News From Fort Schuyler

September 3, 1999 - Volume 3, No. 38

GETTING OFF TO A FAST START - According to the first Plan of the Week for the Fall semester, cadets were scheduled to attend a Foreign Policy Association dinner in Manhattan on September 1. The speaker was General Wesley Clark, NATO Commander. This on the second day of classes.

40 YEARS LATER - According to ALBERT SONG, the Class of 1959 holds its 40th Reunion at the Fort on Saturday, September 18 from 1830 to 2100, joined by the Class of 1964 which celebrates its 35th. There will be a "Dinner Dance and a few nostalgic presentations by classmates ... Crowd of about 100 is expected." RESERVATIONS: Class of 1959 should contact Al at (203) 268-8570 or twosongs@juno.com The Class of 1964 should contact the Alumni Association at (718) 824-4530.

ALUMNI ACCOUNTS - SCHUYLER BEFORE WW 2 - An account by CAPTAIN JERE AUSTIN USNR (Ret), Class of 1940, detailing his life at the NY Merchant Marine Academy, ashore and afloat, from 1938 to 1940 is now available. This reminiscence, which was taped at the Rowan Public Library as part of the North Carolina World War II Oral History Project, is contained in the first ten pages of a transcript on deposit at that Salisbury, NC library. Jere noted that: "The interviewer was unfamiliar with the 'Merchant Marine Academy' and pursued the subject in some detail, so approximately half of the manuscript deals with the Academy during the period 1938 - 40." Please contact the editor ( rhcorson@sunymaritime.edu ) if you want to receive this alumni account by email. (Please note that this transcript is copyrighted by the Rowan Public Library. It should not be published further without their express permission.)

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL - A note from BOB LANG, Class of 1958, brings the news that he has "Just completed a Coast to Coast Bicycle Ride from Seattle, Washington to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Went with a group organized by Wandering Wheels. 45 cyclists participated on the 46 day ride (4 rest days) and stats follow: 3,183 Miles - 15.3 Average Speed - 208 Hours on (or in) bicycle seat - 5,290 Feet (Highest Climb) - 117 Miles on longest day - 8 Days over 100 miles -Oldest 74 & 75 - Youngest 14." [ed. Their URL is: http://www.wanderingwheels.org ] "The country is absolutely beautiful and people are wonderful! The ride started out very wet (June 22 in Seattle) and it was in the thirties going over the Cascade Mountains with rain and hail. Stevens Pass which was the hardest climb in the Cascades had snow and hail and sleet. After the first 9 days it started to warm up and reached 100 + in Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. It got hotter and hotter as we went East. The last rain was on July 1 and then it was nothing but heat and sun till the end."

Interested in joining Bob for a round trip next year? If so, contact him at Vaduke@aol.com They leave San Francisco March 1, 2000 and arrive back on August 16, 2000. The route is roughly San Francisco to Jacksonville to New York to Canada to Seattle to San Francisco.

ALUMNI WEBSITE BURGEONS - It must have been a busy weekend for webmaster JOE TARTAGLIA, Class of 1976. New to the site are captioned pictures from the recent Class of 1969 reunion, and a handsome looking webpage for the Long Island Chapter. According to Joe, the Jobs Database, another recent addition to the alumni web-site, "... has been a real crowd-pleaser."

NYMFAF vs. MCFAF - This follow-up from R. SEAN MILLIOT, Class of 1996: "I started hanging around Maritime in the mid-80's as a Sea Explorer (BSA), a program ADM MILLER, as you can imagine, was very enthusiastic about. We held monthly meetings there, and our annual get together was held there in the early summer, right after the TSES would leave. In any event, in my on-again off-again presence at Maritime over ten years, either as visitor, student, or employee, I have never heard the term "MCFAF". The letters N-Y-M-F-A-F are painted on the gym walls, and have been since at least '86. Our traditional, post-inspection, Friday pm parties were always called 'NYMFAF', as in 'You going to the NYMFAF?' 'Yeah, right after I get out of this uniform,' with the understanding that it was New York Maritime - First And Foremost.".

BOUNCING ALUMNI - When three issues in a row of NFFS "bounce" from an address, the editor deletes the address after checking for the latest address in the online alumni roster. Can anyone provide NEW e-mail addresses for the following alumni ? James La Femina (1956) - Andrew Dunne (1961) - Robert Schwieger (1964) - William Demaso (1965) - Roger Nejes (1965) - Tom Bishop (1969) - John Ripperger (1969) - Lawrence Herzig (1971) - Jonathan Glantz (1973) - Kirby Stross (1977) - Lars Gustafson (1991) - William Wenzel (1993) - Keith Hermann (1996) - Steven Alvarez (1999)