Greetings. Some good news at a time when it is in short supply. The Oregon SW Washington Chapter of the US Naval Academy Alumni Association (our chapter) has been chosen for the second year in a row and the third in four years) as a Distinguished Chapter. Of the 100 plus chapters the Board of Trustees selects 4 or 5 chapters each year as deserving of special recognition. My deepest thanks to all the alumni who support the chapter and its activities. You should all feel proud that in an area that is not recognized for its military facilities or strong support for the military, we are leaders of the alumni association.
While our only activities these days are weekly virtual happy hours each Wednesday, we are planning our first live in person meeting for April. We are hoping that the virus situation will allow this to happen safely. Our speaker is Capt. Don Walsh ’54. Capt. Walsh is an American oceanographer, explorer, and marine policy specialist. He and Jacques Piccard were aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste when it made a record maximum descent into the Challenger Deep on January 23, 1960, the deepest point of the world’s oceans. We look forward to being able to get together again. As I did last month, I am attaching below the Zoom invite for our happy hours. If you get a chance join us some Wednesday. We are having 6 to 10 participants weekly and have a good time for an hour or so.
On a sadder note, Jerry Rosette, nongrad alumni, ’51, lifelong resident of the Portland area died last weekend at age 91. He left the Academy, married his late wife Virginia, graduated from U. of Wash. with an engineering degree, served onboard ships during the Korean and early VN War eras, was a long time engineer in the Portland area. He was a life member of USNAAA and attended most of our monthly luncheons until about ten years ago when his health started to fail. He is survived by his three adult children and numerous grandchildren. His internment will be at Willamette National.
We wish you all a very merry and safe Christmas and look forward to a much saner 2021.
Beat Army.
Mike Carmichael CDR USN (ret) ‘69