Runaway Renegade: Many of you have probably been wondering why Bill Murray hasn’t starred in a Checkpoints issue for seemingly years. The reason is that he hasn’t done anything that merited the coveted attention of the CP readers. Oh sure, he’s written a couple of books containing his inner thoughts and philosophies, but you could get his musings by sending him two Lucky Charms box tops or accidentally making eye contact with him.
But this time Bill really went all out to get some of the precious CP ink. While attending a family reunion, he borrowed his brother’s Honda Shadow and took it for a little spin, although “spin” might not be the right word…”tumble” would probably be more accurate. He missed a turn, jumped a pavement curve, slid on some grass, and for his finale, landed squarely on his right shoulder. The final outcome was a collarbone broken in five places and two fractured ribs. At last report he’s on the mend, but his brother isn’t letting him borrow any more toys unless he puts down a security deposit and signs a waiver of liability.
Len Salvemini is being inducted into the AF Athletics Hall of Fame on October 18th. Len is the soccer program’s career scoring leader and all-time leading goal scorer. He was a two-time All-American and a four-time all-conference and all-Far West region selection. He also played on the Olympic team during the 1976 qualifiers. Well done, Len!
Tom Popp sent in an input about him, Rick McGraw, Dave Commons, and Jim Corrigan playing in the National Retired Military Golf Classic (NRMGC) over the Memorial Day week. Tom used descriptors such as “intrepid” and “bold” in the write-up, so it was immediately chucked into the wastebin because the CP editors require a semblance of believability in every entry. In fact, the only reason the roaming foursome of golfaholics is being mentioned is because the NRMGC sounds like a great venue for Best Alivers who would like to play four days of golf with other military retirees on multiple courses in Myrtle Beach. The website address for the event is: https://www.nrmgc.com/.
The Trolls sent in a consolidated update on everything Trollish going on in the multiverse. Peach and Barb Keen visited Paul Kent while he was monitoring his home sale, which has garnered zero offers so far. If you’re interested in his house, scrub that idea, as Paul has categorically stated it is not a house for seniors. Mike and Jan Goyden just got back from another trip to Ko Olina on Oahu where they performed the normal Hawaiian rituals of evening walks around the lagoon and watching the sunsets. Mike has been able to get back into swimming and is doing well after back surgery this year. Spain denizens Dave and Libby McDaniel recently took a 12-day driving tour of Portugal with their youngest son, and flew to Washington D.C. in August to watch their oldest son take command of a Space Force Delta at Bolling AFB.
The Red-Star Pilots Association recently held a weekend fly-in/formation clinic at the Ft Collins, CO airport. Twelve Nanchang and Yak aircraft – Chinese and Russian trainer aircraft from the '60s and '70s – were in attendance. Dale “Sledge” Hanner says that, “due solely to my stellar background in aviation and not because I own one of those or any other aircraft, I was invited to sandbag three backseat sorties.” Stellar? That may be stretching it a bit. What Sledge possesses is an uncanny cauldron of luck, as evidenced by the fact he was able to transition from the A-7 to the F-16 because he was sitting at the ops desk the day an old commander called to see if anyone was interested in a slot that had just opened up in a Viper unit.
Dan Burkett and Chris Glaeser, squadronmates throughout their four years at USAFA, had a reacquaintance flight in Chris’ experimental RV-7A while Dan and his wife, Liz, were passing through Plymouth, MN. Chris reports they had a great flight but also noted that Dan is a stick hog and his barrel rolls need a little work. The latter became readily apparent when Chris calmly uttered over the intercom, “You can release the stick now, Dan. I’m trying to save our lives.” You’re reading it in Checkpoints, so that quote must be true, although it could have been made up by a scribe trying to spice up the column. You decide. Dan said he thought it was a good maneuver, but he’s a math major, so how would he know?
Feeling good about yourself? This will help to snap you back to reality. John “Sax” Saxman and Dave “DJ” Jannetta recently made a 45-mile trek through Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, followed that up with another week of hiking in Argentina’s Los Glaciers National Park, and then threw in a little single-track mountain biking and some kayaking among the glaciers. Thanks guys. Now walking the dog twice a day doesn’t sound so grand. We less-achievers could compensate by switching from double stuff to regular Oreos, but to be honest, that’s a sacrifice some of us aren’t willing to make.
| GBNF: Tom Kemp, CS-35 and Tom Darner, CS-23. Details can be found at 75bestalive.org. |
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