BelvoirDMS
Defense Mapping School
News Archive
22 Jun 18
Greetings T3 Folks -
Fast mini update - our May lunch was also successful although on the heels of our successful reunion. Only set back on the lunch was that Will Freeze wasn’t able to find the China King. Jim Harnden and his daughter Mickey (uh oh - Miki or Micky or Mickie or ????) I’ve always preached in the past that our only requirement for attending one of our get togethers was being able to spell the word MAP and that we didn’t take off for spelling. Hope I can claim that now. Sorry ….
June dinner was also successful - there were right at a dozen of us to include Len Good who had to battle illness and was not able to attend the reunion. Glad to see you were ok Len!!
We’ve had a bit of conversation of when to have the next large reunion. We are right at 50/50 whether to have it in two years or three years. 2020 sounds like great insight - 2021 getting legal - I’ll start pressing for input perhaps in a little over a year from now providing of course I am still around. We are all getting older.
Things I wasn’t able to emphasize on my last quick email was my trip to Leon Comb’s funeral in May. Other than having a pick-up truck pull out dead in front of me when I was doing 55 and no real escape route I managed to avoid what could have been the most serious accident of my life. If the pick-up hadn’t finally stopped totally blocking my path causing me to go head on into an oncoming traffic lane that miraculously had just cleared with no cars in it at a T intersection this email or the last probably would not have existed. I was still shaking when I reached my destination. Destination? Back up 24 hours. Or for a bit around 35 years - Leon and I had the same Department Chief - LTC George Desrochers. George (still trying to get used to first name identification) came to our 100th and told me he and his bride Suzanne had been living in Swansboro NC for over thirty years plus. He was not aware of the proximity of Leon to him (about fifteen miles perhaps less) and news of the then terminally ill Leon was an unpleasant surprise. So when we lost Leon a scant two weeks later I called the LTC to pass on the sad news. George offered to let my wife and I stay at his home the night before the funeral but I declined because for one I was traveling alone and also because “I snore”. He insisted they had a lot of room and that I would be upstairs and they downstairs. I’m usually a fairly private person when it comes to staying at someone else’s home but I reluctantly said ok. It turned out to be one of the best travel decisions I ever made. Besides being perfect hosts they had a beautiful home on the river. The scenery was gorgeous. The “spare” bedroom was more spacious than any room other than an open barracks I have ever slept in. And it too overlooked the river. After a fine dinner prepared by Susanne we settled down to watch the Washington Capitals win their first ever Stanley Cup Finals game - three games later of course they won the Cup. I can not over emphasize my thanks to the Desrochers for their hospitality. We even discussed CPT Tuttle. On the next day we all attended Leon’s funeral service.
As stated in my previous fast email Leon’s funeral was done in true Marine Corps fashion. The funeral team was perfect, the proud tradition of celebrating the life of a Marine was fully at the standards you would have expected. I met with Leon’s children and also with the son of another former DMS Marine Vic Gonzalez. I believe it was Matt. He works for the Agency so perhaps someone at NGA can check the “Global” and see if there is a Matt or a Victor listed.
I’m going to be gone next week hence getting out the info for our July get together a bit early. My bride and I are going first to Nags Head to celebrate our anniversary. After fifty years I figured I’d let her pick out where she wanted to go. It sounded good so I guess I’ll join her. Then we’ll swing back around to her southwest Virginia former homestead area to have a mini family reunion. It will be a miles laden trip but hopefully it will be a safe trip. That will bring us up to early July -
Early July - July is month number seven - with seven being an odd number that makes our get together when?? Shout it out!! Ok - who said “who cares?” Thanks for the majority of you shouting “LUNCH”. (comments about my dreaming will be accepted). Anyway on July 9th around 1130 hours we will have our next informal get together at the China King in Woodbridge just off Opitz Blvd across from the Olive Garden. If you need directions please call me.
Oh - if you haven’t had a chance to visit www.belvoirdms.org and see pictures from the reunion please do so. And if you attended and have some pictures to share please send them either to me or preferably to Ray Chapman our web site guru. Thanks Ray for all your work on this and the rest of the site!
And to those of you that commented on my “stinky” golf game I say “thanks!”
Want to adopt a kitten? Let me know!! We have five week olds in our back yard (again).
See ya at lunch on July 9th??
Jack 540-846-5413
Greetings T3 Folks -
Fast mini update - our May lunch was also successful although on the heels of our successful reunion. Only set back on the lunch was that Will Freeze wasn’t able to find the China King. Jim Harnden and his daughter Mickey (uh oh - Miki or Micky or Mickie or ????) I’ve always preached in the past that our only requirement for attending one of our get togethers was being able to spell the word MAP and that we didn’t take off for spelling. Hope I can claim that now. Sorry ….
June dinner was also successful - there were right at a dozen of us to include Len Good who had to battle illness and was not able to attend the reunion. Glad to see you were ok Len!!
We’ve had a bit of conversation of when to have the next large reunion. We are right at 50/50 whether to have it in two years or three years. 2020 sounds like great insight - 2021 getting legal - I’ll start pressing for input perhaps in a little over a year from now providing of course I am still around. We are all getting older.
Things I wasn’t able to emphasize on my last quick email was my trip to Leon Comb’s funeral in May. Other than having a pick-up truck pull out dead in front of me when I was doing 55 and no real escape route I managed to avoid what could have been the most serious accident of my life. If the pick-up hadn’t finally stopped totally blocking my path causing me to go head on into an oncoming traffic lane that miraculously had just cleared with no cars in it at a T intersection this email or the last probably would not have existed. I was still shaking when I reached my destination. Destination? Back up 24 hours. Or for a bit around 35 years - Leon and I had the same Department Chief - LTC George Desrochers. George (still trying to get used to first name identification) came to our 100th and told me he and his bride Suzanne had been living in Swansboro NC for over thirty years plus. He was not aware of the proximity of Leon to him (about fifteen miles perhaps less) and news of the then terminally ill Leon was an unpleasant surprise. So when we lost Leon a scant two weeks later I called the LTC to pass on the sad news. George offered to let my wife and I stay at his home the night before the funeral but I declined because for one I was traveling alone and also because “I snore”. He insisted they had a lot of room and that I would be upstairs and they downstairs. I’m usually a fairly private person when it comes to staying at someone else’s home but I reluctantly said ok. It turned out to be one of the best travel decisions I ever made. Besides being perfect hosts they had a beautiful home on the river. The scenery was gorgeous. The “spare” bedroom was more spacious than any room other than an open barracks I have ever slept in. And it too overlooked the river. After a fine dinner prepared by Susanne we settled down to watch the Washington Capitals win their first ever Stanley Cup Finals game - three games later of course they won the Cup. I can not over emphasize my thanks to the Desrochers for their hospitality. We even discussed CPT Tuttle. On the next day we all attended Leon’s funeral service.
As stated in my previous fast email Leon’s funeral was done in true Marine Corps fashion. The funeral team was perfect, the proud tradition of celebrating the life of a Marine was fully at the standards you would have expected. I met with Leon’s children and also with the son of another former DMS Marine Vic Gonzalez. I believe it was Matt. He works for the Agency so perhaps someone at NGA can check the “Global” and see if there is a Matt or a Victor listed.
I’m going to be gone next week hence getting out the info for our July get together a bit early. My bride and I are going first to Nags Head to celebrate our anniversary. After fifty years I figured I’d let her pick out where she wanted to go. It sounded good so I guess I’ll join her. Then we’ll swing back around to her southwest Virginia former homestead area to have a mini family reunion. It will be a miles laden trip but hopefully it will be a safe trip. That will bring us up to early July -
Early July - July is month number seven - with seven being an odd number that makes our get together when?? Shout it out!! Ok - who said “who cares?” Thanks for the majority of you shouting “LUNCH”. (comments about my dreaming will be accepted). Anyway on July 9th around 1130 hours we will have our next informal get together at the China King in Woodbridge just off Opitz Blvd across from the Olive Garden. If you need directions please call me.
Oh - if you haven’t had a chance to visit www.belvoirdms.org and see pictures from the reunion please do so. And if you attended and have some pictures to share please send them either to me or preferably to Ray Chapman our web site guru. Thanks Ray for all your work on this and the rest of the site!
And to those of you that commented on my “stinky” golf game I say “thanks!”
Want to adopt a kitten? Let me know!! We have five week olds in our back yard (again).
See ya at lunch on July 9th??
Jack 540-846-5413