WABASH COLLEGE
Class Agents Letter
Alumni and Parent Relations
P.O. Box 352
Crawfordsville, IN 47933
Web site: www.wabash.edu
Email us: [email protected]
Phone: (765) 361-6369
Class of 1967
Class Agents
Earl Houck
[email protected]
Duane Hile
[email protected]
18 February 2016
Classmates Hope you are all well after the wild winter and the most recent "Arctic Vortex" event. Here in North
Carolina it was a bit strange. Monday we had an ice storm; Tuesday it was sunny and almost 70 degrees.
I prefer the latter. Hang in there, Spring is just a few weeks away.
Classmate news: The surprise is that we have some! Duane received the following from Dave
Montieth:
" Hi Duane,
Happy New Year to you also!
No, I’ve not heard or seen anything. Unfortunately I typically find most of my Wabash email in
my spam folder which I don’t check that often.
You may recall that I suggested you might hold
off putting my high jump info into the Class
Letter until I competed in the new year at age
70. Well, last weekend I set a new American
Indoor High Jump Record in my 70 - 74 age
group. The record was 1.45 meters and I
moved it up to 1.53 meters (5’ 1/4”). It’s a far
cry from my 6’ 8” outdoor record at Wabash
(which still stands) but it goes to show what a
difference 48 years can make! I ended up 2015
ranking 1st in the world in the 70 - 74 age
group. That’s 4 out of the last 10 years."
Congrats to Dave!! I'm doing well to high
jump maybe a foot and a half. And I couldn't
resist adding this picture of Dave from our
1967 yearbook!
In my efforts to contact some folks from years
ago, I've resorted to "snail mail", actually
sending a letter. (Do you all recall that process? Hand writing a letter, putting it in an envelope,
adding a stamp?). Here is a reply I received from one such effort. From Larry Underwood.
"Earl,
Thank you for your wonderful surprise you gave me by inquiring about my welfare.
I have never attended a reunion, either for high school or college, but God willing I intend on being
there next year.
My life since Wabash has taken many twists and turns as I am sure many of our fraternity brothers
and classmates have.
I will attempt to cover the 50 years in a few pages so here goes.
When we graduated in June '67, I received a draft notice 3 weeks later. I was able to qualify for flight
training in the USAF and entered the military on November 20, 1967.
I attended Navigator training and then Electronic Warfare training graduating in 1969. I was assigned
to the B-52D aircraft at March AFB, Riverside CA. I spent ten years in this airplane, flying over 3000
hours in the B, C, D, E, F, and H models.
While at March AFB, I deployed overseas for various combat tours, eventually flying 109 combat
missions each of which dropped 108 500-lb TNT equivalent bombs over Laos, Cambodia, North and
South Vietnam.
For these missions I received 5 Air Medals, a Distinguished Flying Cross and 3 Meritorious Service
medals along with several other Vietnamese medals.
During my 21 years, 3 months, and 10 days on active duty, I was sent to all 50 states courtesy of our
taxpayers. I also had the opportunity to live in England for 3 years, in Thailand for 1 year, on the island
of Guam for 1 year, and on the island of Cyprus for 1 year at RAF Akrotiri.
I retired as a major on 1 March 1989 and then became an elementary school teacher in California. I
substituted for 6 years in all grade levels for K-12 and even junior college. I also worked two summers as
a juvenile hall teacher.
I worked an additional 10 years as a regular teacher at a multigrade multiclass school in a room with
6th-8th grade students. Believe me this was the most difficult thing I have ever done.
I retired as a teacher in 2005 and have been a couch potato since then.
The most notable things to occur to me while working involved an interview my B-52 crew had in May
1972 when Time magazine interviewed us about the role of the B52 in the Vietnam War.
The other outstanding event was the opportunity I had to work with the U-2/TR-1 reconnaissance
aircraft. Yes, that is the one the Russians shot down in the 1960's over Russia. I was able to experience
the thrill of my life when I got to go up for an orientation flight. The technology it had then was mind
blowing and I am sure it is more sophisticated now.
That is about it as far as professional things.
My personal life has been a roller coaster ride, too. I will not bore you with those gory details except
to say I do have 3 grown children, 1 granddaughter and 1 great-grandson.
Again let me express my gratitude for the excellent work you and Duane have done all these years for
our class. I read every letter and go over the Wabash Magazine faithfully.
In closing, let me explain why this letter is in manuscript. I am a Luddite who is completely computer
ignorant. Also I have a medical condition from Type 2 Diabetes called Diabetic Retinopathy which can
make seeing everything as clearly as I like somewhat difficult.
Thank you for your patience and interest. You may share this information with anyone you wish.
Again, thank you for your faithful work throughout the years.
God willing, I'll see you next year.
Larry
(Larry B. Underwood, 1106 Santa Barbara Way, Yuba City CA 95991-1964"
(A little historical note that some of you who were in the military might appreciate. After graduation I
went to work for the National Security Agency. My first assignment there was supporting the Vietnam
War effort. Larry's B-52 experience triggered a memory. If you were in the military, you are probably
familiar with the term Operations Security or OPSEC. While the basic concepts of OPSEC have been
known for years, the actual discipline and formation of the OPSEC process date from the Vietnam War
effort, specifically the B-52 operations. Our national intelligence sources learned that the Viet Cong and
North Vietnamese were getting advanced information of many B-52 missions as much as eight hours in
advance, allowing them to move or take shelter. An analysis team, under the cover name Purple
Dragon, was assembled to try to determine how the NVA and VC were getting the information. An
analysis of the B-52 mission profiles from the Rolling Thunder strikes (against targets in North Vietnam)
and the Arc Light missions (against targets in South Vietnam) showed that when the B-52 missions were
planned, advanced notice went out to air traffic controllers in the Pacific area to clear the air lanes for
the B-52s and the refueling tankers; these were sent to all area Air Traffic Controllers via a standard
Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) communication, in plain text. The North Vietnamese were able to receive
these messages and take action to move their forces from the anticipated target areas. When air traffic
control procedures were changed, the percentage of missions for which the North Vietnamese had
advanced warning dropped from about 35% to 5%. The Purple Dragon study was classified Top Secret at
the time, but recently declassified documents detail the history [with a few redactions].)
And I got this note from Duane Hile the end of January:
I attended the Dedication Ceremony and dinner last Friday and took a few pictures of the new
facility. Really nice!
I don't know all the $ details, but I do know that Dr. Don Shelbourne put up a BIG portion and
three NICE donations were made by David Miller (father of a former wrestler), Drew Crousore
'91, and Dr. Dan Emerson '98. (To the Wabash guys who receive this email, it is not too late
to make a contribution!!)
In case you haven't been following Wabash wrestling (and you know who you are!), after
several years in the Top 10 in both the individual and dual meet tournaments, last year we
placed 4th in the National Dual Meet and 3rd in the National Individual Tournament, while,
this year we were 2nd in the Dual Meet Tournament and are gearing towards the top 2 in the
individual tournament in March.
Duane
The dedication program included a list of benefactors that included classmates John Goodrich and
Duane Hile. Thanks guys for contributing to the future of Wabash and providing new opportunities this
and future generations of Wabash men.
And good news on the Return of the Delts. The February 18 Bachelor had an article on the upcoming
recolonization of the Delta Tau Delta chapter. Here is part of the commentary: " I would like to focus
on some positives that I believe Delta Tau Delta will bring to this campus. Energy is the main thing I
think they will bring with their return. Having another fraternity of the west side will be interesting,
especially after they get their house back. It is an entirely new group that will get to join in great
Wabash traditions, such as Chapel Sing and Homecoming. ... Essentially, the return of Delta Tau Delta
will be huge for this campus. It will help bolster campus morale and allow others to join in "The
Spreading The Fame of Her Honored Name." ...Once the Delts are up and running, I have no doubt that
they will have a positive identity. Delts will add to the identity of Wabash. ...I only ask that you receive
the new brothers with an open mind and join in welcoming back a great fraternity." I'm sure you Delts
from our class are pleased with the good news.
50th Reunion Plans
Big Bash 2017
I know many of you have electronic calendars on your phones, tablets, laptops, etc., so
it isn't too early to reserve the dates ---- 2-4 June 2017. Mark those calendars now so
we don't hear the excuses that your spouse planned vacation then, or you made a
prior commitment. This is the prior commitment! And it isn't too early to start some
planning. Clark Dickerson has once again stepped up to the task of Reunion
Chairman. Clark, thanks in advance for all the overt and mainly the behind-the-scenes
work to make the 50th a big success.
ATTENDANCE COORDINATORS. The men listed below have agreed to be Attendance
Coordinators for our 50th Reunion. They will be reaching out to classmates, but please
contact them to let them know you are planning to attend the reunion. Also, you can
contact Clark Dickerson directly as he is keeping the master list for the reunion. We still need someone
to assist with contacting members of Phi Delta Theta, so contact Clark if you can assist in contacting your
fraternity brothers.
Thus far, 32 have already indicated they plan to attend. The number to best is 77. (Those competitive
dudes from the class of '66 pushing hard to beat the record of 77 attendees; we'll keep you posted on
that.) Please make your decision to attend and begin making plans now. More detail will be provided
over the next several months, but first things first – let us know that you plan to attend.
Beta Theta Pi
Clark Dickerson
[email protected]
Delta Tau Delta
Paul Robinson
[email protected]
Phi Gamma Delta
Steve Claffey
[email protected]
John Evans
[email protected]
Dan Jenkins
[email protected]
Richard Helm
[email protected]
Steve Golliher
[email protected]
Joel Wesp
[email protected]
Rich Chilausky
[email protected]
Frank Kosmakos
[email protected]
Jack Robertson
[email protected]
Larry Landis
[email protected]
Kappa Sigma
Lambda Chi Alpha
Phi Kappa Psi
Ron Brown
[email protected]
Sigma Chi
Earl Houck
[email protected]
Tau Kappa Epsilon
Jerry Schaefer
[email protected]
Independents
Steve Wood
[email protected]
David Decker
[email protected]
Mike Harvey
[email protected]
Bob Larzelere
[email protected]
Paul Cunningham
[email protected]
MISSING CLASSMATE INFORMATION. Some of our classmates are “lost” to the College, meaning there is
no current contact information on record. Here is the "official" list of "lost" alumni and their housing
affiliation while at Wabash. If you have any information that might help us track them down, please let
us know.
Richard Anderson (Unknown)
James Collins Phi Psi
John Gaumer Phi Delt
Jonathan Hunt Independent
Herbert Johnson Kappa Sig
Thomas Parker Phi Gam
Richard Reynolds Independent
Kenneth Ritz TKE
Forest Van Sise Shafer Independent
Stephen Smith Delt
There are others for whom we have some information, but not complete contact records. Some lack
phone numbers, some lack email addresses or other information. Perhaps you can help fill in some of
the information blanks. If you would like to receive a class roster to see if you have some of the needed
information, contact Clark Dickerson at [email protected]
OTHER CONTACTS OTHER THAN LIVING UNITS. Our Attendance Coordinators are listed by living units.
But, we also need to contact our classmates with whom we shared other activities such as glee club,
athletic teams, Bachelor, student government, etc. Contact Clark for a class roster, dust off your Year
Book and make it a personal goal to contact at least two with whom you shared an activity. Encourage
them to join you at the June 2017 Big Bash.
Enough for now. Be well, all. Look forward to hearing from you and to seeing you all at the 50th!
WAF!
Earl