Alumni Sandstorm ~ 03/25/15 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10 Bombers sent stuff: Dick WIGHT ('52), Marilynn WORKING ('54) Helen CROSS ('62), Bill SCOTT ('64) David RIVERS ('65), Linda REINING ('64) Jim HEIDLEBAUGH ('65), Pat DORISS ('65) Tedd CADD ('66), Jim DAUGHERTY ('70) **************************************************************** **************************************************************** BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Frank DeVINCENTIS ('56wb) BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Nancy BEARDSLEY ('65) BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Susan GUNTER ('69) BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Karen DAVIS ('76) BOMBER LUNCH: Girls of '63 & '64, 11:30am, Spudnut Shop (Last Wed.) BOMBER CALENDAR: Richland Bombers Calendar Click the event you want to know more about. **************************************************************** **************************************************************** >>From: Dick WIGHT ('52) Wow! Neat story from Margo COMPTON Lacarde ('60). You boot-strapped your way into what sounds like "the good life", by your own force of will. Good going! Larry MATTINGLY should be in the midst of getting his new knee as I type this. Good luck, Larry! I have two replacement knees - one 8 years old I think, the other going on 3. They are pretty good friends of mine - named them "Port" and "Starboard". Wife Ruth has one replacement done 1 1/2 yrs ago. Perhaps we can compare notes later on. Rehab vigorously! It is important! -Dick WIGHT ('52) ~ in cool Richland **************************************************************** **************************************************************** >>From: Marilynn WORKING Highstreet ('54) Re: '54 Ladies Lunch http://alumnisandstorm.com/Lunches/Current-54/00.htm We had a couple of surprises for our lunch last Friday, 3/20/15. Joanie PHILLIPS Wile joined us while she was in town from Rathdrum, ID. Velma McCORD also came to lunch with her caregiver/friend. Lloyd and Betty RUSSELL Kent came by before they go to their home in Priest Lake, ID for the next 6 months. Missed some of our regulars, but they had other appointments and hope to see them in April. Through the laughs and latest news, we had a good visit. My husband, Richard and Joanie's husband, Dale had a chance to visit. Am including some pictures I took with my cell phone. Quality not guaranteed, but you can get a glimpse!! -Marilynn WORKING Highstreet ('54) ~ Pasco **************************************************************** **************************************************************** >>From: Helen CROSS Kirk ('62) To: Larry MATTINGLY ('60) Hope and pray your knee surgery went well today [3/24], so you can get back to writing about your garden and making pyrotechnics sound so great... makes me wish I could go see them! I am finally off to NV to help my 10 year old grandson celebrate his 11th birthday and welcome the new grandson when he arrives any day now!! -Helen CROSS Kirk ('62) ~ Hope, IN where it got down to freezing last night, but the crocuses and daffodils are blooming, and the buds are looking good for more blooms!! **************************************************************** **************************************************************** >>From: Bill SCOTT ('64) Re: Life This idea of summarizing our lives in the Sandstorm is a great one, and I look forward to the next. I think we'll find we have more experiences in common than we might think. Me, I'm not going to sum in all up in a few sentences. But I am going to reflect on one thing. Looking back from retirement, I've discovered how the tiniest of events can radically alter the course of our lives. A woman says no instead of yes to a marriage proposal—someone takes the B train rather than the A—someone takes a spur-of-the-moment trip to another city. For me, there is one defining moment, one small word, that had it been different, would have radically changed what my life was to become. Oddly enough, it was at my pre-induction physical in 1968. There used to be this little monster called The Draft, and when I graduated from WSU in 1968, I knew the Army would come calling soon. I beat them to the punch by enlisting in the Air Force, and was sent to Spokane for the pre-induction physical. At one point during the physical, they lined us up and a foot doctor walked by, examining our feet. He stopped in front of me. Now, my feet have all the arch of a thin pancake—which is to say, none. They have limited what I can do all my life. But I didn't know then they were the source of the pain I had experienced. I didn't know they were the reason I couldn't keep up with the others on boy scout hikes, or that my first job, a box boy at Stone's Low Cost Foods on Jadwin, put me in so much pain I couldn't do the work. I've always had to look for work that didn't require me to stand for long periods. I have never been able to do so without pain, and professional arch supports haven't helped. So the doctor stopped in front of me, and said: "Those feet ever give you any trouble?" "No," I said, not knowing they had been the source of my considerable pain throughout my first 22 years. The doctor moved on. But what if I had said "yes" and had been declared not qualified for duty? If I had said yes instead of no, and not been taken, I would not have been sent to California, where I was to spend most of the next 45 years, privileged to live by the sea in a place I quickly grew to love, and still regard as close to Paradise. Three times I moved away, and three times I went back. I would not have become aware of Brooks Institute of Photography, just down the road from the base, and gotten the notion to become a professional photographer, which I was for 18 years (it was my bad feet that quickly forced me out of doing it full time) after graduating from Brooks in 1977. I would not have had the privilege of participating in an outstanding adult choir, and all the joy that brought, or of going with them on a European concert tour in 1985 (unforgettable memories). I would not have met a woman in 1972 who was to haunt my psyche for the next 44 years. I would not have gone to work for the state of California, and acquired a pension, or participated in so many things that ever so slowly built up the self-confidence of a young man with a very bad self-image. If I had said "yes" that day instead of no, I shudder to think how it might have gone. I would probably never have left the state of Washington, perhaps not even Richland. The chronic depression I struggled with for so long might have overwhelmed me. I might never have secured a pension. I probably would never have been able to say, "I've seen Europe". And I never would have become a veteran. I was dragged kicking and screaming into the military, and fought it all the time I was in. But I'm so proud now to say that it's one of the best things I ever did. The benefits never stop. I'm so proud to say "Yes, I'm a vet." The thanks I get from strangers when I wear my Air Force hat are worth more than the military discounts I still receive. Well, I've gone on long enough. It would be interesting to hear from other Bombers who can pinpoint a tiny event in their lives that, in looking back, took them on a radically different path than what might have been. -Bill SCOTT ('64) **************************************************************** **************************************************************** >>From: Linda REINING ('64) To: Dick WIGHT ('52) Re: Dale GRAY ('58wb) I don't remember the names of all the ships Dale was stationed on, but I do know, that from '65-67, he was on the CGC Northwind and in Alaska from June '66 to November '67; he was on the CGC Midgett and in Alaska in '77... there was a fire on that ship and he was the only casualty... died from smoke inhalation. Maybe you were in Alaska during those times???? -Linda REINING ('64) ~ Kuna, ID **************************************************************** **************************************************************** >>From: David RIVERS ('65) Re: not quite summer but close Spring is sprung... fall is fall and summer... well summer is on its way... took the day Sunday to run over to Death Valley... back in my-poop-doesn't-stink-Big-Firm-Lawyer dayz we used to go to Furnace Creek every year for a retreat... that's a fancy way of saying getting hammered for a long weekend... dunno how we survived... corse ya gotta go to a place like that so the rest of the world doesn't see such astute and sage fellows and gals in that kinda shape... It was there that I saved the life of the most powerful lobbyist in the state... he had finished playing golf and was in full golf garb when he went into the bar and won a kamikaze drinking contest... then he decided to join some of us in the Jacuzzi... fully dressed... as he was a huge man and was wearing all this clothes, including shoes and sweater the ladies abandoned me with him... he immediately slid down to the bottom where he stayed... I managed to pull his head above water and call for help... after I was about done in some people heard and we got him out... poor guy is now in Lompoc for funneling money into Harry Reid's campaign illegally... they had been long time business partners and of course Harry came to his rescue... .riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight... so it was about 300 miles round trip and I hadn't been there in about 30 years... the flowers were beautiful... the 10 dollar buffet was $30 smackers and nothing had really changed in 30 years... I may go back in 30 more... if I can drive at 98... checked my passport and it still has 3 more years on it so I decided not to spend all day Monday at the DMV to get a new driver's license with a little gold star on it... so I'll be able to fly in for CDN's and later for our 50 year... Terry DAVIS ('65) has been a prince and has been checking in on Crag DAVIS ('65) and sending me reports... I posted a picture on face book of Craig wearing a little hat I'm sure Terry stole from Dawson Richards in '62 or '63... so now it is time for another Spalding Bomber-babe to celebrate... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Nancy BEARDSLEY ('65) on your special day, March 25, 2015... How bout that ECB3 ('63)... I said all that in one breath!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -David RIVERS ('65) **************************************************************** **************************************************************** >>From: Pat DORISS Trimble ('65) Requesting Bomber Prayers for a fellow Bomber, Craig DAVIS ('65), who underwent triple bypass surgery on Saturday, March 21, 2015, at Kadlec Hospital in Richland. Craig's doing better and getting stronger every day, and is looking forward to going home sometime soon. -Pat DORISS Trimble ('65) ~ West Richland **************************************************************** **************************************************************** >>From: Jim HEIDLEBAUGH ('65) Re: Birthday wishes Sending Birthday Wishes to Sue THOMAS ('65) on her special day, March 24. -Jim HEIDLEBAUGH ('65) **************************************************************** **************************************************************** >>From: Tedd CADD ('66) Re: Dick WIGHT ('52) Any other Coasties? I'm a mix USAF and USCGR and a mustang. First 6.5 years: USAF PhotoIntelligence. E-1 to E-5. * TAC HQ intelligence unit (4444th), Langley AFB, VA * 12th PPIF, Saigon, Vietnam * 14th TRS Udon Thani, Thailand (Udorn) * Intel unit in Bergstrom AFB, Texas Last 18.5 years USCGR, E-4 to O-4 * Mix of M and O (Marine Safety for you non-Coasties) * Marine Casualty Investigator, (First responder to any marine casualty on the Columbia upstream of Bonneville dam) * Senior Reserve Contingency Planning Officer for MSO Portland, OR * Senior Coast Guard security officer at the hydroplane races in Kennewick for a couple of years where one year I was on the water and helped rescue 5 people when their boat sank at the upstream barrier. * Yeoman 3rd Class, Training officer, Executive Officer in Kennewick and Spokane, Deputy Group Commander in Kennewick, Senior officer on Reserve weekends in MSO Portland. CAPT Jeff HARTMAN ('59) was a family friend. I love the Coast Guard. The Reserve forces are simply part of the team. As evidenced by some of my assignments, we had jobs to do and a duty weekend gave the active duty folks a break. Toward the end of my career, they did away with the reserve units and assigned the reservists directly to the active duty commands. That made it easier for the commands to really use the resources we brought to them. For example, one of my unit's members was a certified Cummins repair technician in his day job. (The small boats were very well cared for.) One of my training officers (a Chief Petty Officer) had a doctorate in education and was the head of a local school district. Every one of my boarding officers were active police officers. -Tedd CADD ('66), LCDR USCGR Retired **************************************************************** **************************************************************** >>From: Jim DAUGHERTY ('70) Re: Bomber lives I graduated Col-Hi June 1970 at the age of 17. After mowing lawns all over Richland I got a job at Lamb Weston with some other Bombers in Connell. In the fall most everyone went off to college. I was tired of school and ended up joining the Navy the end of September 1970. It was the end of Vietnam and I wasn't guaranteed any schooling and ended up on a gasoline tanker, USS Genesee (AOG 8) in Pearl Harbor for nine months. The ship was decommissioned and I was sent to the USS Midway (CVA 41) in the San Francisco bay area. By that time I had been selected for Yeoman Third Class, so got a job in the Safety/Captains Office. We left for Vietnam April 10, 1972 and returned to San Francisco area March 3, 1973, a very long cruise with multiple stops in the Philippines, Hong Kong and spent Christmas in Singapore harbor where we had the Bob Hope show on the flight deck in Singapore, that was really neat. After six months in the bay area in October 1973, I decided to reenlist in the Navy for orders to the Philippines for 1-1/2 yrs. Lived on the local economy the whole time, but had access to the Navy commissary for food and things. Had three motorcycles, only falling off of one. In April 1975 ended up in San Diego, CA and getting married to my girl from the Philippines (still married 39 years later). After having our daughter, Jennifer ('95), in San Diego I again went back to the Philippines for three years, this time living in on base housing where our son, James ('97), was born. In October 1980 ended up in Bremerton, WA with the Submarine Rep for the shipyard. They convinced me that submarines were better and I ended up on the USS Blueback (SS 581) (the Navy's last diesel powered submarine) as a non qual Chief Petty Officer. After three years on the submarine I finished my 20 years in the Navy at Deep Submergence Unit in San Diego. We moved back to Richland and after a short stint with Hanford Patrol I went to work with WPPS/Energy Northwest where I am still working 23 years later in the IT Department. 1-1/2 years to go and I will pull the plug for good, enjoying riding my bike around the Tri-Cities in good weather and doing some traveling. -Jim DAUGHERTY ('70) **************************************************************** **************************************************************** That's it for today. Please send more. ****************************************************************