa as the new crew member with a seasoned Lt. Colonel aircraft commander. I never forgot the words from the SR-71 pilot as the two aircraft hooked up - “nice rendezvous Nav.”

After separation from the Air Force, Holland entered graduate school as a candidate for an MBA accounting and finance degree at the Crummer School of Finance, Rollins College, Winter Park, FL. After graduation in 1975, he returned to Connecticut to work as a staff accountant with Coopers & Lybrand. Working in a new profession as a beginner and struggling to pass the CPA exam seemed like a step down which raised his concern about whether he had made the right decision to leave the Air Force. After struggling for a year, he returned to Florida moving from one job to another for another 16 years until joining another Veteran KC-135 pilot to form a partnership, Holland & Reilly in Orlando, FL. He says, “Looking back, the experience after the Air Force was a rather long adjustment from a life of order, adventure, travel and camaraderie in what was a brotherhood similar to that forged in the college fraternity.”

Holland was awarded several medals including the Air Medal for his service. His post-military accomplishments include being a past chairman of the Florida Institute Peer Review Committee and serving as technical reviewer for the program. He proudly continues his long-time membership with the North Orlando Kiwanis Club (1983) and serves with other veterans on the Florida Chapter Board of the Gary Sinise Foundation.

Master Sergeant William Keller, USAF (Ret), H’69

William Keller served in the Air Force 1969-1992 as a military personnel administrator. Sixteen of his 22 years were at bases in Japan and South Korea. His mother and her two brothers served in World War II. He says he entered because “I had not figured out what to do with my life, and after graduation in 1969 the military offered lots of employment opportunity; I decided that the Air Force was my best option. Twenty-two-and-a-half years later I had nothing more to look forward to, and I wanted to find a permanent home for my wife and daughter and start my next career, so I retired. (I still had not decided what to do with my life, although that got resolved before too long.)”

Of his Air Force experience, he writes, “I was surprised at how well I adjusted to a whole set of new skills and a whole new lifestyle. My work in personnel taught me a lot about office policies and procedures.”

Continued on next page.

Initial Uniform Issue at Mather AFB, CA

Keller and Family at Retirement

He says his education at Hobart paid unexpected dividends. “My major was sociology and anthropology, with cognate courses in Japanese history and far eastern cultures, and of course I took the mandatory western civilization courses. But I never expected that they would prepare me for my time in the far east. The western civilization courses helped me to understand how western culture is different, but my experiences in the far east helped me understand what makes both western and eastern cultures great. In Japan and Korea I continued to study the history, literature, and art of my host countries. I went off base and traveled, too, as much as I could, and I loved it. My studies at HWS were only the beginning of my education.”

He met his wife in Japan. He tells their story: “During my second tour of Japan I met a Japanese professor of English from Seikei University and accompanied him as a native speaker to his classes at the university and to a juku (preparatory school) where he taught. I also served as his consultant with the university’s English Conversation Circle and enjoyed coaching Japanese students. When one of his English students asked him for help so she could practice her English in preparation for a trip to Europe after graduation, he asked me to tutor her. During those tutorial sessions we fell in love and were married in Tokyo in 1977. Shortly afterward we left for Kelly AFB, San Antonio, Texas, where our daughter Katherine was born. Four years later we were back in Japan again. We spent the next 10 years in Japan before my retirement. Our daughter and I got to know my wife’s family better and experienced much more of Japan. In Okinawa my wife taught English to Okinawan students. Our daughter grew up to be bicultural and bilingual. She even learned to use the abacus in a Japanese school.”

He continues, “After I retired, I worked in real estate for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and I was amazed at how similar the office work was, although this was only natural: the state offices were full of exmilitary personnel, and government offices have a lot in common.”Among other awards, Keller received the Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster and the Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters.

Robert Kowal was commissioned into the Air Force through Hobart’s AFROTC program in 1969. He served as an aircraft maintenance officer until his separation from active

duty in 1972. He then joined the Maine Air National Guard as a personnel officer. He retired after serving 28 years on active duty and in the National Guard/AF Reserves. He recalls that when he mentioned ROTC to his father, he said, “’Go in as an officer,’ He had been an ensign assigned to the Yorktown carrier during World War II.” Kowal married an AF flight nurse who was on one of the first flights into Hanoi to bring home US POWs in 1973. She, too, had a full career in the guard/ reserves retiring as a colonel.

After a brief time in aircraft maintenance, the AF selected him to attend pilot training, but vision issues resulted in his elimination. Although he was very disappointed at the time, he now says, “it all worked out for the best.” During his guard time he was able to travel extensively throughout the Pacific.

He relates a story of his service that describes the difficult times of the Vietnam War, “When I was a second lieutenant…my best friend in life applied to be a conscientious objector and asked me to write a recommendation for him. I thought, ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED, that if I did, and the ‘system’ traced it back to me, that it would end my Air Force career. I wrote the recommendation anyway and he got the conscientious objector status. He served his country however, by joining

AmeriCorps and volunteered for two years or more working with underprivileged young Americans in the inner city, NYC, I think. As for me, I knew that he was deserving of it and that my integrity would be better served by writing him the recommendation and letting whatever was to happen, happen.”

During his first Air National Guard tour in Maine, he took a master’s degree in elementary school counselling at the University of Maine and made a career in education. He writes, “When I left the Air Force my first real job was an elementary school counselor in Kent, Washington. When my [wife] went to Air Command and Staff College the year after I did, I had to quit my counseling job. Back in Washington I had a self-imposed midlife crisis and became a stockbroker. That was not a fit for me, and I went back into education. I was an educator for 26 years both as a counselor and classroom teacher. I now volunteer with Project Healing Waters, an organization helping disabled vets through teaching fly tying, fly fishing techniques and taking them on fishing trips. I am also a volunteer for Hospice.”

Kowal participated in many AF athletic events and competitions. He was on the Air National Guard biathlon team and at age 50 participated in the military national biathlon championships at Lake Placid where he took fifth place in the novice class…against men 20 years young than he. Also, he took first place in the Washington Centennial games in .45 caliber pistol competition.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Kowal, USAFR (Ret), H’69

Mark Perkins, H’69

Mark Perkins enlisted in the Army and served 1972-1973. He narrates his journey. “While I was one of nine children (six boys & three girls) only [my brother] and I were drafted. The others didn’t qualify for one reason or another. I received my draft notice during the summer of 1971 and appealed it as I was a high school math teacher and had a deferment under the pre-lottery rules. My appeal was denied, and I prepared my employer (Holderness School) for my departure in December. I also connected with Al Pisano, Head Lacrosse Coach at West Point, to see if he needed me at West Point to coach lacrosse. My induction date was postponed from December 5 and the new one was to be determined later. Since my employer had already hired a replacement and Coach Pisano was counting on me to fill the coaching position at USMAPS (US Military Academy Prep School), I volunteered for the draft to be inducted on January 5, 1972.”

He continues, “I learned a great deal about athletic administration. As head coach of lacrosse, I had to do everything involved in the sport. This included coaching, of course, but also purchasing equipment & uniforms, hiring officials, reserving the field, lining the field, arranging transportation, and managing the lacrosse budget. In addition, working with young men made me a better leader.” He credits his experience at Hobart with getting him off to a good start, saying, “As a two-sport athlete (football and lacrosse) at Hobart, I learned a great deal about commitment and the importance of putting the team first. I captained both sports my senior year, as well

as serving as a residential advisor in the dormitories, which taught me a lot about leadership. These principles helped me in both basic training and later in my role at USMAPS. I felt I was successful as a teacher and a coach because I had these experiences in college before serving.”

He points out an unusual situation in his service, “Soon after I first arrived at USMAPS, I met with Colonel DeLuca, the school’s commandant. I was a peculiar member of the staff because I was in a role typically reserved for officers, but I was a PFC. He had some advice for me to be successful since many of my students would be higher rank than I. He said that it would be best if I just impersonated a civilian. By that, he said, don’t ever wear your uniform, don’t ever salute an officer, and I guess you better call me Tony! That was the last day I wore my uniform until the day I was discharged.”

He returned to Holderness School after leaving the Army and was promoted to Athletic Director and head coach of football and lacrosse. Later he became chair of the mathematics department and later was Dean of Students for 13 years. In 1995 he moved to the Forman School and its Head of School for 13 years. Finally he returned to the classroom and taught four math classes and coached football, squash and lacrosse.

Perkins is a 1985 inductee into the Hobart Athletic Hall of Fame, the Northern New England Secondary School Lacrosse Association Coach of the year 1989, 1992 and its man of the year 1995, and many other recognitions. He says, “While I never won any championships or tournaments, I was always proud of how my teams played.

Strough, H’69

Robert Strough served in the Air Force 1969-1975 first as a jet engine specialist and then as an aircraft maintenance scheduler. His father and five uncles had all served in the military. He writes, “As a senior in the spring of 1969 with no further deferments in the offing, I was very likely going to be drafted. Though willing to go to Vietnam, I frankly did not want to be an Army draftee. I felt a sincere obligation to serve which I was able to rationalize as different from an obligation to be drafted. And frankly, I was feed up with all of the anti-war, antiestablishment, anti-everything demonstrations, protests, sit-ins, take-overs, boycotts etc. as well as the increasing disrespect for anyone in uniform. I believed that the role of the armed forces went far beyond what was happening in SEA when it came to protecting the republic. Lastly, I figured that being in the service would be a learning experience and that being a Veteran might have some advantages later on. (Like an MBA on the GI Bill).”

His goal was to be commissioned as an officer, and he made several unsuccessful attempts to attend Officer Training School. He writes, “No matter. I eventually stopped applying for waivers to OTS, sucked it up, made E-5 in three, never got shot at, never broke any government property, never got arrested, met a number of special people, hopefully made some small contribution to the cause and actually learned somethings along the way. To be fair, the government did come through in the end. At my active duty separation briefing, I was told I should consider OTS as my records showed that I had a degree and I had been a good airman over the past four years. I politely declined.” Continued on next page.

Robert

He says he will tell his children of his service by saying, “Just that I served. I was not special, I was not brave and I certainly was not a hero. But what the future generations should come to understand is that over the 250 or so years since the birth of the Nation, it was the men and women who served, many thousands of whom were special, were brave and were heroes, that have kept us free. Please stop and remember their service and, in too many cases, their sacrifices.”

After separating from the Air Force, he went to work for jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney in 1974. He progressed through various jobs in overhaul repair, spare parts sales, product support engineering, commercial proposals and contracts rising to become vice president for Japan commercial operations. He says, “Though I somehow avoided Vietnam while in the Air Force, one of my more interesting Pratt & Whitney assignments was to close a sales deal in Hanoi for engines to power Vietnam Airlines’ new Boeing 777s. I knew that the senior airline (meaning government) officials with whom I was negotiating had all been ranking party members and/or officers in the North Vietnamese Army. After a week of often contentious negotiations, we eventually reached agreement and the contract was signed. I later learned that I had been nicknamed ‘Dr. No.’”

He summarizes, “Finally, I would simply observe that there is an unspoken mutual respect among veterans, regardless of specific service experience. Those who were subject to the horrors of combat have a special bond that others cannot share.”

Robert Taylor, H’69

Robert Taylor served in the Army Reserve 19691975. He was a finance specialist, and when he left the reserves he had risen to staff sergeant. His father had been a flight surgeon in the Army Air Force during World War II. He says, “I enlisted in the reserves in 1969 just before graduating from Hobart because I did not want to enlist in the regular services, nor be drafted so I could go to Vietnam. In fact, Dr. Donald Woodrow, my geology professor at the time, allowed me to take [my] final exam a day early so I could travel back to Buffalo, NY to sign up for the reserve. Dr. Woodrow was not in favor of the Vietnam War and the involvement of the USA. So, I have forever been indebted to him for that very kind gesture that he really had no [requirement] to offer to me.”

Taylor, the citizen Soldier, says “During the whole time I was in the reserves and for the 26 years following the reserves I was teaching general science for 16 years in middle school and 16 years teaching high school biology.”

Michael Waters, H’69 Michael Waters was commissioned into the Air Force through Hobart’s AFROTC program. He took an educational delay from entry onto active duty to earn an MBA at Cornell University. He served as an Air Force accounting and finance officer 1971-1973.

He writes, “I entered the military largely due to a desire to control my future by going into the AF rather than be drafted into the Army. By joining the AFROTC program at Hobart, I positioned myself to better pursue a career in business. I left the AF in May 1973...two years early...as part of an early out program. The AF was moving ‘desk

officers’ out early to make room for pilots coming home from Viet Nam to take those same desk jobs and remain on active duty in case they were needed to fly again during their five-year term of service. My reason for leaving was to get on to my long-term career interests which were to get into corporate finance...which I did by joining Xerox Corporation…a somewhat new copier company in Rochester, NY at the time...but one that was growing rapidly and was highly invested in hiring MBAs in Finance.”

He writes, “For me the most challenging aspect of my assignment was going from six years in academia into the world of managing people and achieving business objectives. I needed to quickly learn how to get work done through others...not just by myself. The beginning of the notion of accomplishing things through teamwork...which served me well later in life when I joined Xerox.”

His duty station was Laredo AFB in southwest Texas on the Rio Grande River. He and his wife, who had secured employment as a teacher in a parochial school, crossed the river into the sister city, Nuevo Laredo, many times to shop. He recalls, “It was at these marketplaces that I was introduced to the art of the deal...since you quickly learned you never paid the asking price for anything in the stalls you visited...but rather haggled for everything. I loved it!”

He says about life after the Air Force, “I leveraged my accounting and finance officer experience into a job as a financial analyst at Xerox in Rochester, where I was employed for over 33 years. At the time Xerox was a vibrant, rapidly growing company that encouraged its people to pursue whatever career interests they felt were good for them while meeting the needs of the company. As a result, I was able to move from finance, to operations, to customer service, strategy, corporate training and leadership development, human resources, and Quality/ Lean Six Sigma. A very diverse set of responsibilities which always kept me growing and learning. I started as an entry level analyst and left after many years as a VP...so I was most pleased with how my experiences benefited the company and my own success.”

Waters was also active in his community serving on several boards: the Highland Hospital Foundation, the Saint John’s Home, and the Seneca Park Zoo Society, and board membership roles with Rochester General Hospital and the Bristol Harbour Condo 2 Association.

John Weeks, H’69

John Weeks served as a transportation officer in the Army 1969-1973. He says, “I knew that leaving Hobart in ‘69 I was going to be draftable, and I soon was classified 1A. My first choice was the Navy, but they were not accepting officer candidates. So, I enlisted in the Army with the option to Officer Candidate School. While being processed at the induction center in New Haven CT I saw that some of the draftees had been assigned to the Marines - which made my choice to enlist in the Army the better choice.”

“Becoming an officer increased my military commitment to four years, but I was betting that if I could be stationed stateside, I might avoid serving in a combat area. I never had any intention of becoming a career Soldier. Luckily, I placed high enough in OCS that I was able to select my duty station, and I opted for the east coast. While serving stateside I approached the time when I would have been sent overseas, but never quite got there and I was notified that I was getting an early release as Vietnam was winding down. After several years of inactive reserve, my military commitment was over.”

He says of his Army service, “I was very fortunate that my most challenging assignment was a temporary assignment to administer the POV (privately owned vehicle) department in Bayonne where the military families’ cars were being shipped in from Europe, and we were processing the paperwork and handling any problems that arose. People can get emotional about their cars. Other than that, the days were fairly routine. But cars were not the only thing for which he arranged transport. “It has amused people in the past that one of the major areas I oversaw was the loading of shipping containers sending beer to Germany. Apparently, American troops liked their domestic beer.”

After the Army he was able to get a job with a Veteranfriendly company (Westvaco Corp - a paper company) soon after separation. He started as a traffic analyst negotiating freight rates for the company. He soon moved to the purchasing department where he helped set up corporate purchasing plans for major chemicals. He then moved to a paper mill where he served in various administrative positions before joining corporate headquarters in the data processing area.

For his service he was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal.

H’70

Donald McLean was commissioned through Hobart’s AFROTC program and served in the Air Force as a Section Commander of an aircraft maintenance squadron 1970-1973. As the war in Vietnam was winding down the Air Force offered him an early release, which he accepted. He then went to veterinary school at Colorado State and upon graduation accepted an offer to join the Army Veterinary Service retiring 21 years later. He says, “I learned quickly how to be a leader and how to get things done. I have an interest in improving things for the people I work with and have been successful in accomplishing a variety of projects throughout my career, both military and civilian.” He continues, “I was a psychology major at Hobart, and what I learned about human psychology has served me well throughout my military and civilian careers and life in general. Dealing with people I encounter in a humane and moral way has been important especially when I cared for their furry family members. Treating all with respect and kindness has always been important to me.”

McLean retired from the Army Veterinary Service and applied for a position as an epidemiologist with the USDA Veterinary Service in Harrisburg, PA. He points out that “The military sent me to BU to obtain a Master of Public Health degree in Environmental Health. My GI bill paid for most of my Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, so I am thankful to the US military.”

He was awarded the Legion of Merit, five Meritorious Service Medals and a Commendation Medal. He is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit and a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine.

Lieutenant Colonel Donald McLean, USA (Ret),

Nelson Wilt was commissioned through Hobart’s AFROTC program and served in the Air Force as a transport pilot 19701977. He left the Air Force but returned as a transport pilot and staff officer 19821997. He flew combat resupply air drops over Cambodia and served on the US Central Command Air Staff in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield/Storm. He is married to the former Ann Pusack, WS’69, of whom he says, “I whisked her away from the streets of Manhattan to the sage brush of west Texas, and she has never forgiven me, although we have remained married for more than 52 years. We were blessed with one son, John, who graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2000 and commissioned as a 2LT in the United States Marine Corps. John was tragically killed in a midair collision off the coast of Florida while undergoing Naval Flight Officer Training.”

Wilt entered the Air Force because “I had an interest in flying, with a long-range goal of becoming a commercial airline pilot.” He left the Air Force in 1977 to fly for Braniff International Airways; however, he was laid off three years later with no prospect of returning. He re-entered the Air Force in May 1982 through a program it established to address a pilot shortage by re-calling former military pilots to active duty. He remained on active duty until he retired in August 1997, at the rank of Lt. Colonel. An unwillingness to face more family separations coupled with the opportunity to continue in commercial aviation, led him to a job at American Trans Air where he worked for eight years as a pilot.

He says, “My most challenging and probably most rewarding assignment was deploying to the Middle East in August 1990 for the first Gulf War to set up and provide expertise for an

airlift control center for all airlift operating in the middle east theater. It was challenging because my unit had minimal advanced warning before we deployed, and since it was in the very early stages of the buildup, there were few friendly forces on the ground between our location and hostile forces in Iraq. There was also the perceived threat that Iraq had chemical weapons which it would deploy and our equipment and training at that point were somewhat lacking. Although there were several missile attacks on our area, fortunately there was no significant damage or any casualties. It was interesting to see the airlift structure evolve from its early stages in August 1990, to a fully viable system in the late fall of that year. And it was rewarding to play a role in the successful completion of thousands of airlift missions during Desert Shield/Desert Storm.”

His military awards include an Air Medal for flying airdrops into Cambodia during the Vietnam War, a Bronze Star for duty performance during the first Gulf War and three Meritorious Service Medals.

enter military service. All the colleges to which he applied had AFROTC, and he says, “With the exception of my encouraging freshman advisor (Professor Roger Farrand), AFROTC was perhaps the most important reason I completed college. He continues, “Perhaps the greatest lesson I learned at HWS was how to relate to a majority culture…In 1966 HWS did not have any mentoring resources; so, I had to figure it out on my own. And I did. I relied on my personal faith to get me through many anxious times, and I tried to be accommodating without compromising my own identity. It was a lesson that prepared me well for my entrance into the Air Force four years later because HWS was a microcosm of the Air Force. Not only did AFROTC prepare me for Air Force life, but simply learning how to relate on the HWS campus during the turbulent late ‘60s was most critical to my success as a young Air Force officer.”

Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Womack Jr. USAF (Ret), H’70

Oscar Womack Jr. was commissioned through Hobart’s AFROTC program and served in the Air Force 1970-1993. Initially an administrative officer, he changed his specialty to contract management early in his career. After a remote tour to Alaska the Air Force sent him to graduate school at the George Washington University where he took a master’s degree in human resources. Womack is the first in his family to graduate college and the first to

He says, “My wife, Patricia, is the daughter of a retired Air Force master sergeant; so she was well acquainted with military life. My son and daughter adjusted well for the most part although my daughter had just made the cheer squad in high school when we had to leave Los Angeles for an assignment in Oklahoma City (Tinker Air Force Base). She had a hard time initially adjusting from the sparkle of high school life in Los Angeles to what she found in Oklahoma City.”

He writes, “I did not face any difficulties transitioning from military to civilian life. While in the military, I joined the National Contract Management Association (NCMA). NCMA’s membership includes a large, diverse contingent of active duty military officers, retired military personnel, and corporate managers who, like me, specialize in contract management, contract administration, program management, project management, and logistics management. NCMA has over 20,000 members which make it an excellent organization for retiring military personnel seeking to transition to a similar career in corporate organizations, particularly in those organizations already in the defense industry…Almost all my post-military career has been spent as a contracts management executive at a small defense engineering and manufacturing company.”

Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Wilt, USAF (Ret), H’70

Womack (R) Accepts Outstanding Contracting Squadron Award

L-R Midshipman John Wilt, Ann Pusack Wilt, Major Nels Wilt

As an independent small business owner, Womack won the Small Business Administration’s 2016 Oklahoma Minority Champion of the Year. He also won the same award in 2016 for the Small Business Administration’s entire Region VI which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

His many military awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster.

Christy Bell, H’71

Christy Bell was a Titan (intercontinental ballistic missile) combat missileman in the USAF from 1971 to 1973. He followed into service his father, who was a Navy pilot in World War II, and his grandfather who was a physician in France during World War I. Bell received his commission through Hobart’s last AFROTC class and admits that he had no idea what he wanted to do after college. He knew the Air Force would offer excellent training and time to mature. He still maintains friendships with those with whom he served.

He sat duty in a Titan missile silo on a 24 hours on/48 hours off cycle. Very good at his job he was selected as an instructor…a tough grade to make. He recalls his crew would never be satisfied with an evaluation less than “highly qualified.” He states, “teamwork and training are the foundations of success. Every team member must perform for the team to succeed. Likewise, every team member should be acknowledged for the team’s positive results. That formula seems to be timeless.” As an example,

he relates the following story. “A more exciting few minutes came much later when we were pulling alert and suddenly had indications of a fuel leak and the potential to have the missile explode in the silo. We literally had a matter of minutes to find a technical failure, pull the missile off alert, or risk a rather large, potentially fatal explosion. The team found and solved the technical issue and avoided the other (undesirable) two options. It was an entire crew effort and showed what training and teamwork could achieve when called upon under severe pressure.”

After leaving the Air Force Bell was in sales and training at Bausch and Lomb for two years then joined the Fallon Community Health Plan as the marketing director ultimately serving as its executive director for 13 years. He says, “Fallon was the very first Medicare demonstration plan in America in 1980. We had to prove an HMO could serve the elderly without going bankrupt, that seniors would actually join an HMO, and seniors would remain satisfied and would agree to follow whatever rules the plan had for care and service.” He spent the rest of his civilian career in the HMO industry. At Horizon BCBS of NJ he served as president and CEO of their HMO subsidiary and EVP of Healthcare Management of the parent company. He is proud to say that he helped to increase the business from 1.5 million to 3.7 million subscribers.

Bell has been highly involved with his communities. He served as chair of the national HMO industry board, developed a new nursing training program in concert with the Duke School of Nursing, served on the board of United Way, chaired the Newark Boys’ Chorus School.

He also served on the board of the New Hope Clinic that provides more than $5 millions of free medical care through 156 volunteers to uninsured residents of Brunswick County, NC.

Gugy Irving was commissioned into the USAF in the last class of Hobart’s AFROTC program and served 20 years as a personnel officer. His bases were in Maryland, District of Columbia, the Pentagon, Turkey, Illinois, California, and Myrtle Beach, SC where he was a squadron commander his last three years on duty. His father, an Army officer, served during World War I.

He writes, “Before the draft lottery of Dec. 1969, most men were vulnerable to be drafted. I had the idea to serve as an officer. Luckily, I was accepted by Hobart otherwise I would have been a VMI cadet. I did not plan to stay in beyond 4 years but somehow one year lead to the next retiring the first day eligible after 20 years.” He continues,

“My most difficult job was at Ft McNair at the National Defense University. I worked for an Army colonel but was never able to satisfy him despite my best efforts. I knew I needed to get away but also wanted to stay in the DC environs in order to finish law school which I attended at night. There was an opening at the Pentagon on the Air Staff. I was fortunate to already have a top secret clearance based on my time at Ft Meade (NSA). In the small world department, the office chief at the Pentagon was Lt Col Carl Hye-Knudsen class of 1961. He saved me big time. Enjoyed my time at the Pentagon very much.”

Of his transition from the Air Force to practice law, he says, “It was quite an adjustment going from having an administrative assistant and 120 people assigned to me to becoming a sole legal practitioner in a new career field.” He practiced law for about seven years. Currently he is a public school substitute teacher for pre-K all the way to 12th Continued on next page.

Lieutenant Colonel Gugy Irving, USAF (Ret), H’71

grade. He has been active in volunteer endeavors including American Red Cross chapter treasurer, prep school board member, food bank volunteer, president of the local Navy League council, volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, county ethics board member, local historical society board treasurer, and yacht club commodore.

Commander Lynn Oakleaf, USNR (Ret), H’71

Lynn Oakleaf served in the Navy, first as an enlisted corpsman 1966-1968 then he joined the Naval Reserves where he was commissioned in 1972 after accepting a Navy dental scholarship to New York University. He completed 20 years of service.

Originally in the Class of ’68, the summer after Oakleaf’s freshman year the Colleges suggested he take a year off and do something “worthwhile.” His draft board quickly classified him as 1-A, so he elected to enlist in the Navy. After training as a corpsman, he served at a base hospital in Florida then transferred to USS Repose, a hospital ship off the coast of South Vietnam. After 13 months there, he returned to his home in Lyons, NY, joined the reserves and returned to Hobart graduating with the class of 1971. Of his time at Hobart, he writes, “I learned to turn disappointments into positives. Keep working toward your goals. Don’t let the bastards wear you down.”

After graduating NYU School of Dentistry, he returned to active duty as a lieutenant in the Dental Corps. Assigned to Construction Battalion 133 he deployed to Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory for nine months. Following that he transferred to the submarine base in Groton, CT where he met and married a Navy lieutenant. He was released from active duty in 1979 and followed his wife on her assignment to Alameda, CA.

He views his assignment to Diego Garcia as the most challenging and rewarding. He writes, “While I had been out of dental School for a year and received additional

training at Great Lakes, suddenly I had my own dental practice, responsible for about 850 men’s dental health. AND I had no senior dentist to turn to for advice. By the end of that tour, I knew that I could handle private practice. It was a great confidence builder in addition to improving my leadership ability.”

I didn’t have a California CA dental license, so I had to study and get live patients for the exam. Luckily, the [commanding officer] of the Alameda Dental Clinic was accommodating and helped me. I passed and opened a dental practice in December of 1979. He retired from dentistry in 2013. I also joined the Naval Reserves in California, mainly serving with Reserve Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 2 before retiring.

He is a past president of the Contra Costa Dental Society, has served on the Peer Review Committee of the Contra Costa Dental Society, and on the Peer Review Council of the California Dental Association. He was on the Parks & Recreation Commission for Martinez, CA. He also served on District and Council Boards of the Mt. Diablo/ Silverado Council of the Boy Scouts of America where he was awarded the Silver Beaver.

His German proficiency provided interesting work, “[I was] serving in Germany, doing debriefings of escapees from East Germany and other Warsaw Pact countries, going on ski patrols on the German Czech border and many other excellent opportunities not normally afforded a young, enlisted Soldier. I learned many things, including improving my German and Spanish language proficiency, various computer intelligence systems, of course having a Top Secret clearance was a major asset.”

Chief Warrant Officer

Four Mark Getzin, USA (Ret), H’72

Mark Getzin served in the active Army 1977-1980 as a German language interrogator and then an additional 25 years in the Army reserves, most of which of which was in a special category of reservists who serve on active duty. A history major at Hobart led to a master’s degree in Medieval Studies, and then he enlisted in the Army, “I needed a job and there were not a lot of options in my field. I loved foreign languages and discovered there were Army careers that required knowledge of foreign languages. It was a perfect match.” He was commissioned as a Warrant Officer prior to entering the reserves.

Getzin recalls a story that, decades later, amuses him. “As a young private in the U.S. Army I went on leave to West Berlin. As an intelligence specialist, it was forbidden for me to travel to then Communist East Berlin, on the other side of the Berlin Wall. However, there was a young lady in East Berlin that I greatly wanted to meet, so I ditched my military ID in West Berlin and traveled to East Berlin using my civilian passport and spent the day with the young lady. This was both dangerous and stupid, if the East Germans had discovered that I was in US Intelligence, I would have spent a long time in their not-so-nice jails. If the U.S. Army had discovered that I had disobeyed an order and traveled to East Berlin, I would also have been in very big trouble and would have ruined my career. I wish that I could say that the young lady became my wife. However, she did in fact eventually escape from East Germany and settled in the west, where she married my best friend. Their children still visit me from time to time.” Getzin never married.

He credits his time at Hobart for enabling a successful career, “By far the ability to write well, which I painfully learned at Hobart, was the skill that I was most able to employ during my military career. From the very beginning until the end of my career, my performance evaluations always praised my ability to express myself clearly in written English. This is not a skill that is widespread in the Army! Thank you, Hobart! Many of my military jobs required the ability to speak foreign languages. One of these languages, German, I learned at Hobart both in Geneva and during my junior year abroad in Germany. The fact that my first Army job was so wonderful was due to the fact that I spoke near-native German. Thank you, Hobart! Finally, all the political science and history courses that I took at Hobart (yes and even Western Civ) helped me greatly during my later life as an intelligence officer.”

Getzin reflects on his service to the nation, “The very best part of an Army career (which I think most vets would agree) were the many life-long friends I made and he wonderful people that I served with. The second best part was the travel!”

Major Sherman Bedford, USAF (Ret), H’73

Sherman Bedford served in the Air Force as a transport pilot 1974-1994 in the US and Germany. He joined the Air Force, he says, “To fly! In my sophomore year I went over to the Seneca Falls Airport put my $5 down for an introductory lesson and was hooked.” He retired after serving 20 years during which he touched down in 113 countries and six continents, amassing more than 10,000 hours of flying time. He says, “Air Force life suited me. I never would have been able to do a 9 - 5 desk job, and in fact shunned all additional duties not directly associated with flying. I was a simulator instructor, instructor pilot and an evaluator in every plane I flew. This was not good for promotion; I leave climbing the corporate ladder to others. I retired as a major and loved my career.”

Air Force transport pilots spend a lot of time away from home. He notes, “The secret to a good marriage (39 years and counting) is to marry someone who’s smart and independent. My wife, Pat, ran our household. She had to, as I was gone roughly half the time. We had a number of long separations due to change of assignments and not wanting to take our daughter out of a school halfway through the year. And speaking of our daughter she was in four different elementary schools, that must have been tough on her. That’s the bad part, but the upside of military life is the incredible friendships you make. We just had a couple visit us in Florida who we met in 1983 and will visit another couple on our drive back to Kentucky.”

He notes that “Every [type of] airplane had its own challenges: C-141 - you’re a young guy in your 20s, they hand you the keys to the plane and tell you…to ferry French Legionnaires to a

small airstrip in Zaire just north of Angola. My squadron was one of two nuclear airlift squadrons, it made one pause to look back in the cargo bay and see all of those nuclear bombs and warheads. They weren’t armed of course. Later in my career flying out of Andrews AFB [near Washington, DC] the challenges were totally different. I flew just about everyone in the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations.”

After retiring from the Air Force, he became a captain for UPS flying DC-8, Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 aircraft on domestic and international routes.

Colonel (Dr.) Kathy Platoni, USA (Ret) WS’74

Kathy Platoni served in the Army, the Army Reserves and the Ohio Military Reserve/State Defense Forces from 1979-2021 as a clinical psychologist and as the Chief Psychologist for the Army Reserve (2008-2013). Her career began as a recipient of a Health Professionals Scholarship that provided a full ride for her doctorate in clinical psychology. “I owed [the Army] four years [in return] and gave them 36 more.” She also maintains a private practice in Centerville, Ohio, where she treats veterans and first-responders seven full days a week. She also serves on Dayton SWAT as one of their “SWAT docs” and is the Editor of Combat Stress Magazine.

Platoni has deployed four times, three of which were to combat theaters: Guantanamo Bay where she commanded a combat stress control medical detachment; Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as Deputy Commander of Clinical Services for combat stress control teams during intensive combat and in the seat of the insurgency in Iraq; and Afghanistan, serving as Clinical Advisor for the medical detachment and leader of combat stress teams in the Kandahar Province and Kabul. Platoni is a survivor of the Fort Hood Massacre of November 2009.

She is an ardent activist for reconsideration of this mass shooting as an act of domestic terrorism to assure that the wounded and families of the deceased are awarded long overdue benefits, and that presidential acknowledgement of the truth is granted after nearly 13 years. Platoni is a graduate of the School of Professional Psychology of Nova University (now Nova Southeastern University) in Davie, FL. Subsequent to the conclusion of her doctoral studies, she completed her internship at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, TX in 1984 and her postdoctoral studies at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Malcolm Grow USAF Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base in 1987. From 1984 through 1987, she served as Chief of Psychology at DeWitt Army Community Hospital, Fort Belvoir, VA. During her more than four decades of military service, including a six-month tour of duty during Operation Desert Storm, she developed combat stress control, debriefings and crisis management programs used throughout the Army. She held the position of Army Reserve Clinical Psychology Consultant to the Chief, Medical Service Corps for six years and is a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College. She retired in 2013, but not before serving another 6 years in the Ohio Military Reserve/State Defense Forces.

Among her military awards are the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal with 3 oakleaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with 1 oakleaf cluster, the NATO Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award. As a nationally renowned expert in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Platoni has been featured on Fox News, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, US News and World Report, AP News, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Washington Post, NPR Radio, Stars and Stripes, San Antonio Express News, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, The Ohio Psychologist, the Wall Street Journal, TIME Magazine, the Military Times, and The National Psychologist. Platoni is the co-author of two landmark books, in the arena of war trauma with Dr. Raymond Scurfield, Expanding the Circle of Healing~Trauma in Its Wake and Healing War Trauma~A Handbook of Creative Approaches. Continued on next page.

For her professional contributions to the field of psychology and decades of humanitarian service, Platoni was awarded the Alumna Achievement Award by William Smith College in 2008. She was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Greene County Veterans Hall of Fame in 2022. Platoni was awarded the Ford Oval of Honor in 2021 and the Best of Dayton Award for Psychologists in 2020, 2021, and 2022, entering her in the Dayton Business Hall of Fame.

Dudley Baker, H’75 Dudley Baker served in the US Navy 1981-1986 on the USS Buchanan, first in engineering and the last two years as navigator. Both sides of his family have a long history of service including the Civil War, World War I and World War II. An uncle was killed at the Battle of the Bulge. He entered the Navy out of a “desire to serve my country and because of my love for the ocean.” Also, after graduating from Hobart, “I was foot-loose and looking for a career to pursue.”

Upon reporting aboard his ship, he was assigned to the engineering department, where he served for two years. Of this he says, “For someone who graduated from Hobart with a history degree, this may not make a lot of sense.” However, as Baker notes, “the Navy prides itself in being able to train its junior officers in any discipline.” After two years in engineering, he was made ship’s navigator, which he says was “very satisfying,” as it was the years before the Global Positioning System (GPS), so most of the off-shore navigation was done with a sextant. One long trip was a voyage from the Philippines to Australia, where he was assigned as Task Unit Navigator. He recalls, “The Navy taught me how to get along with any person or group. I can honestly say that there was no prejudice aboard my ship -- you had a job and you had to rely on others to do their job.”

Work hard; play hard is common in military life. Baker relates such a story. “Being a surface warfare officer, we had a healthy rivalry with fighter pilots (Airedales). In the Philippines, the Officer’s Club with the best food was Cubi Point Officers Club (Navy Fliers). On our last night in port before heading back to the states, we were having (more than a few) drinks. At closing time, we wandered out and hatched a plan to steal the custom carpet runner that marked the main entrance. This was about 12-ft-long and was neatly embroidered with USN wings insignia along with “Cubi Point Officers Club.” We decided that once underway the next morning, we would make a formal presentation [of the runner] to the ship’s XO. We had lookouts and mapped out our plan. In no less than three minutes, we rolled the carpet runner up and stashed it in the back of the ship’s pickup. Back at the pier, we quickly fed the runner down the hatch leading to after steering. We all hit the rack at around 0100, thinking we had accomplished our heist. At 0500, down the pier comes a very official looking jeep, with a fender flag saying ‘Provost Marshal.’ In very precise terms, he stated that he had reason to believe the Cubi Point O Club runner was onboard our ship. The jinx was up. The XO, who thankfully had a sense of humor, announced that he would conduct a thorough search of the ship. Well, low and behold, in a matter of five minutes, the runner was located and thrown in the back of the jeep. None of us were put on report.”

After leaving the Navy, he worked in sales and marketing for major defense suppliers.

Commander Henry O. Johnson, USN (Ret), H’77

Henry O. Johnson served in the Navy 19802002 as a Naval Aviator commissioned through the Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School. Most of his career was flying anti-submarine warfare helicopters. In the last few years of service, he was assigned to Naval Reserve Force, New Orleans, LA. and then Naval Air Forces Pacific, Naval Air Station San Diego, CA.

He joined because he “wanted to fly,” and takes pride that the number of his take-offs in his logbooks equaled the number of his landings. He cites learning leadership by example as a skill he acquired in the Navy—a skill that “worked equally well in the military and post-military civilian careers.”

He recalls his Hobart days by writing, “Many anti-military students at HWS (1973-1977) demonstrated their disdain for the military. They protested on the Quad having military recruiters come on to campus. I was appalled at their illliberal attitude toward those who wished to defend our county. Terribly disappointing for liberal arts students not to be liberal in their thinking. I’d like to think that the liberal arts experience made me open-minded to diverse viewpoints in both my military and civilian post-college careers.”

He notes that he participated in the filming of Ron Howard’s “Apollo XIII,” which he says, “was [a] great experience. As to life in the Navy, he comments, “Family separation was no joke. My wife had to be a ‘single-mom’ while I was deployed. I missed children’s first steps, little league, etc. while I was at sea for more than six months at a time.” He posits that the

US civilian population generally has little understanding of service life unless they have close family members wearing the uniform. “This is not a criticism. They just have not been there, so they cannot know.”

After retiring from the Navy, Johnson made a second career with Computer Sciences Corporation in the information technology field supporting U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps technology needs; also, as a mortgage loan officer at Navy Federal Credit Union where he enjoyed and shared in helping folks get into their new dream house.

His Navy awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, and Navy Achievement Medal.

two things: inspire & take care of those for whom they are leading.” He continues, “As an Intercollegiate Lacrosse Coach, I had the privilege of recruiting thousands of high school graduates to attend the Academy (and play a little lacrosse while there). For the better part of twelve years I enthusiastically helped hundreds of students realize their dreams as Air Force officers and for the most part, Air Force pilots. It is a privilege seeing so many of them serve their country in the Gulf Wars and other important missions for their country. Most now are successful pilots serving commercial needs and raising wonderful families.”

Scott Petosa, H’80

Scott Petosa served as an officer in the Air Force 1980-1996. He started out as a communications officer but as a former Hobart lacrosse All-American he was then transferred to the US Air Force Academy as a lacrosse coach. Over the next few years, the Air Force sent him for an advanced degree at Syracuse and then for a doctorate at Ohio State. He was initially an associate professor in the Human Performance lab at the academy then later he served as the Director of the Human Performance lab there. The lab provides courses in the scientific principles of coaching, exercise physiology, sports psychology, sports nutrition, and sports performance enhancement. He says of his service, ‘Throughout my military career I received much leadership training, some formal textbook training, and a lot of experiential training through those I served under and observed. I believe good leaders do

He retired from the Air Force in 1996 and writes, “Despite loving my jobs as Director of the Human Performance Lab and teaching, I had a spiritual awakening and aspired for a higher calling which started out as moving “down the ladder” and becoming a high school teacher and coach back home in upstate NY. The Air Force allowed me to retire early as there was a reduction in force initiative directed by President Clinton.” He taught high school health and physical education and started a lacrosse program. He “witnessed tremendous family dysfunction and was often disappointed how little support was provided by the administration.” So he decided to set up a ministry helping teens that now partners with the county department of social services. “The deputy commissioner and I started a “Life Skills Coaching Program” for at-risk teens seventeen years ago. At-risk means they are identified through the court system, probation, schools, or other human service agencies as at risk for detention. My goal, which I relate to the students during our first meeting, is to help them be successful in any way they want, as long as it’s not criminal. I have been blessed to have worked directly with over 500 teens and believe this is my purpose in life vocationally. Important aside, about 80% of the students I work with have a consistent issue...they do not live with their biological father. Sad!”

Petosa has rejoined teammates playing in national masters’ lacrosse tournaments. His team, known as the Eldest Statesmen, is looking forward to winning the “old man world games” championship in 2023.

Sergeant First Class John McGloon, USA (Ret), H’82

John McGloon served in the Army 1982-1999. He enlisted as an infantryman and retired as a brigade personnel sergeant. He enlisted “to serve my country.”

He completed his first master’s degree in technical writing while stationed in Boise and went to work in that field. He later completed a second master’s in Human Factors/ Design and moved into product development.

He retired with four Army Commendation Medals and the Meritorious Service Medal. On the civilian side, he retired as an Executive Director.

William Branch served as an officer in the active duty USMC from 1984-1988 and in the USMC reserves from 1988-2012. He is a Veteran of the Gulf War having served in a USMC tank battalion.

He relates his story, “Since Hobart did not have a ROTC program, I spent my summers at Quantico VA at Officer Candidate School. Yep, I never had the chance to enjoy a summer in Geneva with its beautiful weather without any academics going on. Besides a sense of patriotism/ appreciation for the USA, I also wanted to challenge myself. The idea of going from a comfortable hometown to a comfortable college to a comfortable corporate career didn’t sit well with me, and I wanted to be part of something bigger than the sum of its individual pieces. I left active duty after my initial stint because military life is regimented, and I didn’t like the idea of having to move every three years. As it turned out, I did more in the Reserves than Active Duty, so stuck around for another 22 years. To this day, it was the smartest decision I ever made.”

He has an interesting perspective on the challenges inherent to the military. “Being in a tank battalion during the Gulf War meant engaging the enemy on the battlefield, but the most challenging assignment was as commanding officer of the Marine detachment at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Landstuhl is the Army Medical Center in southwest Germany where the medevac flights from Iraq and Afghanistan went, so we were helping those who had been wounded/injured 2-3 days prior. We assisted the families who had traveled to Landstuhl to say their final good-byes to the most severely wounded sons/husbands/ fathers. It taught me the true expression of love and sacrifice, and I was absolutely humbled by the selflessness of the Marines and their families.”

He recalls his HWS experience, “Believe it or not, the multi-disciplinary approach is very applicable in the military. Every issue/challenge has to be addressed using multiple viewpoints which was something learned at HWS.”

While serving as a reserve officer, Branch made a career in selling and marketing pharmaceuticals as his civilian job. He retired from the USMC Reserve, Landstuhl Germany as a lieutenant colonel with 26 years of service.

like being on a different planet. My thoughts of family and the good times I had at Hobart kept me sane and motivated [me]to return home after a year of combat.”

“Guard dogs” Jack and Sam

Colonel John Renouard, USMCR (Ret), H’88

Lieutenant

From 2014 to 2015, Renouard was deployed to the Republic of Georgia as the Georgian Deployment Program Liaison Officer and reported to the US Ambassador to Georgia and to the Marine Corps European Force Command. He provided military support to the Georgian security battalions deploying to Afghanistan and to their Marine Corps military advisors in direct support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Also, he was the captain of the US Embassy soccer team that played other embassies in the Diplomatic Cup soccer tournament.

John Renouard served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve 19882016. Concurrently he served as a teacher and as an administrator in the Tolleson Union High School, AZ for 23 years. His father served in the Marines during the Korean War. Both his grandfather and great-grandfather served in the military.

He says, “I think the liberal arts education I received at Hobart served me well as a Marine Corps officer. I majored in political science and minored in Spanish. I could think outside the box and relate well to foreign military personnel. Also, my love for the game of soccer was a great asset. I call it soccer diplomacy. The Iraqi and the Georgian military loved playing soccer as their physical training program. I didn’t play soccer at Hobart, but I did run cross country under the supervision of Coach Fleury (Good Man). Cross country paid off big time in the Marine Corps. I scored a perfect score on all my [physical fitness] tests which was uncommon. I give credit for [that to] Coach Fleury’s training regimen… In addition, my master’s in education from ASU and being a teacher for three years at Tolleson Union High School, helped tremendously when I had to train Iraqi soldiers and Georgian Army Officers.”

In 2006 he deployed to Iraq as a logistical advisor to an Iraqi army unit. He recalls that it was a challenging job. “I was living with the Iraqi Army on an Iraqi FOB (forward operating base). Went out on patrols and convoys with the Iraqi soldiers with no American back up. More times than not, I was the machine gunner on top of the HMVV. Lost a friend to an IED and another one to a sniper…I was lucky to come home alive and with all my digits working. However, it was the wildest ride I was ever on, and it was

Many combat Veterans find the transition back from war is difficult. Renouard writes, “when I returned from my combat tour from Iraq, I was feeling out sorts. I thought it was just nerves and it would clear up, but it didn’t. [Looking in] hindsight, I should have gone for counseling.”

Among his many awards for military service are the Meritorious Service Medal and the Navy Commendation Medal.

Lieutenant Colonel William Branch, USMCR (Ret), H’84

H’90

Josh Bagley enlisted in the Massachusetts Army National Guard in 2002 as a response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. In every generation of his family going back to the 1600s, someone had served, so he had considered it, and 9/11 spurred him to action. He started out as an enlisted man, but he was commissioned a second lieutenant after attending Officers’ Candidate School in 2005. He served a combat tour in Baghdad in 2009-2010, and he is currently a major in the Army National Guard in Massachusetts.

Bagley notes that the best skills he has learned while serving is the ability to manage people. These skills have served him well in his current career as a government and information technology manager. That said, he notes a common problem area for national guardsmen is a full understanding by their civilian employers of military demands. This is especially true when the guardsman’s unit is tasked for a lengthy employment taking time away from the civilian job.

As for family concerns, he states, “By far the hardest job is for a military spouse, especially [the spouse of a deployed servicemember]. My wife was fortunate to have good friends locally and a strong personality and strong family. The unit [family support group] was useless for her but being able to talk regularly with the advances in communication technology helped her to manage through the stress of [my] combat deployment.

Kevin Cook, H’90

Kevin Cook served as an infantry officer in the USMC 1991-1999. His father served in the Army during the Korean War, and his grandfather served in the Army during World War I as a dentist in France. Cook comments on his entry into the Marine Corps, “I entered the military for two reasons. First, I firmly believe that service is a critical element to being a responsible citizen. Growing up, I enjoyed many of the best parts of our society. If someone who benefits from our country the way I did isn’t willing to give back, how can we expect those that enjoyed fewer benefits to serve on our behalf. The other reason I joined the USMC was to learn more about leadership. My senior year at Hobart, I was elected president of the student body. At the end of that year, I felt I had done a poor job of leading the student government. I realized I had enough ability to gain positions of leadership, but not the training to know what to do once in the role. I felt like the USMC would be an ideal environment to hone my leadership skills. I left the service because I had no desire to make it a career. The strain the military placed on a young family and the financial challenges long deployments created made staying unappealing.”

Cook found himself thrust very quickly into a leadership role. “[I] was a new rifle platoon commander in an infantry battalion. There is nothing that makes a young leader grow up faster than stepping in front of 40 Marines who now see you as their leader. It is a thrilling, but intimidating experience that challenges you to the very core. I spent the next 18 months leading that platoon before being moved to a rifle company as executive officer.

He says, “The skill I learned that has aided me the most was how to lead a group of people to perform at a level they previously haven’t. This skill has allowed me to help transform the performance of hospitals and now health systems. The fundamentals of leadership I learned early on still apply.” He continues, “the emphasis HWS placed on thinking, writing, and speaking clearly was a phenomenal foundation. You have to communicate well to lead.”

Service is often difficult for the families. “When I first deployed my family was living at Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii. The location was great, but Hawaii was tough on the finances of a young family. I missed my son’s first set of holidays and birthday when I was overseas. Subsequent deployments never got any easier and I knew I was never going to stay for a career.”

After leaving the Marines, he found a career in the health industry. After taking a Master of Science in Business Administration from Boston U, he went into a small healthcare consulting firm. He writes, “[since then] I have been a hospital CEO, a marketing president, and a system CEO for an academic medical center. Currently I am the Chief Operating Officer of a medium-size faith based health system. I am responsible for ten hospitals.”

Cook has been recognized as one of the top 100 academic medical center CEOs and as one of Mississippi’s top CEOs. He has served, or is serving, as a board member of the Council of Teaching hospitals for the AAMC, a regional policy representative for the American Hospital Association, as the hospital representative on the Mississippi Legislature’s Medicaid Committee, and as a member of the Mississippi Governor’s rural health task force. He is on faculty for the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Major Josh Bagley,

Lieutenant Colonel (Dr.) Allyson (nee Shirtz) Howe, USAF ANG (Ret), WS’94

Ally Howe served as a family practice doctor in the Air Force, the Air Force Reserves, and the Air National Guard for 20 years. She entered the Air Force thru the Health Professions Scholarship Program and attended medical school at the University of Buffalo. Following a residency in family medicine at Travis AFB, CA she was assigned to Pope AFB and then Washington, DC. She separated from active duty in 2008 and joined the AF Reserves then transferred to the Air National Guard at Pease AFB, NH. She says, “I entered for two reasons- one is I had some debt from HWS, and I was afraid to add more and appreciated [the scholarship] as a way to pay for school. The bigger reason was that I felt like it was a challenge I wanted to be a part of--the idea of ‘basic training’ being so difficult was something I wanted to experience.” She continues, “I definitely started to get my voice at HWS. I learned a lot about my physical capabilities on the soccer and basketball teams where I figured out how to push myself and others. The military is full of problem solving, and I learned many of those skills at HWS.”

She describes the difficulty and frustration often experienced by military people trying to do the mission and balancing that with family considerations. “Pope AFB was a difficult location to be stationed. I was initially assigned to Holloman AFB in NM and had purchased a home there. Two weeks prior to my report date, I got a call from the assignments officer and was told that the Holloman assignment was changing. I was being offered a remote location in TX and requested consideration for change (we had a two-month old daughter at that point, we had to get out of the house contract, and I was taking the medical board exam the following day, so I was desperate to get closer to the east coast). Ultimately I was offered Pope AFB in NC. The operations tempo there was very high with many, many deployments, and stressed families. I arrived to a panel of patients that was far overloaded, and our clinic was understaffed. It was very difficult to feel like any day was successful. Those were some difficult days for sure.”

Often the times are difficult for the families as well. She writes, “[My service] was challenging for Dave. We had three children, all while I was active duty. He needed to stay home to take care of them and was happy to do that but had to put his career as a high school English teacher on hold. Most of the support groups were for military wives. He joined a music group for children and was the only father there. Dave deserves a TON of credit for hanging in there.”

After retiring, Howe gained a position teaching family and sports medicine at Maine Medical Center. She has been the Team Physician for the USA women’s national hockey team since 2010.

Base in Kuwait. He writes, “My total time spent overseas was about nine months, during which time I was assigned to the 737th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron in charge of flight line medical operations.”

Chad Bevan, H’96

Dr. Chad Bevan served as a flight surgeon in the USAF 2008-2012. He was commissioned through the Health Professions Scholarship Program and was awarded a four-year scholarship to medical school. He had always wanted to serve in the military, but the desire to practice medicine was stronger. However, accruing many loans for college and graduate school, he needed a way to pay for medical school, and the military scholarship opened the door to both. “I jumped at the chance,” he says.

His first station was at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, TX, assigned to the 40th Airlift Squadron where he tended to aircrews and their families. He deployed twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, assigned to Ali al Salem Air

Flight surgeons are required to fly in the aircraft of the crews whose well-being they monitor, and he tells a story of one such mission. “Once during a mission over Iraq, we were flying at night using night vision goggles in blackout conditions. The pilot came over the radio and asked me if I wanted to ‘take the stick.’ I had been through some modified pilot training while in my basic flight surgeon training and had a rudimentary understanding of flight controls. I had four individual flights under my belt, with an instructor, but while in Texas and under very controlled conditions. I had flown small [aircraft] - not a huge multimillion C-130H with 75 US Marines aboard enroute to their final destination. Regardless, there was still a co-pilot in case I did something really stupid; luckily, I did not.”

About his family life, he says, “At the time we moved to Texas my boys were three and one years old, and my wife had just left her job as a family nurse practitioner to follow me around the world. This was certainly a sacrifice on her part, but the excitement of military life and the new experience of a modern-day cowboy town proved an excellent distraction. As desolate as west Texas can be, we dove right in and found ourselves thriving in military life. My wife will quickly say, without hesitation, that her experience with the military was among the most enjoyable time in her life.”

After leaving the Air Force, Bevan took a position as an emergency medicine physician and is still there practicing. He says, “My first commander once likened flight surgeons to Swiss Army knives - multifunctional tools with a breadth of skill and utility. My eventual career in emergency medicine has been well-served by my military career, and the variability and resilience learned during that time. Of all medical specialties, the emergency medicine physician is truly the ‘Swiss Army knife’ of medical professionals.”

Rebecca Frye (nee Kurtz), WS‘97

Rebecca Frye served in the Air Force as a family medicine physician 20052011. She says, “I entered military service due to a feeling that it was the right way to give back.” Her grandfather served in World War II. “Something made me feel like it was a great way to honor him.”

Frye deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 where she worked at a trauma center during the surge and “had to use my family medicine skills in many unique ways.” Her husband is also an Air Force doctor who has served for 16 years. Military married couples grapple with the demands of both husband and wife being tasked to deploy and the attendant demands on children. Frye says she left the Air Force because of these conflicts. As a military spouse notes “having to guide my daughter through multiple deployments…and the [need] to restart my career due to military moves.”

She credits her military experience with some learned skills she applied during her civilian career: “[how to be] flexible, adapt, how to lead during a crisis. I was the chief of a large clinic during COVID and used my military skills frequently to guide my staff through uncertainty.” At William Smith she says she learned to be “a strong woman. This was important as a smaller stature officer.”

She comments, “I have a few medals for service. I have been the chief of multiple medical clinics. I am most proud, though, of having my daughter and family.”

Bret Wood is currently serving in the Air Force Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve as a flight surgeon and emergency physician. His service took him to Antarctica three times, Hurricane Katrina relief, Iraq, Afghanistan twice, the Philippines, Syria, and Yemen. He says, “I have always had a very strong sense of patriotism. The sacrifice of the men and women before me was inspirational and I wanted to give back, do my part.

I enjoyed freedom during my childhood and wanted to ensure my children would know the same freedom.”

He continues, “My most challenging assignment had nothing to do with environmental or combat hazards. It had nothing to do with long days and sleepless nights. The pain of missing my family was difficult but not the most challenging aspect. For me the most difficult part of my job is seeing the young men and women who would not make it back home. I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2012, stationed at a remote forward operating base. We were close to the Pakistan border, and there was a surge of military operations during this time. My job was to fly on DUSTOFF helicopters and pick up patients from the point of injury and transport them back to a forward surgical team. As a physician I have worked outside of the hospital with EMS, but there was nothing that could prepare me for the types of things I would encounter on those Afghanistan missions.”

H’98

His service is difficult, and he says, “It is very difficult to think about how challenging it was for my spouse and children during those times that I was away. For the deployed service member time basically is on pause while you are gone, but in fact it is not on pause. Things continue to happen, and kids continue to grow. When you return you suddenly realize how much things have changed and struggle to figure out how to assimilate back into the family. My spouse and my children are amazing and are the true heroes. Their sacrifice is significant, and I am forever grateful.”

He expands, “As a member of the reserve forces I have had to transition many times back into civilian life. Each time I struggle with the transition back. My military job is intense, exciting, challenging, and I am taking care of the best patients. In the military I have mostly worked in austere locations. I have been in the frigid cold of Antarctica and Greenland. I have been in the high altitudes of Afghanistan. I have been in the desert heat of Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Africa. I have worked out of armored vehicles, tents, safe houses, and in the dirt. It really makes working inside a sterile and temperature controlled hospital seem pretty dull. The camaraderie of the military and serving a higher purpose is the thing I struggle with the most. I feel like I still want to be there, working with my team. If it wasn’t for missing my family, I sometimes think I could just keep volunteering to go back.”

Among his many awards are the Meritorious Service Medal, The Air Force Commendation Medal (with Combat Device), The Army Commendation Medal, The Army Combat Action Badge, and the Air Force Combat Action Medal.

Colonel (Dr.) Bret Wood, USAFR,

Jackie Lamme is currently serving in the Navy as a gynecologic surgeon and obstetrician. she joined the Navy in 2001 when she started medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, MD. After graduating medical school in 2005, she did a family medicine internship in Jacksonville, FL. She went from there to flight surgeon training in Pensacola in 20062007. After getting her wings, she joined her first Navy squadron at Whidbey Island, WA where she completed deployments to Turkey, Qatar, and South America. After reassignment to a Marine F-18 squadron she deployed to Afghanistan. After five years as a flight surgeon she opted to return to residency at Naval Medical Center, San Diego and transitioned into gynecological surgery and obstetrics. She then completed a fellowship in complex family planning and is the first and only military physician to have completed that fellowship. After three years in Okinawa, Japan she moved to Bremerton, WA where she is the staff gynecological surgeon and obstetrician, and she chairs the Medical Executive Committee.

She writes, “I have had a variety of assignments during the military, and there have been many different types of challenges. Honestly though, one of the hardest was as the flight surgeon for Marine F-18 squadron. I was the first female aviator the squadron had had at that point and there was only one other female officer (a junior maintenance officer) in the unit when we deployed to Afghanistan. Even though it was 2010 and the restrictions against women flying combat missions had been lifted, my CO would not let me fly any of the missions with our

USN, WS’99

squadron. He literally said it was because “it would suck more to get shot down as a woman than as a guy.” As getting a minimum number of flight hours was part of my job, I had to find other squadrons to let me get my flight hours. (Also of note, this was frequently with an Army helo unit. There were no F18s shot down in Afghanistan but there were helo’s that were). I also routinely went outside the wire to the local Afghan hospital to help in the clinic there. This was just one example of many micro- and macro-aggressions that occurred while with this squadron. It was a very isolating experience, but also taught me how to tap into my own internal resources, stand my ground when it mattered and how to choose my battles. Remembering the experience with that unit also was something I’d remind myself of when residency got tough and I would have thoughts of quitting.”

She observes, “Women in the military are not just navigating the challenges of access to full scope reproductive healthcare that all US women are, but they have a variety of unique experiences and needs. Traditionally, women’s healthcare has not been seen as operationally relevant because people think it’s just obstetrics, so if you’re not deployable when pregnant then it doesn’t matter. But this is a huge fallacy. Women’s healthcare is much more than obstetrics and with the female force approaching 20% (currently 16% enlisted and 19% officer) women’s healthcare is an important component of military readiness and continuing to work to make this a reality for our female force is what I am the most proud of in my career thus far.”

Commander Rebecca Miller (nee Armiger), USNR, WS’00

Becca Miller served 12 years in the active Navy and is currently a perioperative nurse in the Navy reserves. She has served in Jacksonville, FL, Bethesda, MD, Norfolk, VA, Kuwait and Sicily, Italy where she and her husband, an active duty environmental health officer, are now stationed. She also has served on the USNS Comfort on which she traveled to nine Central and South America countries giving care to the underprivileged.

She writes, “I always wanted to travel. I went to nursing school after HWS, where I played lacrosse and field hockey. I didn’t know where I wanted to settle to start life so when a recruiter came to talk to us our first semester of nursing school, I signed up. That was one week after 9/11/2001. I finished my BSN on a Navy scholarship and entered Dec. 2003.”

She says that her most difficult duty was working at Walter Reed hospital during an “intense time of the [Gulf War]. We would have 3-4 patients with limb amputations and traumatic wounds. It was horrible to see young men and women blown up day in and day out.

It takes a toll on your spirit and mental health. And it’s hard to leave work at work, you take them home with you, thinking about them every night and still thinking about them to this day.

Rewarding but heart-crushing at the same time. I’ve seen things I never thought possible.” She says that she learned “leadership, delegation, thinking outside the box, and helping everyone on all levels. Get your hands dirty and do every job from the lowest level up.” She adds, “I

Commander (Dr.) Jacqueline Lamme,

Lieutenant

think the leadership as a captain on the lacrosse and field hockey fields helped prepare me to lead other sailors. Also, seeing the diversity on campus and travel that students did translated to wanting to travel abroad and be around a diverse group of people daily. The military is very diverse!”

Military life has “been amazing and very difficult at the same time. Being away from family support is the hardest. Moving every 2-3 years has been taxing. Not having your stuff for long periods, sleeping on blow-up mattress for months. Having your belonging broken, lost, scratched, and destroyed on moves. Our last move to Sicily we didn’t have our stuff for 6.5 months. The children didn’t have their toys, books, personal belongings. We had all the major holiday without decorations and traditions. But, living in beautiful places and meeting amazing people everywhere we go is very rewarding. And moving one week after having a baby sucked. And moving to a foreign country and your husband being called to work the next day and every day for the next two weeks for the Afghanistan refugees when we landed in Sicily with nothing sucked.”

She concludes by saying, “I like sharing how lucky we are as Americans. I have been to more than 30 countries, and I’ve seen poverty beyond measure. Count your blessings and freedoms. Our country is amazing with amazing people.”

Miller has been awarded three Navy Commendation Medals, two Navy Achievement Medals, and a Joint Forces Commendation Medal.

Robert Reinheimer is a Navy lieutenant commander currently on active duty serving as a public information officer in Japan. He was commissioned as a surface warfare officer through the Navy Officer Candidate School in 2012 initially serving on USS Decatur and then USS Chinook as the operations officer and navigator. He had early experience with the Navy as his father served in the Navy for six years as an electronics technician aboard diesel submarines.

He requested transfer to the Navy public affairs community and was accepted in 2016. His first public affairs assignment was in San Diego, and after two years there he was reassigned to the Pentagon. Some two years later he was posted to Japan, his current assignment, where he is serving as the public affairs officer at Commander, Submarine Group 7.

He says, “There are many reasons why I joined the Navy. My father served and always told me how the Navy takes care of their people with benefits, opportunities for education, and travel. I had briefly thought of applying to the Naval Academy but decided to go to Hobart and told myself that if, after two years of working in the civilian world, I wasn’t happy with my professional life, I’d apply

to OCS. I was living in Boston after graduating in 2007 and working jobs that paid very little. I could not see myself being able to pay off my student loans and be able to provide for a (future) family with that financial situation, so I put my OCS package together and applied in late 2009. Now, this was still around the time of the great recession, so the backlog of people trying to join the Navy was long. I was accepted in late 2010 but didn’t report to training until January of 2012. I also wanted to serve my country. Whether it is through the military, volunteer organizations, or being a teacher, firefighter, EMT, etc., I feel everyone should strive to serve their country in some way. The Navy has allowed me to grow professionally, provide for my family financially, and also to serve the country that has given me so much.”

He continues, “I am constantly learning. As a surface warfare officer, I learned how to drive a warship, how to lead a division of Sailors, and how to deal with stress and competing priorities. As a public affairs officer, I am continually thinking how to best tell the Navy’s story to the American people-- as the ways in which we communicate continue to evolve…In some ways, I saw having a rounded, liberal arts degree as providing a good balance to the other officers onboard who maybe had a more STEM-centric educational background or one that included ROTC or the Naval Academy. Also, my media classes and film editing courses translated well once I finally made it to the public affairs community.”

He met his wife, a former Emirates Airlines flight attendant, on a deployment to Bahrain. She has used his GI Bill for a degree in nursing, and they are expecting their first child in the summer of 2022.

Lieutenant Commander Robert Reinheimer, USN, H’07

Vincent DeFabo entered the Air Force Judge Advocate Corps after graduating law school. He is still on active duty stationed in San Antonio, TX. His wife also is an officer in the Air Force specializing in electronic warfare. He says, “I joined to serve my country. I felt the call to serve both after 9/11 and after growing in my appreciation of service while at Hobart. I felt the desire to give back. I did AmeriCorps before law school and just wanted to keep finding jobs in which I was serving others.”

Of skills learned in the Air Force, he relates, “The biggest skill I learned is how to work as a team in a professional setting. There are lots of technical aspects I learned (e.g. cybersecurity) and a lot of professional skills as a JAG (e.g. how to litigate). However, all of those things I feel like I could eventually learn with other jobs. Learning how to be part of team and what makes certain people function a certain way takes more time. You also in the military end up in a leadership position sooner than you would think, so having to learn how to be in charge of that team and the challenges that brings.”

He credits Hobart with preparing him well for his service. “I learned how to take an intellectual approach to service. That you don’t blindly jump into a problem without learning who you are trying to help and why you are trying to help them. I also learned the value of team work when I was on the rowing team and how to work with others.”

He says of family life, “Our children have only known the military. Since my wife is also active duty, they assume that serving in the military is all you do. The time apart has been difficult. When my wife deployed, I had to figure out how to be a single dad until she returned home. I then later got a remote assignment for 10 months and we had to figure out how to manage being thousands of miles away.”

When asked if he received any medals for his service, he responds, “The biggest accomplishment was serving as a

defense counsel for some special forces members who had PTSD. I’ve got some medals and awards along the way. I’ve also got “coined” by some important people. (Ed note: coining is the presentation of a unit’s challenge coin…a reward for a job well done.) However, after defending an Airman with PTSD, he gave me a coin as a thanks. He had difficulty based on his condition even looking at military memorabilia or putting on the uniform, so it took a lot for him to go through that and made me feel like I really helped him. That was the biggest accomplishment I have received so far up to this point.”

Kimberly Schlam (nee Kocak), WS’08

Dr. Kimberly Schlam served in the Army Dental Corps as a prosthodontist from 2017 to 2021. Unlike most military medical corps service people, Schlam did not get her education on a military scholarship; she was a “unicorn,” one who was completely trained before joining. She is a graduate of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine with a residency at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She says she joined

“[for the] opportunity to practice great dentistry in state-of -the art-facilities. She realized that many soldiers needed comprehensive prosthodontic care. She was eager to treat her patients with the highest level of care and be able to do so free of charge. Her military patients presented her with many interesting challenges ranging from congenital conditions to service-related trauma. Schlam also enjoyed her varied tasks during her service which included clinical prosthodontics, teaching for the Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency, as well as her leadership position of Laboratory Officer, leading six dental technician laboratories. She also writes that being in the

Army provided “a great balance of work and family. I was able to start my career as well as have two children while in service. The military provides excellent care for pregnant soldiers, great maternity leave, and the best hospital experience my husband and I could hope for.”

Her husband is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon in the Army, and she has enjoyed practicing alongside him at their stations of Fort Bragg and Joint Base Lewis-McChord. She completed her time in the Army and transitioned to private practice because “it is hard to continue to move every three years with young children. I prefer the autonomy and entrepreneurial opportunities of private practice, and private practice allows the ability to work three days a week.”

Her Army service provided many leadership roles. “I ran many organizations within my field: including participating in the sleep apnea board and coordinating care among six clinics; helped develop the digital dentistry program at Joint Base Lewis-McChord by incorporating intraoral scanning and CADCAM dentistry to improve patient access to care. I provided full arch tooth replacement for many patients in need, using dental implants; and collaborated with various surgical colleagues.”

Her summary of her service in the Army: “Great balance of life, built amazing relationships - friends and colleagues for life.”

Major Vincent DeFabo, H’08

Carmen Cimini enlisted in the Army in 2010 and is currently serving as a Green Beret Special Forces Medical Sergeant. He plans to leave the Army soon and pursue an MBA at one of three California universities.

He says, “I simply felt that I needed to serve my country. I was an able bodied young man who had the aspirations to push himself and aid the nation in what I felt was my greatest capacity. I made sure that I enlisted to do the job that I really wanted to even though I had a college degree. I had to go through four years of training to become a Special Forces Medical Sergeant, and we are the best trained and most capable medics in the military.”

He describes some of his rigorous training, “In order to become a medical sergeant on an ODA (Operational Detachment Alpha) you must not only deem yourself to be tactically proficient but also medically excellent. We went through a nine-month course called the Special Operations Combat Medic Course which trains us thoroughly on EMT/paramedic skills, anatomy and physiology, dental, pharmacology, basic and advanced trauma skills, and prolonged field care in an austere environment. We also went through a four-month block on which we learned surgical skills up to the point where I have the confidence in myself to run an operating room and complete a limb amputation with the aid of teammates. We go on two rotations to varying sites around the US, and I did my trauma rotation in St. Petersburg, FL and my clinical rotation on a Navajo Reservation in Chinle, AZ. Being able to serve these communities in a medical capacity made me feel like I was really able to make a change in some of the patient’s lives.”

H’10

He observes, “Going into the military, I was able to employ what I learned at HWS in order to be able to connect and understand people of different ages. From being a 27-year old college grad that enlisted in the military and having to mentor a 17-year old guy that just got his GED was a training in itself. The various background, cultures, and dedication levels of each soldier

I encountered always provided me a different perspective on life, whether I agree with it or not. Having the ability to accept people for what they are allowed me to succeed in the Army, and I can thank HWS for that open mindedness that I never would have had staying in southern California [where I grew up].”

He is a graduate of the Jungle School, the Special Forces Dive Medical Technical Course, the Special Forces Combat Diver Qualification Course, the Military Free Fall Parachute Course, Korean Language School, the Basic and Advanced Leader Courses, the SERE Course (Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape), the Special Operations Combat Medic Course, the Special Forces Qualification Course, and the Army Airborne School.

Major Jeffrey Gibson, USMC, H’10

Jeffrey Gibson is a major on active duty in the USMC. He is an MV-22 Osprey pilot who has completed two tours flying in the Middle East. Currently he serves in the Marine presidential helicopter squadron—a position that requires impeccable credentials and flying skills.

He decided to join the Marines after the terrorist attacks in 2001, but to be an officer and pilot requires a college degree, so he went first to Hobart. He writes, “This past year on the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, I had the honor to fly in support of the president’s visit to the ceremony in NYC. I visited the 9/11 museum and bought a flag that had been flown over ground zero, and I have flown with that flag every flight since then. I plan on displaying that flag in my home once my time in the service is complete.”

He credits his degree in psychology with helping him to develop his leadership style that “translated well with my subordinate Marines.” And, of his experience as a Marine officer, he says, “Aside from the skills I gained by training to be a pilot, I have learned various leadership and instructor skills that will be applicable in future aviation endeavors.”

Looking ahead to the time when he will leave the service, he points to the “unknown. I have spent the past 11 years becoming an expert in aviation and have had the fortune of being selected to fly for [many] prestigious units. Changing career paths when I am well established in my current career is intimidating.”

Gibson is the recipient of the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. A particularly noteworthy achievement was his selection to the USMC Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course.

Staff Sergeant Carmen Cimini,

Cimini, Far Right

CTI2 Justine Kain, Navy, WS’11

Justine Kain is serving in the Navy as an Arabic linguist. She has served in Georgia and Maryland. Her husband is a Navy Veteran.

Kain majored in Spanish and French at HWS. She joined the Navy shortly after graduation and after returning from a study abroad in Spain. She writes, “There was a memorable moment while in Southern Spain, coming across the Arabic language, I knew it was my next adventure. I began to look for avenues to continue this journey and stumbled across the linguist program in the Navy. I spoke with a recruiter and knew exactly what I wanted to be, and I was able to choose to learn Arabic. I left later in 2011 for Monterey, CA. At 22, living in CA learning a language to me was living the dream. For me, this was my steppingstone to becoming a greater linguist able to learn more complex category 3 and 4 languages. I absolutely think this skillset has helped create my future. I currently utilize my French and Spanish linguistic skills while serving in the Navy.”

She earned an AA in Arabic at Monterey and is returning to take an AA in Russian. She intends to stay in the Navy until retirement and then use her skills in the civilian arena supporting the intelligence community.

Lieutenant Kathryn Lamardo, USN, WS’13

Kathryn Lamardo has served in the Navy as a cryptologic warfare officer since 2017 and will return to civilian life at the end of 2022 to pursue a graduate

degree. After college she worked for the NYPD analyzing forensic evidence but realized that she wanted to take her career to a new level of public service. She says, “Joining the Navy as a cryptologic warfare officer felt like the best career path for my strengths and passions.”

While serving on USS Essex she led a division of sailors through the successful execution of a seven-month deployment to the Middle East and the Western Pacific. She writes, “While I learned a wealth of technical knowledge during my Navy service, the most valuable skill that I’ve learned as a junior officer is leadership. I can take the leadership experience with me to any professional field I find myself in as I transition to civilian life.”

Riley Gallegos (nee McCarthy), WS’15

Riley Gallegos served as an officer in the Marine Corps 2015-2019 in Okinawa, Japan and Camp Pendleton, CA. She discusses her reasons for joining military service. “I wanted to travel. I played competitive soccer as well as other sports, and I was not ready to give up the focus on fitness, teamwork, and overwhelming sacrifice that I gave to sports. The military seemed to fit all those aspects. I am extremely patriotic. To me, there is nothing more fulfilling than serving my country.” She continues, “As an officer, we were taught in boot camp how to lead, to put our Marines/others ahead of ourselves, to continue to grow/learn, and to be self-disciplined and strive for the best. These are all important qualities that have helped me in my post-military life. Each one of these aspects has become an important foundational piece of my everyday life whether it is involving relationships, fitness, occupation, etc. The dedication of playing on a collegiate sports team is something that I attribute to my success in military service. WS soccer required us to be timely, motivated, self-disciplined, and to put others ahead of ourselves. Each of these qualities translated seamlessly to the USMC officer life.”

She did not find the transition to civilian life an easy one, saying, “It is so difficult to be prepared for this transition. Even after having moved out of the country, away from friends and family, to serve in Japan and the struggles that came with military life, my transition out of the military and into the civilian sector was one of the toughest transitions I have ever had to make. It was a huge change that I was not prepared for, and I ended up in a

job, but not something that I was extremely passionate about. With my transition came a cross-country move (Jan 2020) followed by the onset and uncertainty of COVID. Therefore, I had to face a lot of unknowns and did so in a location that was far away from anyone I knew. I felt like my transition lasted quite a while – upwards of nine months to one year.”

After working for a medical device manufacturing company for a year, Gallegos has decided to pursue a nursing career. She writes, “I had learned so much about the medical world from the company I was at, and I really did miss the service aspect from my time in the military. For the last 16 months, I have been going to school full-time and have completed my AS in Human Biology which has satisfied all the necessary prerequisites that I need for nursing school. I have been accepted and will be starting the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) Program at Duquesne University this fall.”

Riley Gallegos is married to Austin Gallegos, H’17, who is a 1st Lt. in the USMC.

Matt Everdyke, H’17

Matt Everdyke served in the Army 2007-2013 including a combat tour in Iraq prior to attending Hobart on the GI Bill. He is the first in his family to graduate college. Everdyke enlisted in the Army “to get out of the little town of Marion, NY (oddly enough I found this and the surrounding area to be the place I wanted to settle after service) and follow in my grandfather’s footsteps. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the greatest man I’ve ever known, and that shaped me into what I am today. I left the service with a list of superficial reasons to never re-enlist, such things as ‘attempted assault with a HMMWV’ and ‘the .50 cal. incident.’ But, I truly left because I had gotten married and couldn’t bear to go to war again and leave her behind.”

His training entailed “small unit tactics, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), post blast analysis, advanced operator casualty response (live tissue training), how to shoot, move, and operate as a cohesive unit under constantly changing security and threat scenarios. All in all, I think being a stubborn grunt and seeing the job through, no matter how messy, in-efficient, or battered I am at the end, is a skill I’ll take to my grave and is certainly handy in the agricultural field.”

While in Iraq he experienced an unusual situation, “A fine man named Sheik Razaak was in prison when we first arrived in Iraq because a rival sheik had planted weapons on his property in a bid to win a land war. We got all that settled for him and he was released. In return, Razaak, going against his religious culinary code, had his wives cook the platoon a ham for Christmas. When we got the invite, we didn’t know there would be a ham and were convinced it was an ambush. We went, helicopters overhead, and reinforcements on standby. We ate a proper Christmas dinner made by a man’s family who probably have never considered it.”

He relates a story about his family, “My wife was very patient. We started dating after my Iraq deployment, and that went all through EOD school; she visited [me] when she could and upon graduation I got orders to Ft. Bliss, TX. There were two EOD companies there, one of which was on its way to Afghanistan and the other on its way back. I was slotted to be married in October and was also being actively recruited by the EOD company that was about to deploy. At the last minute, my leave form got signed and I was officially not going to Afghanistan, 6 days before my wedding. I believe my father-in-law said “if he’s not here, we’re going to have quite the party.”

He joins a long list of veterans unknowingly afflicted with post-traumatic-stress-disorder. He says, “I wasn’t diagnosed with PTSD until eight years after I left. I wish I would’ve realized it sooner.”

Second Lieutenant Alec Robitaille, USAF, H’21

Alec Robitaille is currently serving in the USAF as a second lieutenant completing 45 days active duty each year and serving on active duty reserve the remainder of the year while he completes medical school as a Health Professions Scholarship Program recipient.

He writes, “My roommate at Hobart inspired me to join the service. His brother is a Marine and his father served. Hearing stories from my best friend really inspired me to pursue a career in military medicine.”

AFTERWORD

The Colleges possess a rich and abundant history of military service to our great nation, earning our Alma Mater a rather large standing on the historical map for colleges and universities that advocate and promote the magnificent and proud traditions of military service, dating back 200 years for Hobart and William Smith Colleges. There is no greater or more noble deed than to serve one’s country for the cause of the precious gift of freedom. Enshrined within the halls of our campus are the legacies of those who chose the course of selflessness and patriotic duty above all else, knowing full well that they might never make it back home. That we can pay tribute to those, some of those who have paid the ultimate price, on the occasion of the Hobart College Bicentennial Celebration, is our gift to all those who have worn the uniform and to their families.

The collecting and telling of Veterans stories preserve not only the personal accounting of their war stories but illuminates the significance of such enormous sacrifices made for the preservation of our basic liberties that underly the very basis for the founding of this nation. So many of our alums, Service Members, Active Duty, National Guard, and Veterans alike have generously allowed us to bring their military service to life. They answered that call of duty, the utmost and loftiest honor ever to befall those who proudly swore that oath of allegiance for duty, honor, selfless service and above all, for country, not ourselves. Nothing compares. Nothing ever will.

According to our resident historian, John Norvell, there must be something about the DNA of HWS graduates that speaks to the issue of public service, military service, and humanitarian efforts to do right for a cause, for multiple causes, all for the betterment of humankind. Though this may be implicit, there were unmistakable underpinnings leading HWS students to rise to challenges and causes far beyond measure, devotion to enterprises that have and will continue to impact the world in rather enormous ways.

And now, in celebration of this bicentennial, we have all crossed paths to bring to life what most of America has taken for granted, from the Civil War to the Korean War, to the jungles of the Vietnam War, and finally, to the Global War on Terrorism that has spanned the Middle East for 21 long years. We have told their stories with great reverence surrounding the very notion of military service. Be inspired by the banquet table of military service at which all of those who have contributed have been seated.

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)

Col (Dr.) Kathy Platoni WS’74, USA (Ret)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many hands have made this work light. First and foremost we thank our spouses not only for aiding and abetting us but for being patient as we agonized over the words and especially the meaning of the words. So, our deepest thanks go to Jean Anderegg, WS’67, Bonnie Norvell, Susan Woodward, and John Hutchinson. This book was Jean’s idea in the first place. We also recognize the advice offered, and usually heeded, from Toby Pugh, H’67, and Mike Hanna, H’68, who were in on this from the beginning with ideas and support. Another who was in on it from the outset was Chevanne DeVaney ’95, P’21, P’23, Director of Alumni and Alumnae Relations. She never once flinched at our goal of getting this done in time for the Bicentennial Celebration. Also from the Colleges, Mary LeClair, our editor, and Sandra Devaux, our layout person, brought it to life and designed the front and back covers. Kevin Colton, the Colleges’ photographer, gets credit for the perfectly composed cover photo as well as many of the interior photos. Thanks so very much for making us look good! Also, a tip of the literary hat to the student researchers who found historical references and the many photographs: Avi Rajkarnikar ’23 and Katherine Healy ’23. Additionally, the Colleges’ outstanding archives office came through in smashing style. And finally, thank you to the 117 veterans who shared their experiences in the military and in their civilian lives for this book. You are, indeed, living lives of consequence.

Thank you for your service!

Dick Anderegg, H’67

John Norvell, H’66

Kathy Platoni, WS’74

Jack Woodward, H’68

APPENDIX 1. VETERANS’ SURVEY

HWS VETERANS BOOK SURVEY

Note: Your privacy is very important to us. To better serve you, the form information you enter is recorded in real time.

As part of the Hobart Bicentennial Celebration, Ret. Col. Dick Anderegg H’67, Ret. Lt. Col. John Norvell H’66, P’99, P’02, Ret. Col. Dr. Kathy Platoni WS’74, and Ret. Lt. Gen. Jack Woodward H’68 are writing a book that will document the history of Hobart and William Smith alums US military service. The results of this survey will be included in a large section of “thumbnails” in the book written from your responses.

The list of questions is long, but don’t be intimidated, please; you may answer as little or as much as you want. And don’t worry about syntax, spelling, or complete sentences, as the authors will string your answers into a narrative anyhow. Furthermore, this isn’t a recruiting device; if you hated being in the military, say so…and why. Finally, nothing will go in the book without your approval. We will send each of you your “story” for comment before it goes to the printer.

Last, don’t be shy about your accomplishments. If you won a medal, say so. If you were CEO of an international company after your service, tell us. All the text will be in the third person as if we interviewed you and we’re telling the story. We promise we won’t make you look like a braggart. These kinds of things are interesting to the reader.

To date, we have received more than 100 completed surveys. Profiles of the surveys will be in the book.

Thank you,

The HWS Veterans Committee

Name: (First Name, Last Name, Last Name while at HWS if Different, Nickname) Class Year: Home Address: Phone: E-mail: THE BASICS

1. Which service and service dates. Where you served. Your specialty. Where are you from? A bit about your family, especially if other family members had military service.

2. Why did you enter military service? Why did you leave military service?

3. What was your most challenging assignment while in the military?

4. What skills did you learn while serving? Were you able to apply them in later careers/jobs? How?

5. Did what you learned at HWS translate to the service? How?

6. What’s a story from your service you’d like to tell your children/grandchildren? (An attempt on my part to include some humor, or human interest.)

7. How was life for your spouse/partner and/or children while you were serving?

8. Did you face any difficulties transitioning from military to civilian life?

9. What careers/jobs did you have after leaving the service?

9. Community Service?

10. Last, don’t be shy about your accomplishments. If you won a medal, say so. If you were CEO of an international company after your service, tell me. All the text will be in third person, as if I interviewed you and I’m telling the story. I promise I won’t make you look like a braggart. These kinds of things are interesting to the reader.

PLEASE INCLUDE A PHOTO OF YOU WHILE IN MILITARY SERVICE.

Use the file uploads to send us current photos. Only one file may be attached per file upload.

Use the photo description to add in your caption notes for any photos you have uploaded.

Photo Description(s):

APPENDIX 2. LIST OF KNOWN HWS VETERANS

The authors know that the list below comes nowhere close to listing all the veterans of the Colleges who have served in the US military. It is a combined list of one maintained by the Colleges and some of the participants in the veterans’ survey for this book. Nonetheless, the list below is a start at identifying those who served.

Bernard M. Aaron

Daniel J. Abroms

Charles V. Adair

Crawford G. Adams

John S. Adams

J. Laurence Adkinson Jr.

John R. Ake

David S. Albright

James W. Albright

Jonathan W. Alexander

Timothy J. Alter

Julie Ann Zelazny Ambrose

Donald S. Ames

Jeffrey L. Amestoy

Matthew L. Amodeo C. Richard Anderegg

Eric Hall Anderson

John M. Anderson, Jr. Richard I. Andorsky

Craig S. Anken Krista T. Anken

Silas R. Anthony, Jr. Richard P. Apps, James Asthalter Jr. Bruce E. Avery

Joshua J. Bagley

Dudley S. Baker

Joseph W. Baker

Richard B. Bamberger

Robert C. Bamford

James F. Barletta, Jr. William K. Bartley

Artis Baskin, Jr. Charles C. W. Bauder

John Baxter

Mark P. Bayer

James W. Beardsley

Thomas N. Beatty

Michael M. Beaudrias

Paul M. Beck

Richard L. Beck Sherman C. Bedford, Jr. Edmund C. Beebe, Jr.

Robert P. Beedon Christy W. Bell Nigel J. A. E. Bell Elizabeth Fink Bengis

Bruce N. Bensley

Anthony J. Bertino Otto J. Betz IV

Charles A. Bevan III Justus Bey

Laura Moeller Bibby Thomas S. Bird, Jr. John C. Bishop Sean W. Black

John W. Bobak

Francis Dominic Bonadonna Thomas S. Bozzuto

John P. Bracken

Jonathan B. Bradner

William A. Branch Roderick L. Brant Gibbs V. Bray

Alan H. Brodine

Douglas M. Brooks

James H. Brooks Douglas P. Brown Rodger R. Brown Rachael H. Bubbs

Leonard Buchakjian Stockton M. Buck

Tina Mooney Buckholz Kevin R. Burke

Robert M. Burley

Richard J. W. Burroughs

William C. Butcher

James F. Caird

Robert W. Cameron R. Laurent Cannon

Lt. Robert B. Caron

Robert E. Ceruti

Richard P. Champion

Eugene S. Channing

Harry G. Charlston Carmen J. Cimini

Robert L. Clark

Richard L. Clarke Matthew B. Clifford John W. Cocroft

Lawrence J. Cole Christopher M. Collins Douglas A. Constantine Kevin S. Cook

Spencer J. Cook, Jr. Geoffrey B. Cooke William J. Corbett William Corwin Joseph F. Cowan

Mr. Raymond J. Crawford

Alan C. Crombie

John D. Culbertson

Gary A. Dake

Christopher S. Dann

Michael F. David

Alan J. Davis

Morgan F. Davis Robert M. Davis

James Day

Vincent L. DeFabo

Shannon Phillips

Desrosiers

Paul G. Deutsch

Roy Dexheimer

Michael A. Dierks

Brian M. Dimmer

Dylan R. Doeblin

Steven R. Donovan

Alexander L. Doyal

Craig E. Durkin

Matthew E. Dyson

William E. Eckhardt

Douglas Edwards

Theodore W. Edwards, Jr. George Ehrhardt, Jr.

Lorin S. Evans

Matthew Everdyke

Stephen P. H. Everett

W. Patrick Falvey

Martin Farber

Christopher S. Farr

Christina M. Farris

Wilson Faude

Michael G. Fazio

Richard B. Feinstein

William T. Ferris III

Charles M. Feuer

Cortland D. Field

Christopher M. Flanagan

Peter Foster

Joseph B. Fowler, Jr.

Timothy L. Francis

George A. Frasca

Rodney P. Frelinghuysen

Eliot M. Fried Vaughn R. Fry

Rebecca Krutz Frye

Celene A. Fyffe

John P. Gabrielson

Chris C. Gagas

Corey J. Gallagher

Austin D. Gallegos

Basil F. Gavin

Michael Geary

Scott D. Geise

Thomas B. Gentz

Gary L. Getman, Ret.

Mark E. Getzin

Kenneth H. Gibbs

Jeffrey D. Gibson

Jonathan D. Glatman

Mark Golde

Ronald A. Golden

Robert D. Goldstein

Geoffrey M. Gonzalez

Geoffrey H. Goodman

Richard I. Gottlieb

Thomas W. Grace, Jr.

Frank B. Granger

John W. Graves

Rebecca Borsuk Green

Sarah Eck Gregory

Ernest H. Greppin, Jr. Anthony H. Griffin

Robert B. Gurian

Patrick J. Haley

James Hamilton

Michael J. Hanna

Martin R. T. Harding

Chris N. Harlambakis, Jr. Howard Y. Harris

Peter G. Harvey

Thomas Hasselbacher

James A. Hayes II

Ruth Bowers Hazzard

Stephen L. Hecht

Emily J. Hecklau

John W. Heil

Emily M. Helstowski

A. D. Hemelright, Jr. David W. Hemphill D. Hunt Hendrickson

Richard N. Henrich

John T. Hicks

Jacob M. Hill

James F. Hill

Todd F. Hindman

John M. Hinman, Jr.

Class Jeffrey P. Hinton Edward H. Hirsch

Andrew M. Hirt

Stephen A. Hoare

David L. Hockenberry

Henry R. Holden

David S. Holland

Gilbert Holtz

Allyson Shirtz Howe

Robert H. Huey

Leonard Humphrey

Sabrina Hubbell

Iacangelo Gugy A. Irving III

Lev S. Jacoby

Faith E. James John R. Jayne Martha Stuart Jewett Henry O. Johnson George T. Jones

Lynne Scolaro Jones

Patrick J. Julian Jr. Douglas E. Kabel Justine N. Kain

David R. Kaplan

Stephen A. Katz

Jerry L. Keery

William Keller

John R. Kelliher

Edgar N. Kemp, Jr. Peter D. Kent. James H. Kidd IV

Sean A. Kirshe

Christopher T. Klevan

Richard C. Knipscher

John D. Kopp

Robert A. Kowal

Richard A. Kraut

Kathryn E. Lamardo

Jacqueline S. Lamme

Michael D. LaPan

John P. Lasley

John T. Lauer Douglas L. Leavens

Leslie M. Leister

Paul H. Levenson

Ronald W. Lewis Peter J. Lindner

Ernest V. Lisi Gregg P. Lombardo

Milton R. Long

Nicholas C. MacDonald

Richard S. MacIntyre

Wayne A. Magoon

Frederick F. Marciano, Jr.

Sidney S. Margrey

Mary R. Marlino

William F. Maroon, Robert R. Marraffa

Frederick J. Martin

Patrick R. Martin

Robert J. Mathews

Lynn D. Mayer

Bradley G. McAllister

Riley L. McCarthy

Richard S. McCutcheon

Nicholas P. McDonough Gail Herman McGinn

John P. McGloon

Clarence V. McKee

Donald A. McLean, Jr. Jonathan Melchior

Henry E. Meleney III

L. Thomas Melly

Patrick P. Metke

Kadyn S. Michaels

Alan Michigan

Rebecca Armiger Miller

Robert W. Miller

Frank B. Molter

Kyle Moore

Frederick M. Mosher Leonard P. Mott

S. Joseph Muccigrosso

Courtney Shepard Muller Karen Okun Munroe

Maria Irwin Murphy

Bruce T. Myers

Douglas F. Myles

Brett C. Naas

Justin H. Nave

Roger C. Neuscheler

Herbert S. Newman

William E. Nitterauer John E. Norvell

Sean M. O’Brien

Denis M. O’Pray

Lynn R. Oakleaf

Robert M. Olivieri

David L. Otis

Charles E. Otto

George E. Packard

Robert S. Parish

Justin L. Partyka

Colin M. Pech

Geoffrey B. Pennoyer

Mark Perkins Samuel T. Perrine

P. Scott Petosa

Karen M. Petrella

James R. Piazza

Ralph A. Pica

Silas J. Pierson

Christopher P. Piller

Katherine T. Platoni

Robert S. V. Platten

Michael R. Plummer

Edward T. Pollack

Kirsten M. Pollick

Roger M. Poole

Christopher C. Rankin

Calvin Rapp

Richard A. Rauh

Hunter R. Rawlings IV

Richard E. Reed Charles A. Reid III

Stephen J. Reinhardt

Robert A. Reinheimer

David Remedios

John S. Renouard

Michael A. Rizzotti

Craig M. Roberts

Paul F. Roberts

William T. Robertson

Alec Robitaille

Eric S. Rogers

John W. Rogers

Peter N. Rogers Henry A. Rosenberg, Jr.

Myron B. Rosenbluth

Allan G. Ross

John A. Ross

John F. Royston

Lukas R. Ruddy

Selwyn G. Rudnick

Richard L. Russell

Ashley E. Russo

Harris Rutbeck-Goldman

Peter T. Ryan

Charles H. Salisbury, Jr. James E. Salminen

Richard M. Salomon

Bradford F. Sauer

Melvin R. Schantz

Frederick A. Scheeren, Ret. John H. Scher

Kimberly Kocak Schlam

George M. Schneider

Philip S. Schoenfeld

David M. Schultz

William L. Schwarz William K. Schweitzer Robert N. Scolnik

Eric W. Scott Richard A. Scudamore

Lee F. Seidel Dean B. Seiler

C. Arey Shelton

Jacob N. Silberlicht

Theodore Silvester III

Victor L. Simpson Lyle A. Sisson

Richard Slimak Kershaw W. Smith Matthew V. Smith Owen N. Smith Ann Kathleen SmithRudnick Kenneth H. Spitzer John P. Springett

Charles M. Staats

Michael P. Stacy

Frederic N. Stark

William J. Stephans, Jr. Theodore P. Stock

Wyman R. Stone, Jr. Robert Strough Peter J. Stuart

George E. Sutton, Jr. Jack Taber

Jay H. Tanenbaum

Robert Taylor

Thomas C. Taylor

Lisa N. Tempesta

Ralph E. Thayer Mark R. Thomases

David R. Thompson Michael S. Tomasic Abby Pekrul Tomlinson

Alan R. Towne

David A. Tufts, Jr. Gerard P. Tully III Roger D. Turner Richard S. Ugelow Schuyler T. VanHorn W. Peter VanHorn Benjamin A. Vannah Harry G. VanWickle Andrew M. Volet

Abbot Williams Vose

Peter W. Warn

Joseph D. Waters

Michael C. Waters

Kathleen Frederick Webber

Altwon C. Webster

John T. Weeks, Jr. Marc E. Weintraub

Alexander S. Welles

William West

William A. Wetzel

Edward A. Whalen

Douglas R. Whinnery

Donald K. Whitney

Robert Williams Warren S. Williams Nelson R. Wilt Matthew E. Windhol

Joshua B. Winslow

Charles Witherspoon

Jonathan M. Wohlman Edward M. Wolfe

Oscar Womack, Jr. Bret J. Wood Geoffrey H. Wood

Steven D. Woodcock, Ret. Ceyon L. Woods

John L. Woodward, Jr. Stephen R. Wulfing

Paul J. Yesawich, Jr. Richard W. Yorke

Jonathan G. Young

Philip P. Young

Frederick J. Zehr Jr. Carl Zeitz

Robert H. Zinn

NOTES

1. Excerpt from For the Fallen Poem by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), published in The London Times newspaper on 21 September 1914, in the public domain in the United States.

2. The H Book of Hobart College, 2007, complied by the Druid Society and the Alumni Association, p 9.

3. Charles Bauder H’71, former head of the Geneva Historical Society, A short history of Geneva prepared for Hobart Charter Day celebrations, 2007.

4. The H Book, p 4.

5. Hobart and William Smith: The History of Two Colleges, Warren H. Smith, 1972, pp 12-14.

6. Another story placed the date of the selection in September, 1820. This date comes from an account of Thomas Burrall in the Gospel Messenger, Sept 20, 1866. Smith, p 79

7. This euphoria may have stemmed from the news of Andrew Jackson’s victory at the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815 and the end of the War of 1812, “The Era of Good Feelings: President, Significance, Summary, & End”, Laura Lohman, Study.com

8. “Bishop John Henry Hobart: Our Anglican Identity - Shared Belief and Shared Responsibility,” R. William Franklin, Ph.D. SPRL Professor of History and Mission, Professor of Anglican Studies, Chair of Advanced Degree Programs, The General Theological Seminary, New York City, 1995, pp 6-8

9. Franklin.

10. Information condensed from chapter one: Citizen Soldiers, and chapter two: War the Great Adventure, John E. Norvell, Fighter ‘Gator, 2021.

11. Hobart College, General Catalogue of Officers, Graduates, and Students, 1825-1897, listing in the beginning of the book, no page numbers.

12. Wikipedia: Philip Church.

13. Horace Webster, History of West Point Notable Graduates. History of West Point notable-graduates .

14. Horace Webster, Military-history.fandom.com

15. “A Hanging at Sea: Phillip Spencer and Melville’s Lost Manuscript,” Hobart and William Smith Colleges, online Interview Associate Professor History Matthew Crow, 2019; Wikipedia: Philip Spencer (sailor).

16. Wikipedia, Phillip Spencer (sailor).

17. “Wreck of the Warship That Inspired ‘Billy Budd’ Discovered Off Mexico,” Dana Nichols, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 11, 1987

18. A Hanging at Sea: Philip Spencer and Melville’s Lost Manuscript, HWS Daily Update: October 25th, 2019, online.

19. From a talk before the Arlington Historical Society on Sept. 14, 1973, “Old Probabilities”: A. J. Myer

and the Signal Corps Weather Service. Paul J. Scheips, The Center for Military History, U.S. Army, Arlington Historical Society.org online 20. Old Probabilities, Arlington Historical Society. 21. Wikipedia: Albert J. Myer. 22. Wikipedia: Edward S. Bragg. 23. Wayne Mahood, Written in Blood, Longstreet Press, 1997, p 4 24. Abner Jackson, Famousamericans.net 25. Abner Jackson, abnerjackson.wordpress.com 26. The attack on Ft. Sumpter occurred April 12–13, 1861. The South Carolina militia (the Confederate Army did not yet exist) bombarded the fort near Charleston. It ended with the surrender by the United States Army and was the beginning of the Civil War. Wikipedia Battle of Fort Sumter 27. Charles James Folger (1818–1884) Geneva College ’36, was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 34th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from November 14th, 1881 until he died in 1884; the Republican nominee for Governor of New York in 1882, however, was defeated by the Democratic Party’s nominee, future President Grover Cleveland. Wikipedia. 28. The catalog has a great deal of information, but it is labor-intensive to access it. Printed versions are available as well as a PDF from Google Books. I used my own printed version, which I have had for many years since I was alumni director. Additionally, there was an article about members of Theta Delta Chi who served in the war, all of which appeared in the Echo, Hobart Herald, January 01, 1889, pp 9-10, NYS Historic Newspapers 29. The H Book, p 37. 30. The History of the Chaplain Corps, US Navy, United States. Bureau of Naval Personnel 1948, pp 112-114. 31. Mahood, p 12. 32. “These Disastrous Times” - Hobart College and the Civil War, online blog, excerpts from Abner Jacksons’journal; Hobart Herald, January 01, 1880, p 9, NYS Historic Newspapers.org 33. Wikipedia: Brevet promotion. Interestingly breveting returned in 2021 as a means of filling critical leadership positions in the army. Defense Dept: dvidshub.net/news/393873/three-ntc-officers-apartarmys-return-brevet-promotions.

34. Findagrave.com memorial Thomas Rush Spencer. 35. U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, Ancestry. Com. 36. Letters of a Civil War Soldier, with the Diary of W. L. Hicks, edited by Ellen C. Collier, 2005, pp 12-13.

37. U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Application, Zephania Platt, Ancestry. Com.

38. Hobart Herald., January 01, 1897, p 22, NYS Historic Newspapers.org

39. U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, Ancestry.com.

40. Civilwardata.com: William Maximillian Crosby.

41. Catalogue of the Alpha Delta Phi Society 1899, p 276 google books.

42. Catalogue of the Sigma Phi, Google books, Delta of New York P 327.

43. New York: Report of the Adjutant-General 1893-1906

44. Findagrave.com memorial Robert Stewart Webb.

45. Brief History of Clarence A. Seward, Samuel Eells Literary & Educational Foundation online.

46. In April 1861, Abraham Lincoln asked Senator Edward Bakers to raise a California brigade. Baker organized the 1st California, consisting of Philadelphia men. By October, Baker’s brigade had grown to its full size, consisting of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th California Infantry. American Battlefield Trust: The California Brigade, online.

47. The Baltimore Sun, Ball’s Bluff, July 12, 1997, online.

48. LOC Abraham Lincoln Papers.

49. Library of Congress (LOC): Abraham Lincoln papers: Series 1. General Correspondence. 1833-1916: Francis G. Young to Abraham Lincoln, Friday, February 07, 1862 (Conduct at Ball’s Bluff).

50. Nathaniel P. Banks -- At the outbreak of the Civil War, President Lincoln appointed Banks as one of the first ‘political’ major generals, over the heads of West Point regulars, who initially resented him but came to acknowledge his influence on the administration of the war. After suffering a series of inglorious setbacks in the Shenandoah River Valley at the hands of Stonewall Jackson, Banks replaced Benjamin Butler at New Orleans as commander of the Department of the Gulf, charged with the administration of Louisiana and gaining control of the Mississippi River. Wikipedia: Nathaniel P. Banks.

51. New York, U.S., Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900 for George N Cheeney, online Ancestry. com.

52. Kalamazoo Public Library, history of South Street, W., 705: Robert Burns House, online.

53. The First Battle of Bull Run (Union name), also known as the Battle of First Manassas (Confederate name), was fought July 21, 1861, just north of Manassas, Virginia. There, the poorly trained and led troops on each side, engaged in their first battle. The Union’s forces were slow in positioning themselves, allowing Confederate reinforcements time to arrive by rail. This led to a disorganized retreat of the Union forces. Despite the general’s comments, it was considered a major Confederate victory. Wikipedia: First Battle of Bull Run.

54. Paroled Prisoner: Paroling was often used during the Civil War to release troops captured in battle. They had the prisoner sign a parole document and return to his lines. The parolee made a promise not to re-engage in the battle until they were officially exchanged. Only after they were officially exchanged could the troops legally reenter active service. Many troops captured in the earliest battles were held in prisons as there was at first no exchange system. Some troops who were wounded were paroled and returned to their respective armies to relieve some of the stress for the captors of providing medical care. Encyclopedia of arkansas.net online.

55. The memoirs of Gen. Joseph Gardner Swift, LL.D., U.S.A., the first graduate of the United States Military Academy, West Point, by Swift, J. G. (Joseph Gardner), 1783-1865; 1890, p 288 Google books online,

56. William S. Burns Reminiscences, Special Collections, and University Archives, Virginia Tech.

57. Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, Ancestry.com.

58. Synopsis of activities from The Second Colorado Cavalry: A Civil War Regiment on the Great Plains, Christopher M. Rein, 2020

59. Wikipedia: William Thomas Clark.

60. Obituary Capt Watson Webb, New York Daily Herald (New York, New York)13 Dec 1876, p 10.

61. Watson Webb in the U.S., Civil War Soldier Records, and Profiles, 1861-1865, Ancestry.com.

62. antietam.aotw.org, officers; Fairchild, C. B, History of the 27th Regiment N.Y. Vols., Binghamton (NY): Carl & Matthews,1888, p 242.

63. U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, Ancestry.com.

64. 6th WisconsinInfantry Regiment, Genealogytrails.com Wisconsin military.

65. Theodore Schenck is mentioned several times in the discussion of the Civil War in the History of Cayuga County, NY, Google Books.

66. Findagrave.com Memorial Theodore H Schenck.

67. Library of Congress: Excerpts from the biographic memorial of Dr. Charles N. Hewitt

68. Wikipedia William Watts Folwell. http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00880.xml

69. History of the Seventeenth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry. Compiled from Records of the Rebellion, Official Reports, Recollections, Reminiscences, Incidents, Diaries and Company Rosters, with an Appendix by H. P. Mover, Formerly Bugler, Co. E, 17th Regt., Pa. Vol. Cavalry. Sowers Printing Company, Lebanon, Pa. Ranger .com civil war us penna Cavalry 17pa cav Josiah H. Kellogg online.

70. Civil War in the East.com – US Regiments Batteries New York Infantry/141st-new-york.

71. Google Books: A History of Steuben County, New York, and Its People Irvin W. Near · 1911, p 462.

72. Findagrave.com/memorial Frederick Augustine Nims.

73. History of the Chaplain Corps, pp112-114.

74. Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana Archives, John David Beatty, Charles Nelson Spalding.

75. Wikitree.com Nathan Teall

76. Ontario Republican Times, Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York. Wednesday, April 30 1862

77. Scott Winslow.com Civil WarSurgeons.

78. Franz Sigel (1824–1902) was a German-American military officer, revolutionary, and immigrant to the United States who served as a Union major general in the American Civil War. Wikipedia: Franz Sigel.

79. New York, Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900, Ancestry.com

80. Journal American Medical Assoc, 1912, p 208 google books online.

81. American Battlefield Trust.

82. Obiturary of Jules F. Billard, Washington Times, Sunday, Jun 30, 1912, p 6.

83. Catalogue of the Sigma Phi 1891,p 341- google books online.

84. Ontario.nygenweb.net: Obituaries - Ontario County.

85. Findagrave.com Memorial John M. Forshee; Catalogue of the Sigma Phi:, P 342 - Google books.

86. University of North Carolina, Charles Carroll Gray Diary, 1861-1862, 1877 online.; Hobart Herald, November 01, 1884, p 9, NYS Historic Newspaper.com.

87. Findagrave.com memorial Andrew Zimmerman Mccarty.

88. Geneva Gazette, August 28, 1863, p 1

89. Register of the Society of Sons of the Revolution, Iowa Society, 1900, Henry Kip Clarke death notice, Google books, online.

90. New York: Report of the Adjutant-General 1893-1906; The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War.

91. Sandusky History Blogspot.com Benjamin F. Lee Civil War Veteran.

92. Mahood, p 355.

93. Kelly Wawrzyniak - UR Research: Boswell Plot Speaking Stones, Fall 2005 online. 94. The Hobart H Book p 14.

95. Billion Graves. Com: Charles Partridge Boswell.

96. New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, 156th New York Infantry Regiment’s Civil War Newspaper Clippings.

97. 6th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, Field and Staff. 98. “Dear Friends at Home”--: The Letters and Diary of Thomas James Owen, p 97 Google books, 99. Catalogue Alpha Delta Phi 1899, p 703 Google Books

100. New York, U.S., Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900, Ancestry.com

101. Hobart Herald., April 30, 1892, p 17, NYS Historic Newspapers.org

102. Findagrave.com memorial Truman Adams Merriman

103. Findagrave.com memorial Truman W. Miller

104. Sparedshared13.wordpress.com Hebe Smith to Rev Orsamus Smith online blog post; Dr. Ernest Hebersmth, History of Putnam County, New York, William S. Pellatreau, 1886, pp 272-273.

105. Sail Ho!”: A Civil War Surgeon and the Texas Blockade, Walter E. Wilson Southwestern Historical QuarterlyTexas State Historical AssociationVolume 124, Number 4, April 2021.

106. The Battle of Gettysburg, July 1–3, 1863, halted Robert E. Lee’s second invasion of the North; the first has been the previous fall at Antietam. The battle involved the largest casualties – 57,225 for the two armies – of the entire war. The war’s turning point was due to the Union’s success in defeating the

Confederate army. Wikipedia; Archives HWS, Edward H. C. Taylor Civil War Letter to his mother, July 4, 1863.

107. Archives HWS Edward H. C. Taylor papers collection.

108. The 27th United States Colored Infantry was composed of African American enlisted men commanded by white officers and was authorized January 16, 1864. Wikipedia: 27th United States Colored Infantry Regiment

109. Vermont in the Civil War.org: Charles J. Wright 110. George L Yost in the U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, Ancestry.com 111. Mahood, p 354.

112. Geni.com /Charles Cooper Bradford. 113. Findagrave.com Memorial Amos Brunson. 114. Wikipedia: Henry R.Gibson. 115. The Shield, Theta Delta Chi, 1897-1898, 298-299.

116. Findagrave.com memorial George Gallagher Hopkins; Google books: Biographical Directory of the State of New York, 1900, p 207.

117. Mahood, p 330.; New York: Report of the Adjutant-General 1893-1906.

118. Findagrave.com memorial John A Johnson, Hobart General Catalogue, p 125, death reported in the Utica Morning Herald.

119. Findagrave Memorial Edward D. Macomb online; US National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962, Ancestry.com. 120. Findagrave Memorial: William D. Pringle online. 121. William’s father, Benjamin Pringle (1807-1887), served two terms as a United States Congressman. In 1863. Lincoln appointed him to serve as a judge in South Africa on a special court for prosecuting the international slave trade. Wikipedia.org Benjamin Pringle.

122. Geneva Advertiser-Gazette., March 07, 1912, p 3, Obituary of George F. Pritchett, NYS Historic Newspapers.org 123. His wife Sophia is listed as a widow in the Brooklyn NY City Directory, 1881, Ancestry.com. 124. Wikipedia: The Bureau of Colored Troops. Major Charles W. Foster was chief of the Bureau, which reported to Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas. The designation United States Colored Troops replaced the varied state titles given to the African-American soldiers.

125. Ancestry.com, excerpt Newspaper, Daily Whig. 126. U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865, Ancestry.com online.

127. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 12, 1902, p 2, Newspapers.com online.

128. Special to The New York Times, November 15, 1903, p 7.

129. North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 for Joseph Gardner Swift, Entry for Joseph Gardner Swift, Ancestry.com.

130. The New York Times Mar 5, 1871, p 8.

131. The Hobart Herald., October 19, 1915, p 1. NYS Historic Newspapers.org; Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio, Ancestry.com.

132. Hobart Herald., February 01, 1907, p 28,. NYS Historic Newspapers.org

133. Findagrave Memorial William P. Smith, Geneva Daily gazette., April 29, 1864, Page 3, NYS Historic Newspapers.org

134. Findagrave Memorial; Frederick L. Tremain; Battle of Hatcher’s Run; Wikipedia.

135. Hobart Herald, January 01, 1880, p 10, , NYS Historic Newspapers.org.

136. The rank of Artificer (abbreviated Art.), was during the later 19th century American Indian Wars. Wikipedia: Artificer.

137. Civil War muster roll abstracts of New York State Volunteers, archives.nysed.gov application files 50thEng Roster, online.

138. Ancestry.com: U.S., School Catalogs, 1765-1935 for Robert Morton Drinker

139. See War between the States, History of Duryee’s Zouaves, online at electric scotland.com history American civil war; see also 5th Infantry Regiment nickname: National Zouaves; Advance Guard Zouaves; Duryee Zouaves, New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center online.

140. Findagrave Memorial: William Henry Ambercrombie.

141. The New York Times, Sept 6, 1907, copyright the NY Times, online.

142. The Hobart Herald, March 1, 1879, p 1.

143. Henry E. Handerson, American Medical Biographies, Wikisource online.

144. National Cyclopedia of American Biography, V. 7, p. 363.

145. His diaries are available online; goodrichpoems.wordpress.com/1860-2/may-1860/, excerpts cited on his service and death.

146. Wikipedia: James Innes Randolph.

147. Wilberforce R. McKnew, Confederate Officers, 2007, Arthur Wyllie, p 346; Information compiled by Maryland State Archives, msa.maryland.gov; Civil War Memoirs of the First Maryland Cavalry, C.S.A Edited by Samuel H. Miller; Maryland Historical Magazine Vol. 58, No. 2, June 1963, p 149.

148. Civil War Service Records - Confederate - Virginia; World Warw.fold3.com.

149. Findagrave.com Memorial Col Rudolph Alpheus King.

150. John L. Amsden Obituary, The Courier-Journal Louisville, Kentucky 28 Sep 1912, P 1; Kentucky military records, genealogytrails.com/main/military/confederatevets; William E. Mickle, Well Known Confederate Veterans and Their War Records, New Orleans, 1915, Google books.

151. Theta Delta Chi members in the Hobart Herald; Thomas Triplett Hunter (1813 - 1872.

152. Genealogy record, Geni, Capt T T Hunter CSN.

153. Hobart Herald, April 01, 1909, p 29, NYS Historic Newspapers.org.

154. On this day in history: Wilson Asks For Declaration of war, April 2, 1917

155. HWS Archives.omeka.net exhibits: Hobart at War

156. Hobart at War.

157. The Hobart Book, p 37

158. HWS Archives.omeka.net exhibits: William Smith at War

159. William Smith at War

160. Bartlett was a Harvard graduate, holder of a doctor of divinity from the University of Rochester, dean of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral in Manila (1908-1911), and first president of the University of the Philippines from 1911 to 1915. The Chaplaincy in War: U.S. Army Chaplain Corps Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star, Mark W. Johnson, Ph.D. Historian, U.S. Army Chaplain Corps, US Army Chaplaincy Journal; Summer 2015

161. The Battle of Soissons waged 18 July to 22 July 1918 between the allied French and American and the German armies. The Allies suffered 125,000 casualties (95,000 French, 13,000 British, and 12,000 American), while the Germans suffered 168,000 losses. The battle ended with the French recapturing most of the ground lost to the German Spring Offensive in May 1918. Military History.fandom.com

Battle of Soissons (1918).

162. The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is the United States Army’s second-highest military decoration for soldiers who display extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. Actions that merit the Distinguished Service Cross must be of such a high degree that they are above those required for all other U.S. combat decorations, but do not meet the criteria for the Medal of Honor. Wikipedia DSC.

163. The Chaplaincy in War

164. Historic Geneva.org, Andrew Hubbs, American Red Ambulance Corps, June 15th, 2018. John Marks, Curator of Collections

165. Historic Geneva, Andrew Hubbs

166. The Lafayette Flying Corps Edited by James Norman Hall and Charles Bernard Nordhoff Associate Edgar G. Hamilton, Vol I, Boston and New York Houghton Mifflin Company, The Riverside Press Cambridge, I920 p 157.

167. To blockade the German U-boat port of Bruges-Zeebrugge, Belgium, in April 1918, the British Navy sent three ships filled with concrete to be sunk in the Zeebrugge channel. Concurrently aircraft staged a diversionary attack on the ‘Mole’ or breakwater protecting the entrance to the channel. Campbell flew in the attack on the mole. Naval History and Heritage Command, World War I, The United States Navy in World War I, Attack of Zeebrugge Mole. history.navy.mil

168. Alumni News, S.C. Jones editor, Obituary of Hugh Gordon Jones, Hobart Herald, (Geneva, N.Y.), December 09, 1920, p 4.

169. H Book Hobart College, p 37

170. Hobart and William Smith Colleges - Archives and Special Collections - Photograph Collection, Memorial Bench Description Photograph of the flagpole and the Memorial Bench, which was dedicated during the Hobart College Centennial celebrations, undated.

171. NYS Newspapers.org, Geneva daily times., June 14, 1922, p 9

172. Obituary, Findagrave.com Robert Douglas Meacham

173. Wikipedia: .

174. New York, Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919 for Merritt C Rogers. World WarI Army Cards service.

175. Findagrave.com Memorial Oliver Phelps Jackson

176. Findagrave.com memorial William D’orville Doty

177. The Churchman. Vol 117, May 4, 1918, p 590.

178. 2nd Lieut. Field artillery. 107, 1896-1920 At the World War I draft, he was a student in Officer Reserve training. Findagrave.com memorial Morton Altice Way

179. From the blog: Leaving Leaves Wilson High School World War Memorial Harold Cullinan Smith.

180. Charlie Bauder ‘71, former head of Geneva Historical Society, St. John’s Chapel, Dec 5, 2018.

181. Bauder, remarks St. John’s Chapel, Dec 5, 2018

182. HWS Archives online Navy V-12 Activities and Social life 183. HWS Archives online Navy V-12 Decommissioning

184. HWS Archives online: Navy V-12 Trainees Arrive at Hobart College

185. Newspapers.com: Poughkeepsie Journal (Poughkeepsie, New York) 5 Nov 1996,

186. HWS online article: Committed to History: Kenneth E. Barden ’47, November 11th, 2015

187. Barden returned to Hobart and William Smith after the war to earn his degree in history. Initially

after graduation, he taught for four years in the Marcus Whitman Central School District in Gorham, NY. He and his young family then moved to California, where Barden served as a teacher and later as a school administrator until his retirement in 1983. Committed to History: Kenneth E. Barden ’47, November 11th, 2015

188. Chronicle Express, https://World Warw.chronicle-express.com/obituaries/story-obituaries-2020-1013-obituary-kenneth-edward-barden-5978824002

189. After leaving Japan, Shaddock received orders to return to Pearl Harbor at the command post of the amphibious forces until he returned to civilian life. He later returned to Hobart, completing a final semester before heading to the University of Buffalo School of Dentistry. HWS online article “From Hobart to Japan and Back.” Warren Shaddock ‘46, July 11th, 2016

190. HWS Archives online Navy V 12 unit a Hobart College

191. Warren Shaddock, Legacy.com

192. HWS: A Site of Change (1941-1945) July 20th, 2015 online

193. Mary Louis Koch Obituary: Legacy.com

194. “S.S. Hobart Victory Anchors in Geneva,” HWS Update, online, May 8, 2009.

195. Grady Jensen ’44, as a student played lacrosse, served as literary editor of the yearbook, and was a member of Kappa Sigma. Upon graduation, Jensen became a pilot the U.S. Navy, and subsequently enrolled in the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his Master of Business Administration in 1949. He later worked for Chase Manhattan, American Express, The Harwood Companies, New York University and Columbia University, retiring in 1996. He also served as an Alumni Trustee, Vice President and President of the Hobart Club of New York, six-time Reunion Coordinator, member of the Hobart Sesquicentennial Steering Committee, and Class Correspondent. He was awarded an Alumni Citation for loyalty and service to his alma mater in both 1984 and 1994. HWS Archives online: S.S. Hobart Victory Anchors in Geneva, May 8th, 2009

196. The H Book, p 37.

197. Wikipedia: William A. Eddy

198. Wikipedia Eddy

199. Institue of Current World Affairs: Present at the creation: William Eddy and the US-Saudi alliance, David Kenner, October 18, 2019 online paper.

200. Kenner.

201. The Herald, February 11, 1994, p 2, NYS Historic Newspapers.org

202. The Herald, February 11, 1944

203. Pro Patria Booklet

204. Wikipedia: The War in the Pacific Theater.

205. Information provided by the Roenke family, Finger Lakes Times obituary, March 30, 2014

206. Oral history interview with his daughters Marie and Carolanne Bianchi, Feb 2022.

207. History of the 451: 451st.org

208. Wikipedia.org Castelluccio Airfield

209. 461st.org Missions July 3, 1944

210. 15th AF Daily Operations report, July 3, 1944

211. The SS had established Wöbbelin to house concentration camp prisoners whom the SS had evacuated from other camps to prevent their liberation by the Allies. At its height, Wöbbelin held some 5,000 inmates, most of whom were suffering from starvation and disease. The camp was freed on May 2,

1945. Wikipedia

212. Democrat and Chronicle: October 26, 2013, Edward R. Crone Jr. was born in 1923, Meaghan M. McDermott, online profile.

213. Crone, called a shy young man, hoped to become an Episcopal minister. Refusing food and water, he died from what has been described as despair. His parents searched for five years for his remains and finally brought him home for burial in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, N.Y. Every Memorial Day until his death, Vonnegut sent flowers on Crone’s grave. HWS Online article: Doxsee ’46 recalls the Bombing of Dresden, February 13th, 2013

214. Gifford Doxsee obituary, Jagers Funeral home.com

215. University Remembers History Professor Emeritus Gifford Doxsee, Veteran of Greatest Generation, Ohio University online 2017/07.

216. The Battle of the Bulge occurred as a major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. It took place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. The offensive tried to split the Allied lines. This would allow the Germans to encircle and destroy the four Allied forces and cause the Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis powers’ favor. It marked the last major offensive attempted by the Axis Powers on the Western front. After their defeat, Germany would retreat for the remainder of the war. Wikipedia: Battle of the Bulge.

217. Wikipedia, Bombing of Dresden in World War II 218. https://World Warw.jagersfuneralhome.com/obituary/4343667

219. Pro Patria Booklet, prepared by Stephen Easton ’40, for the classes of 1940-1945 reunions. Available in the HWS Archives.

220. Pro Patria Booklet

221. https://World Warw.uswarmemorials.org/html/people_details.php?PeopleID=4804

222. https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/200211

223. https://World Warw.americanairmuseum.com/person/106694 224. The Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) tried to meet wartime demands for junior officers and soldiers with training in engineering, foreign languages, and medicine. Wikipedia Army Specialized Training Program 225. https://World Warw.honorstates.org/index.php?id=93925 226. Pro Patria Booklet

227. The Battle of Mindanao (March 10–August 15, 1945) was fought by the Americans and allied Filipino guerrillas against the Japanese forces on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines as part of the campaign to liberate the Philippines during World War II and the recapture of the southernmost portions of the archipelago from the Imperial Japanese Army. Wikipedia: The Battle of Mindanao 228. Elton H Davies Findagrave Memorial 229. Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York)21 Jan 1944, page 30. 230. https://World Warw.americanairmuseum.com/person/79216, letter and photo. 231. Pro Patria booklet 232. Pro Patria booklet 233. Burial information and photo from Ancestry.com 234. Pro Patria booklet 235. https://World Warw.findagrave.com/memorial/2793293/dietrich-felix_eberhard-rasetzki 236. Pro Patria booklet

237. https://World Warw.americanairmuseum.com/person/129108

238. Pro Patria booklet

239. Pro Patria booklet

240. Pro Patria booklet

241. Wikipedia G.I. Bill

242. HWS online article A Life of Peace Shaped By the Conflict August 4th, 2015

243. Smith, History of Two Colleges, p 277.

244. Anderson.stanford.edu: Anderson Art Collection

245. William Laughlin: Saga Foundation.org our-founder; Saga, the name came from the Indian word Kanadesaga, which means Geneva, New York Times, Saga Thrives on Serving Food, Feb 7, 1981, p 33.

246. New York Times, Saga Thrives.

247. Hws.edu Colleges mourn passing of saga co-founder Anderson 248. The History of Two Colleges, Smith, pp 277-278.

249. The Herald for this period is available on NYS Historic Newspapers.org, which can be word searched.

250. The H Book, p 18; there are many sources of material available online concerning Tommy the Traveler and the Colleges. These include: hws.edu/alumni/pssurvey/winter14: the Radical Who Wasn’t by Andrew Wickenden; historicgeneva.org: Unrest in Geneva, Alice Askins, 1960s Student Unrest in Geneva, September 25th, 2015; The Herald, an eight-part online series in 2019: Tommy the Traveler.

251. Source: Biographical materials provided by the Shorack family; honorstates.org Theodore Shorack.

252. vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces; honorstates.org; Thom T Osborn.

253. World Warw.honorstates.org Robert Boughton Beale

254. pownetwork.org/; honorstates.org/ bios Charles Cortens Winston

255. honorstates.org James K. Kirkby

256. Some of the information on alumni who died in Vietnam was provided by Larry Knapp, Associate Director of Biographical Records at HWS, many thanks to him for his help.

257. Information provided by Ken Debolt, Director of Athletic Communications, HW, February 2022

258. New York Times Obiturary: Peter Tauber, 56, a Journalist Who Wrote Vietnam-Era Memoir By Wolfgang Saxon March 19, 2004; Encyclopied. Com: Arts Educational magazines Tauber, Peter 1947-2004.

259. Peter Tauber, The Sunshine Soldiers, Simon and Shuster, New York, 1971, pp 156-157

260. The poem The Dreamers is in the public domain.

261. Excerpt from my 2021 book, Fighter ‘Gator.

the Hobart and William Smith Alma Maters