Charlie LaFrenz

Hello everyone!  

I'm going to try this again.  On Saturday 7/8 I posted a message, but did not post it on the Message Forum.  Anyway, on Friday 7/7, Bill Orr his wife Jean and 2 of her sisters and their husbands came to Keokuk for a visit.  They were in the area for a family wedding.  We all met at Angalini's and had a fantastic dinner.  If you are ever in the area I recomend a stop at Angalinis as it is rated the 7th best restaurant in Iowa.  After dinner one of Jean's sisters and her husband had to visit other relatives but the rest of us came to our house for dessert.  We had a great time talking about old times and catching up.  

We all know about the horror Bill has gone through with skin cancer.  However, I was delighted to see that after all the proceedures he went through, he looked great.  He showed me the before pictures and the damage was pretty bad.  After undergoing all this he looks like there was never a problem.  He sat facing me at dinner and I couldn't even see a scar.  So, it is wonderful to relate some really good news.  However, we all need to be careful when exposed to sun, and see a skin doctor once a year.  Janet and I do.

Best regards everyone,

Charlie and Janet

Linda Kirchner (Schrader)

Good job Charlie...Would love to have seen Bill since he missed the last reunion. Maybe next time he & Jean are in the area...let us locals know & we can make it a mini reunion. Nice of him to get in touch with you & I'm sure you both had a great time reminscing & catching up with each other. Take care...

Marcia Conley (Davis)

Thanks, Sharon, for notifying that there will not be a mini mid-year reunion next May in Branson.  That puts my mind at ease since I was concerned about it being in May.  That month is a busy seminar month and recovery from a busy tax season.

I am thinking about making a visit back "home" sometime in the next year and would love to meet and have lunch with whomever is available.  I'll post my plans when I decide.

Have a fun and safe remaining summertime.  I am busy doing seminars, finishing tax return extensions and closing out a long-term trust I have been involved with for the past 10 years.  Lots of work but so enjoyable helping others.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I wake up and realize I am 74 years old and still going strong at the same pace I have been at for the past 20 years.  I am truly BLESSED!

Sharon Tincher (Scholl-Nabulsi)

Thanks Marcia! Good to hear from you and I will look forward to welcoming you home next year! I'm sure we could get some classmates together whenever you make a trip to F M next year!  I wish all the classmates the best!

Cyndy Day (Savage)

We have lived in this area for 41 years and yet I too still go back "home", glad to see Marcia taking a trip back home too.  I know Sharon will gather the clan for you Marcia

Bill Orr

I wish to thank all of my classmates for their well wishes and happy birthday thoughts.

As for my wounds, I am all healed up with minimal scaring. It's nice to go into the stores and not have people stare at me.  

Jean and I spent time at our cabin on Lake Poinsett SD and have been pleasantly surprised at the construction activity. It's like Spirit Lake 50 years ago.

I am now concentrating on my hobby, Model Railroading. I have approximately 20 by 20 foot layout and a number of O Gage trains. My goal is to run 4 trains on a 3 level layout. Back in the day I could run 18 trains at the same time but had a big train wreck.

On that thought,

Again, Thanks for the well wishes

Bill  

Sharon Tincher (Scholl-Nabulsi)

This message is for Sandy Buckley Matthews! I got a notice that you posted info on our message forum and if you did you must not have hit submit because the message is not here. 

Sandra Buckley (Matthews)

Sharon, for some reason that I don't understand, the message is on MY personal profile page - however, I've already had a response from Don Leach, so it got viewed by him at least.  the message is about our address change and move to Greenville, NC later this month.  SORRY ?!?!?!?!

Bill Orr

Sharon,

This just might be me but I seem to have two class sites. One on my cell phone and one on my personal computer.

The same format but different messages. For example, some class mate messages appear only on my cell phone site and  other class mate messages appear only on my personal computer site.

Took me a while to figure it out so I always check both sites to stay up to date.

Bill

Cyndy Day (Savage)

Bill might be onto something Sharon because I got Sandy's and saw Don's response.  I changed thier address in the reunion booklet, so kudos to Bill Orr; I think he's onto something.  Thanks again for all you do Sharon, the web site is a wonderful connection for all.

Brad Wiedmann

David Kutcher asked me to say thanks to all who wished him a Happy Birthday. He said he was having difficulty with the website 

Bill Orr

Here's hoping that our classmates and friends in Florida are out of harms way.

Jean and I spent a lot of time in Florida especially the Ft Lauderdale area. Also Naples, and Key West. Could tell you about the time we accidentally visited Key West at Halloween. What a surprise for two Iowa nativies. I've never seen so many nude people in my life. Enough said.

Again stay safe,

Bill

Bill Orr

Looks like Marco Island is taking a direct hit. Sharon tuck in and take care.

Sandra Buckley (Matthews)

For all of you classmates who either live fulltime in Florida or spend your winters there, may God spare your homes or condos - thinking especially of Sharon & Moundy Nabulsi, who spend almost 6 month a year in Marco Island and Terry & Margaret Noonan, who spend 3 months in the winter in Naples.  Our youngest son, Joe, and his family live east of Jacksonviile, FL in Atlantic Beach - their home is just 1 block off the ocean !!!!  They evacuate today and we pray they have a home to return to that isn't knee high in water and has a roof !!!!  Meanwhile, we leave for Boston later today for a 2 week small ship cruise through New England, up to Bar Harbor, Maine and 8 different ports in between, plus south to New Port, RI, Martha's Vineyard and Nantuckette.  At least we are heading NORTH on American Cruise Lines new ship - 190 passengers - the US Constellation.

Sandra Buckley (Matthews)

So sorry for misspelling Moudy's name - typing tooooooo fast this morning !

Cyndy Day (Savage)

We have the area on our prayer list at church and I have spoken w/several close friends who live there, many evacuated, a couple who decided to ride it out. Houston of course is still battling, so prayers are for them as well.

Marcia Conley (Davis)

I am praying for all my family, friends and classmates who reside in the path of IRMA.  I spent many vacations in the Keys. Miami. Tampa and Daytona and love Florida.  A place I would go back to every year if it wasn't so far to travel so Hawaii gets more of my vacation time than Florida.  I hope everyone has found shelter and safety.  But, let us not forget and continue praying for HARVEY victims and their recovery.  I am counting my blessings that I live in California and only have to think about an occasional earthquake.  GOD BLESS EVERYONE and GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Sharon Tincher (Scholl-Nabulsi)

Hi Everyone: Just to let you all know that we are in Iowa not Marco Island so we missed Hurricane Irma. The word we have today is that our building and condo are okay. I will believe it when I see it. 

Sandy Keith, I want you to know that I changed your email so all is good with your profile. 

Enjoy this beautiful Fall people. The Canadian Geese are already flying south over our house so I suspect that means Winter is just around the corner. 

Happy Thanksgiving and Christmas to all of you!

Bill Orr

Sharon,

Glad to hear that you are safe and your Condo survived.  

Changing subject. I have been watching the PBS Vietnam series and it has brought back raw memories. The one this Sunday evening will cover my Vietnam experiences. I was the Artillery Forward Observer attached to Charlie Company 1st BN Seventh Calvary during Hue, Kae Sahn, A Shau Valley, Fishhook and Ton La Shaun Special Forces Camp on the Cambodian border. Hue was the worst. We went in with 92 men, all we could muster, and 13 of us came out. We were caught in a open rice paddy by a Brigade of North Vietnamese. Enough said.

My family was surprised for they had no knowledge of my experience. 

My overall Military experience was good and gave me a great education. In fact my last job was teaching future generals at the Army's Command and General Staff College.

It's good to vent.

Bill 

Linda Kirchner (Schrader)

WOW  BILL  ORR.......I am very impressed with your military life. I, like your family, had no idea what all you had experienced in Southeast Asia. Thank you for serving your country. We've been friends for 70 years, am very proud of you. You deserve so much respect, you have mine. Thanks again.......

Brad Wiedmann

Bill Orr,  Thank you for your service. 

Marcia Conley (Davis)

Bill, So Impressive!  So many Vietnam Vets don't get the respect they should.  Thank you for your service.

Carole Narigon (Wilson)

What an experience you had.  Thank you for your service.  Ive always wondered how many of our classmates experienced Vietnam. Missed the PBS series but will be watching tonight!

Jerry Rees

Bill,

Regarding your Viet Nam experience,  I have to ditto what the others have said.  I remember the last time I saw you and talked to you before we separated for 50 years was during a Christmas/New Years holiday when you told me you would be deployed to Viet Nam in the new year.  You will have to remind me what year that was.  For half a century, I remembered that conversation and wondered if you survived and returned home.  I am glad you did and reached out to me about a year ago to invite me the the 55th class reunion.  I missed seeing you there, but understand why.  Maybe we can meet again someday somewhere in the middle.

Sandra Buckley (Matthews)

Bill Orr - I know many of our classmates had time in Viet Nam, but certainly didn't realize the extent of your involvement !  I have recently been reading some books about the President Kennedy and LBJ years and also about Robert McNamara and it's given me a much broader base of information about those years leading up to the USA's involvement in Viet Nam.  As the other classmates have expressed, thank you for your years of service !  Bill only had a relatively short time in his 4 years in the Navy pulling duty off the coast of Viet Nam in the Gulf of Tonka in 1965, but was so blessed to have had his acceptance to the University of Iowa in late 1965 - that's what kept him from being "involuntarily extended" by the Secretary of the Navy in mid-August 1965, when all technical personnel were affected - he was a radar repair specialist on his destroyer escort radar ship, the USS SAVAGE DER 386.

I hope to watch the PBS series this evening to learn more about where you were.

Sandy & Bill Matthews