John Wood becomes the third member of our class elected to The Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame, following John Small and Tony Passander. Here is the information about John copied from the Hall of Fame web page

John Wood ’70 (2009) – The recipient of the first full scholarship for a Citadel wrestler, Wood, who battled at the 123-pound weight class, had a spectacular 78-4 career record that included qualifying for the NCAA Tournament as a sophomore and junior. Named the Southern Conference’s Most Outstanding Wrestler in 1969, Wood never lost a home match. Twice qualifying for the Olympic tryouts, Wood twice won the Southern Open, Georgia Tech Open, First Colonies Tournament and twice won AAU Tournaments. He served on the Regimental Staff as a Cadet Captain, was a Dean’s List student, listed in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities and was a Distinguished Military Student. Having received his master’s degree from the University of North Carolina, Wood had a successful 30-year teaching and coaching career at the NC School for the Blind in Raleigh where he won 25 of 28 Eastern Athletic Association for the Blind Championships. He also officiated numerous amateur wrestling tournaments in NC for more than 25 years and in 2008 was inducted in the North Carolina Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

FYI: Here is a link to the complete Hall of Fame web page.

Several members of our class have started regular meetings on the third Friday of each month to have lunch, tell lies, and renew old friendships. The meeting announcements are generally sent to Class of 1970 alumni living in the greater Charleston tricounty area, but all classmates are invited to attend. If you are visiting in the area during the time for any of these meetings, please feel free to come. Send an email to Steve (“Hoot”) Gibson (gibsons AT cofc.edu), and he will put you on the mailing list for meeting announcements. See Charleston Tricounty Lunch Bunch for the minutes/summaries from a few of the previous meetings. Please note that, while we no longer take minutes at these lunch meetings, we still have them. Please contact Steve Gibson if you live in, move to, or simply visit the Charleston area.

Paul O’Reilly retired in 2008 from his position as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Ashland County, Ohio. He and his wife then relocated to Texas to be close to their children and grandchildren, and to Paul’ parents who are both still living.

Click here to see several miscellaneous pictures that I received from classmates during 2003-2004.

Jim Lathren provided this inspiring story:
Linda and I attended the Citadel Legislative Barbecue on April 8th with John and Janet Brailsford at the state fair grounds. We were in this large building with hundreds of other Citadel alumni and friends eating barbecue, enjoying our favorite beverages, and socializing.

Linda came to me during the evening and told me she had lost her gold and diamond bracelet which is one of her favorite. She did not want to mention it to anyone else so we casually walked around looking on the floor of this very large building. We did not find it.

The next day she called the people who manage the facility and she told Linda that a young man did in fact find a piece of jewelry and turned it over to the Columbia Police. Linda called the police station and they confirmed that a bracelet had been turned in by a young man who did not identify himself. She went there and was very happy to find her bracelet.

When she called me at work, I told her that she was lucky that she lost it at a Citadel function where integrity means something. It would have been so easy for this young man to pocket this item and sell it for personal gain. Unfortunately, we do not have his name so we cannot thank him. Maybe he will read this and know how much we appreciate his honesty. The honor code lives!

John Childress receives the Arland D. Williams Award:
John Childress was awarded the Arland D. Williams Award posthumously during the Homecoming parade on Saturday, November 10 at 11:00 a.m. This award is presented for community service. As most of you will recall, John stayed with his failing plane in order to guide it away from populated areas before it crashed. What a fitting tribute to such an outstanding Citadel graduate! Below is the text that was used during the presentation.

John S. Childress, Citadel Class of 1970, is recognized by The Citadel Alumni Association and The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, for having made the ultimate sacrifice for his fellow man.

John Childress died in a jet aircraft accident June 18, 1998, in Manchester, NH, while attempting to avoid having his crippled aircraft slam into a heavily populated area around the airport. John piloted his aircraft into the only empty plot of land in the immediate area, thus avoiding nearby businesses, a school, homes, and highway traffic. He ejected from the aircraft immediately prior to impact, but died when his parachute failed to fully deploy. John Childress died so others could live. The National Safety Transportation Board summed up Johns actions as “an extreme act of courage.” Other aviation experts agreed that John Childress “lost his life to save others” by delaying ejection until the last instant to keep the jet from slamming into populated areas. Among his immediate friends, the collective thought was that this action is exactly what they thought John would take in a situation like this.

John Childress, a Citadel man, devoted husband and father, a model of how a life should be lived, set an example of bravery difficult to match. Just like Arland D. Williams, John thought of others first and made the ultimate sacrifice. This is the highest form of community service, when one sacrifices his life so that others may live. John Childress is hereby inducted into the Arland D. Williams Society.

Josiah Williams serves Brigadier Foundation:
Josiah Williams is currently serving as Executive Vice President of The Citadel Brigadier Foundation. Don't be surprised if you get a call asking for a contribution.

Mike Rogers named Executive Director of The Citadel Alumni Association:
The Class of 1970 continues its tradition of Citadel service as Mike Rogers follows Bubba Kennedy in this central position within The Citadel administration. Mike retired from a distinguished career with the FBI in order to return to The Citadel.

Bubba Kennedy retires:
Bubba Kennedy has retired as Executive Director of The Citadel Alumni Association. There is an excellent 6-page article in the Winter 2001 edition of The Citadel Magazine devoted to Bubba and his 28 years of distinctive service to our alma mater. The article includes many pictures of Bubba over the years, including his graduation picture, where he is wearing a junior private's full-dress blouse – Bubba couldn't find his. Not only was Bubba honored with a parade and a reception before his retirement, but Mayor Riley even proclaimed January 31 as Bubba Kennedy Day in Charleston. What a nice tribute to such a great, well-deserving guy. We're all proud of you, Bubba.

Steve McGuire provides this update of his post-Citadel years:
After graduation, I went to graduate school (Johns Hopkins University), was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Central America (in the middle of grad school), got married, and was recruited by Citibank New York as International Staff, being posted (in successive order) to Ecuador, Venezuela, London, and Denmark for the next 10 years. Subsequently recruited by two major European Banks, we have spent the last 14 years based in London and Brazil. Just recently, we returned to London after 4 years in Sao Paulo. Although we consider London as our home, having spent the better part of the last 18 years living here (out of 27 years of married life), we also maintain homes in Weston, Florida, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in order to prevent our roots from dying away.

Our son has since graduated from college in the USA (Hobart College upstate NY), having never lived in the States until going to college there. He has just been invited to be a Peace Corps Volunteer in China (PRC) for 3 years, so he is now immersed in training. Since my mother was also a Peace Corps Volunteer, this will mark a milestone, since Matthew will be a third generation PCV.

It’s very unlikely I will be able to make the next reunion. (I haven’t been able to make any of them in the last 30 years.) Despite this fact, I do follow the school from afar and have always valued the four years I spent there. I cannot think of any experience, and I’ve had many, that has had such a fundamental impact on my personal and professional development.

Don Blackmon asks your support for CDF:
On behalf of the Class of 1970, Don Blackmon has devoted countless hours over the last three decades toward raising funds for The Citadel Development Foundation. Click here to read Don’s most recent letter, and then pull out your wallet and send in a check to help support the “Class of 1970 Scholarship”.; And after you have mailed the check, send Don a brief email message (dblackmo@dukeengineering.com) thanking him for all the work he has done over the years. As a former member of the faculty, I can tell you first hand that CDF support is the single biggest factor in enhancing the overall academic reputation of The Citadel. – John I. Moore, Jr.

Congratulations to Generals Bowra, Axson, and Nunbhakdi:
Congratulations to our three classmates who have attained the rank of General in the Armed Forces. Ken Bowra is a Major General in the U.S. Army and is en route to be Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations, Regional Command North, NATO, as well as Senior U.S. Military representative to the Netherlands, and Commander U.S. Forces, Netherlands. Harry Axon is a Brigadier General, also in the U.S. Army, and is serving as Commander, Joint Task Force Full Accounting, U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii 96861. Sonny Nunbhakdi was a Major General in the Royal Thai Army before his death in 1999. (And we knew them when they were just lowly knobs.)

Mike Rogers writes:
Sara and I celebrated our 30th on July 18. Three wonderful children later (Melissa ’97 CoC grad who married Anthony Leopper, Citadel ’96, Michael, Citadel ’98, and Amanda, a sophomore at Columbia College which she loves). Yes, we are lucky as hell.

John I. Moore, Jr. writes:
My bride and I celebrated our 30th anniversary in June. Kayran and I fell in love while still in high school and dated throughout my four years at The Citadel. She graduated from Columbia College on the same morning as our graduation, so neither of us could attend the other’s graduation ceremonies. But one week later we were married. Thirty years and three beautiful children later, we are more in love than ever. Am I a lucky guy, or what?

Ron Beasley searching for old friends:
Ron asks if anyone knows anything about Elton Hartzler or Bob Barnhart? He says it’s o.k. to email him at ronniebeasley@yahoo.com

Mike Suthard writes:
My wife and I are in the process of relocating from Colts Neck, NJ, to Raleigh, NC. Our new address is: 9401 Koupela Drive, Raleigh, NC 27615. Telephone: 919-518-0462. e-mail: m.suthard@geam.com.

I retired from the USAF Reserves a few years back, Lt. Col. flying C-130s. I am now serving as Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Geami, Ltd. in Raleigh. Also, I have been elected Secretary of the Triangle Area Citadel Club and was formerly a member of the NJ Area Citadel Club.

Our son is a sophomore in Charlie Co. (like his Dad) and is a Corporal with Gold Stars (not like his Dad).

We are looking forward to seeing everyone in November and I will continue to check the site for details.

Glen Baldwin asks:
Wonder if any of our classmates knows the whereabouts of Chris Bruni (D). Have not heard of him since graduation other than he headed back to Michigan hoping to start a Harley Davidson dealership!
If you know anything about Chris, have him contact Glen at MgPerilane@aol.com . (I don’t make these email addresses up.)

Joe Conolly (not our class) writes:
Hi John, I realize this is not your business but maybe you can help me. I am looking for an old friend that I think graduated from the Citadel - class of 68 or 69. He was from Iran and his name is Mohammed Mehti Gyorghi. Not real sure of the spelling. I also don't know if he is still in the US. I'm a teacher out in the Marianas Islands and just want to say hello to him after all these years. I met him through Bill Kelly who was from my hometown of Elmira, NY. Don't know for sure when Bill graduated from the Citadel but my guess is class of 66 or 67. Any help would be appreciated.
If you can provide any information to Joe, please contact him at jjzhou@saipan.netpci.com .

Craig Bell looking for Don Wilson:
We have been looking for Don R. Wilson as we graduated from high school with him and he should have graduated from the Citadel in 1970.

Please let us know if you have a current address or where we might go to find him. Thanks for any help you are able to give us. Craig and Patty Bell cbell1@rochester.rr.com .