Greetings 78ers…

We start with more very sad news this quarter with Phil McBride’s passing in August. His son Matt (2005 USAFA grad) contacted the AOG and called to inform people of the sad event. Phil was a Delta captain on the A320 (had been with the company since 1998 after retiring from Travis in the KC-10) and had just finished a trip when he had a massive heart attack…he wasn’t able to be revived. He met Anne, his bride of 37 years in France during his cadet exchange and they had two kids, Matt and Clare. The memorial was soon thereafter in Peachtree City GA with a great group of ‘78ers in attendance. Our class means a great deal to Matt personally…if you knew Phil and would like to share some of those memories with Matt, please e-mail him at matthewamcbride@gmail.com. Our sincere condolences to Anne and her family.

Another Delta A-320 captain in the class is Art Harrison who shared about a recent Alaskan fishing trip he took with former CS-30 squadron mate RD Johnson. RD is a 737 IP/check airman with American (has been with them for quite some time and is very senior). Art, bride Polly, RD and his bride Beth Ann took the trip and are exhibiting one day’scatch below. Art says they limited out both days with he and Polly taking 78 lbs (of course!) of salmon back home after cleaning the catch...great way to spend the summer. From left to right are their guide, Beth Ann, Polly, RD and Art. Great job Art and thanks for the news. 

Received a very touching message from John “Klaxon” Sviba’s widow Susie. After John’s tragic passing in 1999 Susie concentrated on raising their two sons Cody and Colton. She did a tremendousjob with both proudly serving in the military following their dad’s footsteps. Below is a very cool shot of the brothers, both currently attending flight training, at the Pensacola O Club. Colton on the left is a NROTC grad while Cody is currently in the Marines. Cody was originally in AFROTC but there was a question of him meeting weight standards. The Marines allowed him to fly and the rest is history. Thank you Susie for bringing up such fine young men!

RB Gibbons sent some great info/pix on what he’s been up to lately. In his words: “Since I retired in 2004, I worked at Shaw AFB for 5 years for a company called Alion in the Air Operation Center and spent a bit of time back in the desert. Built an RV-8 airplane and have been flying airshows for the last few years with Team RV and Team AeroDynamix. I've flown Sun N Fun and Oshkosh, airshows in Mexico, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and China. Currently my airplane is in China. Flew 2 shows there last year, 2 so far this year, and at least 2 more this season. Flying shows in China is different to say the least.” He send some great shots with the coolest (in my humble opinion) being this one working on his RV-8 in China with “observers.” I went to the Aerodynamix web site (http://teamaerodynamix.com/pilots.html) and this was RB’s bio:

Gibbons retired from the USAF in 2004 after 26 years as a Fighter Pilot and Forward Air Controller with 3700 hours in the O-2, A-10 and F-16. He holds Commercial, Instrument and Sea Plane ratings. Bob took 13 years to build his RV-8 that in 2010 won a Bronze Lindy award for workmanship at EAA Air Venture in Oshkosh. He lives in Sumter, SC with his wife, Stephanie who is also a pilot, and daughter.

Well done RB…thanks for taking the time to write!

Larry Krauser updated his goings on: he’s still living in Tampa to take advantage of the ballroom dancing opportunities (which he’s most involved with his bried in). He is cancer survivor (go Larry!) and he and his bride are celebrating by going on as many Caribbean cruises as they can fit in. He loves retirement in FL especially with Minot tour in his past (says he will NEVER complain that FL is too hot). In the scary small world department, after he retired and entered teaching, he did his student teaching at my old high school in Reseda CA (Tom Petty mentioned that LA suburb in his song “Free Falling”…our only claim to fame). Thanks Larry…see you next year at the 40^th.

Speaking of medical miracles, you most likely remember the ordeal that Frank Gahren experienced a few years back. After his recovery, he returned to teaching at USAFA and retired last year after 25 years on the faculty! He remarked how on our graduation day he took the obligatory picture on I-25 next to the “Leaving USAF Academy” sign (been there) with no idea what the future had in store. He was truly blessed as he and bride Patti saw many of the cadets they sponsored over the years make the ceremony. Frank was also a French exchange cadet with Phil and was naturally saddened to hear of Phil’s passing. He reports enjoying retirement to the fullest but wisely spending his time taking several on-line courses with Dallas Theological Seminary, learning calligraphy at the local arts college, Tai Chi…basically things he’s wanted to do for many years. Patti is due to also retire soon and they look forward to having more time together. A life well lived Frank…thanks for sharing and congrats on your retirement.

Finally, heard from Bulldawg roomie and longtime oncologist Dr. Dan Garner who shared about a recent mission trip he went on in September. Dan and Tami relocated to the Springs last year as he sets up retirement. They attend Academy Christian Church in the north Springs area with the church financially supporting a local Myanmar ministry. The church sent a four man ministry of which Dan was a member. Their plan was to provide three two-day leadership seminars to help equip local pastors as well as church members. He created an intricately written journal of his trip along with some great pictures (getting his input last and article space limitations prohibit me from posting any in this quarter’s article unfortunately). Dan felt that the trip truly cleansed his soul (“pressure washing” were his exact words) and was a phenomenally humbling experience. Bless you Dan for your work. 

Unfortunately, that’s a wrap for this quarter and I can’t include all the info you guys kindly provided due to space limitations so will put in next quarter’s edition. My apologies after you took the time to send it in…I usually don’t have this problem! Many thanks for that and I hope this doesn’t dissuade the rest of you from contributing! Speaking of the reunion, Bees Kellenbence is having a committee update meeting in a couple of weeks that he’ll report on to those who are AOG members. If you aren’t (and reading this on the class website) we’ll keep said website updated as well as the LinkedIn group (why not sign up for that?) so stay tuned! Hope everyone has a blessed Fall…until next time.

’78 IS GREAT!