Latest Letter from Sean

Greetings Class of 1979,

Summer is here and that brings weddings, vacations, fireworks, heat waves, beaches, mountains, fishing, and, perhaps best of all, a new class of Plebes – this time the Class of 2021. Hard to believe, but we may not be too far off from having a legacy grandchild in a future class. Our own Link in the Chain class, the Class of 2029 are now a bunch of ten (or so) year olds. Anybody have a 10-year old grandchild/future Midshipman?

I have a lot of gouge to relay to you so please read to the end.

First up is my thanks to everyone who participated in the annual All-Academy Challenge. I know the Alumni Association raised a lot of money, but I have not heard where we finished. I guess I should just say, “I’ll find out, Sir!”

On our 38^th Anniversary of graduation and commissioning – May 30^th – I joined numerous other 79ers at VADM Joe Mulloy’s Retirement Ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard. Joe was our last Active Duty Navy classmate and now LtGen Bob Walsh, USMC, stands alone as the last man in the class still on ACDU.

Congratulations to Joe and Beth as they move into the unfamiliar civilian role. The Mulloy family continues to serve though – both sons are USNA Grads (Connor just graduating days before Dad’s retirement). A nice tribute to the extended family was put together by Mission BBQ and I urge you to watch - http://m.mission-bbq.com/stories-of-service - Go to the “Stories of Service” column and find Joe’s family.

I received the following request from another classmate - Do you happen to know anyone with a spare class crest pin?  My mom lost one and is looking for a replacement. Contact me if you do and I’ll put you in touch with that classmate.

This is an interesting request from the Alumni Association – perhaps one of you knows the answer: From Noreen Frenaye <noreen.Frenaye@usna.com> I am working on a project in which I need to know if there are any Naval Academy graduates buried in any of the American Cemeteries in Europe. Currently, I am looking for those in Normandy, or perhaps on the Missing in Action Wall in Normandy, but I’d like to gather any and all information for future use. If you are aware of any Naval Academy graduate buried in any of these cemeteries, please let me know. To clarify… while there may not be anyone from your class buried in one of the American Cemeteries in Europe, if you are able to pass this email along to your classmates, it’s possible someone is aware of a USNA grad who is a family member, etc., who may be buried there. Back to me, I can only imagine this request will push to all overseas cemeteries. If you have the requested information, please contact Noreen directly.

The Classmail email service has shifted to a Google Gmail system I am attaching an instruction sheet about this for all of you on Classmail.

So with summer just beginning, next up will be Fall – and that means Navy Football. You can find the schedule at Navysports.com but I want to encourage those of you near our Road Games locations to consider attending the game in your area. The schedule for Away Games is:

Florida Atlantic – September 1 for our Boca Raton, Florida classmates

Tulsa – September 30

Memphis – October 14

Temple – November 2 (Philadelphia)

Notre Dame – November 18 (South Bend, IN)

Houston – November 24

Moving on – President Trump has nominated Industrialist and former Marine Richard V. Spencer for Secretary of the Navy. Spencer, who lives in Wyoming, served as Marine aviator from 1976, after graduating from Rollins College, until 1981. He left the service as a Captain in 1981. Spencer served as the chief financial officer and vice chairman of the electronic commodities futures exchange Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. until 2008. He’s currently the managing director of Fall Creek Management, LLC. Of course, Spencer will take over SECNAV duties from our own Sean Stackley who has been acting SECNAV since January 20^th. Sean has been busy, dealing with both the good and the bad, and, sadly, the tragic USS Fitzgerald collision. If you can find a YouTube or similar link to his speech at the USNA graduation this year it is well worth your time to watch.

BEAT ARMY!

Omnes Viri 1979,

Sean