Saturday

Memorial Day 1961

FACES FROM THE WALL VIETNAM & LAOS NON-MILITARY PERSONNEL 1961 – 1965 AIR AMERICA CREW LOST
30 May 1961 near Hmong LaosAir America Charles Mateer Walter Wizbowski On 29 March 1961, Clarence J. Abadie led a flight of 16 UH-34s from Bangkok to Air America’s new forward operating base at Udorn in northeastern Thailand, 40 miles sough of Vientiane. The helicopter forces soon became involved in supporting Hmong forces engaged in a fierce battle with the Pathet Lao at Pa Dong. On 30 May, the first Air America helicopter pilots died in Laos, when Charles Mateer and Walter Wizbowski crashed in bad weather while trying to land supplies to the besieged Hmong.

I wish it weren’t so, but it was a day our small family will never forget. My first cousin, and CHS54 graduate, Charles Mateer was (probably) shot down in Laos. (I say probably because I’ve since corresponded with Richard Crafts, the pilot of the other helicopter who had just landed at the site where Charles’ helicopter was attempting a landing. They were under artillery fire at the time. Crafts said he couldn’t tell if the copter hit the top of a tree, or it was brought down by enemy fire, but Charles was killed instantly. Crafts brought his body back to the Air America base in Thailand.

This was at a time when the world wasn’t aware that the US was fighting communists in Laos. That’s the reason that Charles had been discharged from the Army early……and joined AIR AMERICA, which, in reality was the CIA.

My aunt Kathryn and Uncle Harry, Charles’ parents, received their last letter from Charles the day after they were informed of his death. They actually found some comfort in it, since Charles seemed so happy and fulfilled with helping the Hmong people continue their fight for freedom.

-Ed

“All gave some,
some gave all.”

Posted by Lee Shephard at Saturday, May 24, 2008

Thursday

At Last

I received this picture from Don Nance without much of an explanation. I was as perplexed as you probably are. It appears that Don and Jennie Margaret and Gene Moore just graduated from something or other or had just been inducted into Mensa or the Elks or………….AND Don said that they missed me. (I was supposed to be there?)

Linda, my trusty sidekick, significant other and keeper helped solve the mystery. She said that I had gotten something from UNC inviting me to march in their commencement ceremonies which would be led by members of the class of 1958.

She had given me the letter but frankly I didn’t read it. I just assumed that it was asking me for money, as usual….so I deep sixed it without looking at it. (Frankly I’ve made a number of trips back to Chapel Hill and admired all those mansions the professors are living in, and concluded that my old alma mata is doing just fine without money from me.)

Later, Don filled me in on the rest of the details:

Ed.

I am not very good at writing notes for the web. Jennie would do a much better job, and she and Bill were at Carolina for the whole event.

It was commencement at UNC. We, the class of 1958, were invited to return for a reunion and to lead the procession of graduates. The event started on Friday with tours and dinners, but all I cared to do was walk with that group of old folks at commencement. About 200 were to be attending, but I believe the rain prevented a few from coming. We did have around 150 present. We met at the field house at Kenan Stadium, donned our blue robes, and a medallion commemorating our 50 years since graduation. We exited the field house in pouring rain, walked around the podium, and returned to the fieldhouse. Meanwhile, spouses stayed in the fieldhouse out of the rain and watched from the balcony.

It was great seeing and visiting with Jennie, Bill, and Gene. I did get to visit with people I have not seen for fifty years (glad we had nametags). Most of us who still have hair, have gray hair. So many folks have changed, but Jennie has remained the same.

-Don

Ahhhh, the good old days! It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful and wonderful place to be in the springtime than Chapel Hill, NC! -Ed

Posted by Lee Shephard at Thursday, May 15, 2008

Tuesday

Half Full, or Half Empty

Look what I found on eBay!

A CHS coffee cup from the class of 1938!

That’s 70 years old! Wow, what a find!

Almost.

When I turned it around, I discovered the it was really only 12 years old. It was a souvenir from the class of ’38’s 60th reunion.

Oh well, it only cost 10 bucks and I can drink a lot of coffee out of it til I get the REAL collector’s cup in 2014; the one from our 60th !

-Ed

Posted by Lee Shephard at Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Thursday

Great Ship, Great Name

Warren Sparrow, our “rambling,” reporter checks in from Wilmington, NC

We cannot top Holly Jones’s smashing victory but we can tell you of our latest movement. On 3 May 2008 we, Becky and our son Artie and I, attended the commissioning of the USS North Carolina (SSN-777), the Navy’s newest fast-attack sub. Lord knows how this was arranged. The Navy brought the sub to Wilmington, NC. It was a beautiful day. Liddy Dole was there. She is a Duke graduate. A good time was had by all the 6,000 in attendance.

According to the program, the sub is a little more than 300 feet long. It is also covered with rubber. It must be the “Run silent, run deep” thing. Artie said it was the largest concentration of tax dollars he had ever seen: $2.2 billion contained in less than 400 feet.

According to the speechifying, the sub is going to be used for drug interdiction… and other things.

It was an exciting day. There were many folks who were World War II vets. Some were from the battleship North Carolina. The day before the ceremony there was a meeting of the crew of the sub and the Old Timers from the battleship. How about that? According to the sub’s captain, a few pieces of the teakwood deck of the battleship have been placed in conspicuous places on the sub.

That is the news. Here are a couple of pictures.

Hope all is well. We soldier on, keeping our heads up when we dribble.

Warren

(Note…..That’s an old basketball expression, not a reference to his fellow cronologically gifted classmates-Ed)

Posted by Lee Shephard at Thursday, May 08, 2008

Wednesday

Neil Jones Daughter Wins in Buncomb County

AND THE WINNER IS:

Holly Jones!

Neil Jones reports that his daughter, Holly Jones, led the ticket in the Democratic Primary for Buncombe County Commissioner, by a wide margin.

She is the CEO of the YWCA in Asheville and has finished 8 years on the Asheville City Council.

Shown here….Holly and her adopted daughter from Guatemala.

Neil says that “Holly has her undergraduate BA in Public Policy from some public school in Orange County,N.C. (Guess you could look up the name somewhere. I forget it.) Then , thank Providence, she graduated from Divinity School at an edenic school called Duke. Then she relapsed and picked up a MagnaCum Laude MA from UNC School of Public Health. Went to Asheville to run their YWCA and has served 2 terms on the Asheville City Council leading the ticket in both elections.”

Neil adds, “Sorry bird dog who won’t brag on his puppy.”

Congratulations Holly, and congratulations Neil!

(Note: I went there for 4 years but I can’t remember the name of that nearby public school either, but I remember the names of every one of the beer joints in Orange County. I had to look up the word “edenic.” It means, Eden-like….as in “the garden of Eden”
…unless of course, you’re an evil lacrosse player. -Ed)

Posted by Lee Shephard at Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Monday

Missing Classmates

This is not official, but I’ve been hearing rumors that THE COMMITTE is considering an “event” to commerate our 55th anniversary….sometime next year. That’s welcome news, and certainly a good reason for us to make an extra effort to find our “missing classmates.”

As a reminder here is the current list:
James Morris Allen
Sarah Ellen Beck

Paul Everette Biles

Rebecca May Brogden

Nancy Elizabeth Brooks

Ruth Brown

Agnes Anne Caudell
Danny Carver Cole
Donald Bundy Cooke
Lois Elinor Dempsey
Ann Gorden Finger
Sue Elizabeth Griffin
Carl Guest
Janie Frances Gurley
Frederick Earl Howard
Nancy Eunice Karnes
John Thomas Keller
Kathleen Virginia Kesler
Jeanne Holland King
Doy Kenneth Lim
Ronald Richard Little
Gary Lutteral
Sarah Lillian McWhirter
Fred Arthur Merrill
Esther Lorraine Newell
David William Powell
Nelda Codelle Price
Elizabeth Ann Purvis
Helen Bryan Ray
Roseary Sessoms
Michael Thompson
Robert lee Tribble
Wade Edward Turner
Bruce Lawrence Wallace
Yvonne Wentz
Shirley Ann Williams
Elizabeth Ann Wilson
Jerry Lee Wood

I’ll keep you informed regarding our next “event.”

-Ed

Posted by Lee Shephard at Monday, May 05, 2008

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Tags: charlotte central, chs, ed myers, holly jones, lee shephard, mateer, nance, neil jones, sparrow