Alumni Sandstorm ~ 03/25/15
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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)
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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.
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>>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
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>>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
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>>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!!
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>>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)
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>>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
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>>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)
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>>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
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>>From: Jim HEIDLEBAUGH ('65)
Re: Birthday wishes
Sending Birthday Wishes to Sue THOMAS ('65) on her special day,
March 24.
-Jim HEIDLEBAUGH ('65)
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>>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
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>>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)
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That's it for today. Please send more.
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