— 1 — Staunton Military Academy Newsletter Published quarterly by the Staunton Military Academy Foundation • Staunton, Virginia Second Quarter — June 2002 Classes of ‘27, ‘32, ‘37, ‘42, ‘47, ‘52, ‘57, ‘62, ‘67 and ‘72 to be honored: WHERE? Holiday Inn Golf and Reunion set for July 26-28 Conference Center Staunton, Virginia (540) 248-6020 at Holiday Inn, Staunton Reservations: 1-800-932-9061 Fellow SMA Alumni – it’s less The reunion banquet will be held Be sure to ask for the special than 60 days from Reunion on Saturday, and the food, even if half SMA Reunion Weekend Rate 2002! The Honor Classes for this year as good as last year, will be worth it. E-mail: [email protected] are all the graduating classes that end A block of 60 rooms has been reserved with either a “2” or a “7”. That’s by the SMAAA on a first-come/- SCHEDULE: right, everyone from 1927 first-served basis at our reunion through 1972 should get those hotel headquarters, the Friday, July 26 9:00 a.m. Board Meeting fingers dialing or use the in- Holiday Inn Golf and ternet to find your roommate, 2:00 p.m. to Registration and Conference Center in Staun- 6:00 p.m. Refreshments classmate or good friend from ton, VA (located at Route 275W, SMA and make your way to 8:00 p.m. Cash Bar and Exit 225 off I-81). Reservations BBQ Cookout Staunton for a part of the July 26-28 must be made by 19 July to receive Saturday, July 27 reunion weekend. Everyone else, do this special rate. When making reser- 09:00 a.m. General Meeting the same thing. After all it’s the gath- vations, be sure to mention SMA 11:00 a.m. Board Meeting ering of friends and fellow classmates Alumni Association Reunion to re- 12:30 p.m. Wreath Laying for a couple days of camaraderie that ceive the discounted rate of $72.00, 01:00 p.m. Museum Open makes the reunion special. You just plus 8.5% tax. 01:30 p.m. Memorial Wall never know who you’ll run into at one Dedication of these reunions (roommates, class- 04:00 p.m. to Registration mates, teachers, coaches), and when 0 6:00 p.m. you do, you’ll never forget it! 06:00 p.m. Happy Hour The key events this year are 07:00 p.m. Reunion Banquet the dedication of our new SMA Sunday, July 28 Memorial Wall on Saturday, July Holiday Inn Golf and Conference Center Breakfast and Check-out 27. Brig. Gen. William Louisell, Staunton, Virginia Jr., SMA ‘46, son of the former Please note in the schedule at right SMA Commandant, will be the that there are two registrations guest speaker. planned. Friday registration will be INSIDE THIS ISSUE In addition to the installation of from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m., and registra- plaques purchased last year, the Mu- tion for those attending Saturday only President’s Message ...............2 seum Committee has approved the in- will be 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Deadline for Cheese Sandwiches................3 stallation of memorial plaques this year advanced registration is July 19. For Thank You, Major Wease ........4 honoring three alumni: Barry Gold- your convenience, an SMA Alumni Opinions & Commentary ........ 5 water, ‘28, Phillip Enslow, ‘18, and Association Reunion 2002 Regis- Reflections on SMA ................6 David McCampbell, ‘28. tration form has been placed on Alumni Continue to Visit .........7 The SMA-VWIL Museum will be page 13 of this Kablegram. The Messer Tradition..............8 open extended hours over the week- Accompanying the form is the 2002 Scholarship Awarded ..............8 end to allow alumni to enjoy the ex- reunion fee schedule. There is an ob- Taps .............................. 11,12 hibits and to reminisce. On Saturday, vious savings to early registration, and Reunion Registration Form ... 13 we will again honor the founder of all alumni are encouraged to complete News Briefs ......................... 14 SMA, William H. Kable, with a wreath and mail their registration forms with I Remember When............... 15 laying ceremony at the Kable family their checks as soon as possible. Dues and Donations ............. 16 plot in Thornrose Cemetery. — Mark Orr, SMA ‘73 — 2 — PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE BOARD OF DIRECTORS President ........... Tom Phillips, ‘74 Vice President .. Stuart Smith, ‘48 Secretary .................Mark Orr, ‘73 Fellow Old Boys.... Treasurer .............. Tom Davis, ‘62 When we gather on the last weekend in July for the 2002 SMA an- PERMANENT AND AD-HOC nual reunion and meeting, there will be 99 members of the Corps absent. The reason they will not be with us is not because they chose not to attend, COMMITTEES but because they could not attend. They are gone. But they will be with us Alumni Relations in spirit, and we will recognize them by their names on the SMA Memorial Gene Ehmann, ‘74 ....... Chairman Wall. Mark Orr, ‘73 ................. Member I know they gave their lives for our country so that we could be in Finance Staunton to see old friends … so that their families could be anywhere Alvan Arnall,’56 ............ Chairman they wanted to be on a Saturday afternoon … so that I could live free. Tom Davis, ‘62 ............... Member Bob Parrino, ‘75 ............. Member One Saturday in April, fellow board member Mark Legal Orr ‘73 (a retired Navy officer, by the way) and I Tom Phillips, ‘74 .......... Chairman spent some time at the SMA-VWIL Museum check- Tom Davis, ‘62 ............... Member ing the school records of the Old Boys who had died Scholarships Stuart Smith, ‘48 ......... Chairman during the wars this na- tion has fought. “Killed in Bob Parrino, ‘75 ............. Member action in France” was on one of them. “Killed in ac- Fred Burner, ‘68 ............. Member tion in South Korea” on another. It was a moving ex- Annual Fundraising perience to see these names, think of their sacri- Bill Leeman, ‘50 ........... Chairman Alvan Arnall, ‘56 ............ Member fice, and acknowledge that people at SMA over the Gene Ehmann, ‘74 ......... Member years had taken the time to annotate their records. Bill Kearns, ‘74 ............... Member Over the years, we have watched our friends and former roommates Memorabilia age as life takes its toll on our bodies. But for these 99 young men, they Jack Dalbo, ‘68 ............ Chairman Stuart Smith, ‘48 ........... Member will be remembered as forever young. Look at their yearbook pictures, Fred Burner, ‘68 ............. Member and you will see the faces of the young men who died in uniform for Reunion something they believed in. Bill Kearns, ‘74 ............. Chairman Join me in July at SMA. The corps that Jack Dalbo, ‘68 .............. Member Kit Regoni, ‘64 ............... Member you and I were a part of has a proud heri- Don Tobin, ‘70 ............... Member tage. We have earned it through work, SMA-VWIL Museum achievement, caring for others, and Brocky Nicely, ‘65 ........ Chairman with our blood. Together, we will cele- Mark Orr, ‘73 ................. Member brate the living, share memories and Tom Phillips, ‘74 ............ Member John Hooser, ‘73 ............ Member honor the dead. You will laugh, and Website you will probably cry. Mark Orr, ‘73 ............... Chairman And you’ll be glad you came. John Hooser, ‘73 ............ Member Truth, duty, honor. The Kablegram C. David Litzenburg, ‘58 .... Editor Tom Phillips, SMA ‘74 SMA Alumni Association P.O. Box 958 President, SMAAA Staunton, VA 24402-0958 Phone: (540) 885-1309 Email: [email protected] To contact Tom by e-mail: [email protected] — 3 — Your response is critical! Alumni Association Toasted Cheese Sandwiches Directory in the works, by Bob Horvath, SMA ‘47 Finally, as I finished the last sand- due in early 2003 his was the year Wally and I be- wich, Wally said, “Jack you are amaz- The Harris Publishing Company has came entrepreneurs. It began in ing. You just ate about 20 grilled cheese already begun work on our updated TJanuary when a fellow Cleve- sandwiches!” Wally had polished off a Staunton Military Academy Alumni Di- lander named Wally Morris brought a few himself, but then just rectory. It is planned for completion waffle maker back from started counting them off and sale early next year. In the mean- home after Christmas. Not while I kept stuffing my time, a campaign has begun to obtain long after, Wally and I were face. I had probably put in current and updated address informa- in business selling toasted 150 laps down in the com- tion from each SMA alumni. We are cheese sandwiches at break petition pool in the base- asking for your support to ensure we time. ment of Kable Hall that day; get a quality product by providing your We would sneak out to and I always had a pretty current contact information. a local Mom-and-Pop gro- good appetite. Even for me Harris Publishing will begin mass cery store and pick up the this was something of a per- mailing a one-page survey/question- goodies. We would get five sonal record. We chuckled naire to every SMA alumni to obtain up- or six loaves of bread, and then went to sleep. plenty of cheese, and The next morning enough butter to keep the there was nothing funny grill from being sticky and to add a about it. When I woke up I felt this couple hundred more calories and a general aching feeling and I could not deliciously rich taste to those grilled move. I just could not move! When it dated contact data for the Directory. cheese sandwiches. We usually ate the came time to get up for reveille and They will also send an email to those firstbatch ourselves after we learned breakfast formation, I couldn’t make alumni that we already have an e-mail the hard way that our fellow Kable Hall it out of bed.