My 40th Reunion at USNA was fantastic. We arrived to a beautiful day on Wednesday and were invited to the Dabich's (a classmate) beautiful house on the shores of Chesapeake Bay for dinner. He is also a professor at the Academy and invited any classmates to attend his lecture on Thursday. I told him nobody was going to want to sit in class, but decided as a thank you for their hospitality I would sit in.

Thursday started out overcast and went downhill from there.  We helped with registration for awhile checking people in, handing out hats, etc.  Yvonne and I were able to visit the Midshipmen's Store to stock up on logo shirts, stickers, etc before they closed it about noon for the hurricane.  I did go to plebe chemistry and it was actually fun to see the mids in their school environment. Ironically they were learning the gas laws which are some of the few things I learned in school that I frequently used at KSC. I got some time to talk about me which you know I love to do and to answer questions.

A picnic was scheduled for a beach on the Bay but the weather was going downhill fast so it was quickly moved to Dahlgren Hall a huge building on the yard ( campus).  That was the first big get together and was lots of fun.  Thursday night we had a dinner planned for just my company of about 25 classmates and their wives at the Fleet Reserve Club on the waterfront, but that was canceled because of high winds so an efficient classmate found another place to take us and we had a great dinner and talking.

Friday was supposed to be the big day with a Class Meeting, Memorial Service and Class Dinner planned.  Well the now tropical storm Isabel came in and broke all records for storm surge in the Bay and the hotel where the dinner was to be had several feet of water in the ballroom. The Naval Academy was also flooded  and is still only about 50% restored. I'll attach a letter from the Supt about that. Here's a photo of flooded USNA Gate 1, the drive through gate which also shows our nice hat 
 
 

Of course the Class Meeting and Memorial Service were scrubbed but eventually both were rescheduled to Saturday and Sunday when the lights started coming back on.  Our hotel which was five miles inland had no damage, flooding or loss of electricity and I slept through all the wind.  Friday night we had another company dinner to replace the canceled Class one.  In the photo of the Dabich's home the flood water almost reached up to the house and destroyed both of their docks.  Most local classmates didn't get electricity back for about three to five days.   My eighty plus year old aunt and uncle in Alexandria were without power for five days.  We had stopped by their house Wednesday to visit and treat them to lunch.  Here's a photo taken the day before the flood in happier times.

Saturday we had the Class Meeting at which our class gave $1.3 million dollars for "The Center for Academic Excellence"  which is to bring behind students up to speed. So far we've given $9.9 million to the Academy!  The meeting was followed immediately by Tailgate which was a big tent set up INSIDE the stadium. Nonstop beer, wine and all sorts of food just steps from the football action. We watched about half the game and socialized the rest of the time until they chased us out about two hous after the game. Navy beat Eastern Michigan 39-7 and is now 2-1.
Saturday evening all us tired drunks just grouped in the hotel breakfast room and chatted some more.

The whole reunion went great despite the storm and flooding. We have a great bunch of classmates who won't let a little thing like that stop us. As you know I handle the website and communications for the Class of 1963 and it was gratifying how many hand shakes and thank yous I received.

Sunday we had a 2 pm flight out of Dulles so we spent our waiting time at nearby Manassas National Battlefield where we learned all about the two big battles fought there in the Civil War in 1861 and 1862.

That 's  Stonewall Jackson who earned his nickname there and Y in front of "The Stone House" which served as hospital and POW camp in both battles which the Confederates won decisively.

Steve

Here's the USNA Supt's letter
Dear Alumni, Parents and Friends of the Naval Academy:

We are in the midst of recovering from the devastation of Hurricane
Isabel.  Thankfully, none of our midshipmen, faculty, staff, visiting
Alumni or parents suffered any injuries.  However, the damage the
Academy  sustained from the 7.5 foot storm surge, particularly to our electrical
and  mechanical infrastructure, was significant.  We are still assessing the
extent of damage, but believe full recovery will take months.

Bancroft Hall, King Hall, the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility, Dahlgren
Hall,  Ricketts Hall, MacDonough Hall and the Halsey Field House suffered minor
water damage and have been restored to full operations.  Mitscher Hall
and  the majority of our academic buildings all received extensive water
damage from flooding.  The basement labs in Chauvenet (chemistry) and Rickover
(engineering) were among the hardest hit.  Hundreds of contractors and
Academy personnel undertook a Herculean effort, working around the clock
for 72 hours, so that we were ready to resume makeshift classes on
Monday  22 Sep, and continue our mission to develop midshipmen into future
officers for our Navy and Marine Corps.

We know many challenges await us as we progress to full recovery in the
weeks and months ahead.  I am confident our Navy leadership will support
us with the resources we require.  I ask for your support in being
sensitive to the significant impact this storm had on the Academy.   Midshipmen,
faculty, staff and contractors continue to keep our collective focus on
our mission and overcoming setbacks caused by the hurricane.

Sincerely,
VADM Rodney P. Rempt,
Superintendent