Welcome

The mission of this site is to expand upon and complement the content of our Official Class Website. Suggestions and contributions always welcome.

My goal in undertaking this project is to document and chronicle our years at USAFA using photos, documents, clippings, and recollections – ANYTHING that might illustrate some aspect of cadet life, to draw as complete a picture of our tenure as possible. Even after the passing of the last of our class, it can serve as an historical archive of our collective experience. Your participation is essential to the ultimate success of that mission.

It is entirely appropriate to look back on our time at USAFA, to reminisce and reflect on our experiences there, the good and the bad. As the shadows of our lives lengthen and our numbers wane, it is more important than ever to permanently capture these records, in whatever form they may take. If, in reviewing material here, you feel a twinge of nostalgia or pathos, then I will have achieved my goal. Together we can draw a detailed and lasting picture of our USAFA, and of course its most consequential class, “75, Best Alive.”

I expect this site to be a work in progress until the day it is retired. I envision it as the hub of a network of sites, complimenting, rather than duplicating, content and features. My focus will be the news, history, and recollections of our class and USAFA, past and present. I welcome your feedback and contributions to the effort.

(Mosaic is composed of thousands of photos from this site)

What's New

This refresh of the 75bestalive website is a complete redesign from the ground up. While the basic layout is the same (five major sections), the update is (hopefully) a cleaner, more modern look. Page layout is somewhat standardized across all sections (text left, photo gutter right), consistent with the type of content.

Text is larger throughout, to accommodate failing eyes and smaller devices. Rather than page-spanning, it is almost always presented in a narrower columnar format for ease of reading.

There are hundreds of more photos throughout all sections, which are generally presented in a larger, wider aspect ratio. Thumbnails are almost always links to larger versions of the photo, documents, or other pages.

The Home Page has been streamlined to include essential information. Twitter (X) and Facebook feeds have been eliminated, as they have become unreliable and somewhat irrelevant. Recent GBNF classmates are now included here.

There are hundreds more documents under the Ephemera tab, with more to come, as this is very much an ongoing project.

A major feature of this redesign is the use of photo enhancement software. This too, is an ongoing project, as there are hundreds of photos awaiting processing. This is an imperfect process and results range from spectacular to bizarre. A couple of examples are shown below.

The first photo shows a before and after shot of Larry & Cyndy Richter. This is from a photo provided by Mike O'Shea.

The second is a split scan of Joe Benner from the yearbook, highlighting the differences between the raw scan and the enhanced photo.

 

Conventions

Virtually all thumbnail photos throughout the site link to other pages, photos, or documents.

 

The Gold Medallion is occasionally used to link to relevant supplementary material.

Checkpoints Columns

All Checkpoints columns from 1975 to the present, some in a lightly edited form, are on the site. Generally I do not include any personal indentifying information (PII). Phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, birthdays, etc. are all deleted along with the accompanying text for continuity. Web links are included if still live, otherwise they are deleted, again along with accompanying text. If anyone wishes entries about themselves or family deleted, please let me know. I will comply with all requests.

Wherever possible, I have linked documents and articles referenced in the Checkpoints columns. If you have any of these materials, please consider submitting them for inclusion. Also, please consider submitting photos from throughout your careers for inclusion in the appropriate Checkpoints column album. If you have the original of published photos, please submit them to upgrade the currently published photos (from magazine scans) to higher resolution and/or color versions.

Extras are now included in current and previous columns to use supplementary material not published in the print magazine. Material includes, but is not limited to, news, photos, articles, and just about anything highlighting history, achievements, and activities of classmates.

GBNF

Each photo on the main page is a link to the page for that person. I have filled this section to the best of my ability. I solicit any contributions you wish to make (photos, obituaries, remembrances, etc). It is never too late to submit remembrances for fallen classmates. I have taken the first step in that direction by culling comments from emails and other documents. If I have included material you prefer not to be on the site, let me know and I will remove it. Please take the effort to write down remembrances of your classmates before those memories are lost forever.

Galleries

Selection of a gallery thumbnail photo will take you to a thumbnail grid display of all photos in that gallery (gallery page may also include links to documents, newspaper clippings, or other relevant material). Clicking on any thumbnail photo will take you to the gallery page of that photo, from which you can navigate through the gallery. The function bar at the bottom of the page provides access to additional features for that photo (if any).

Consider submitting photos for any and all galleries. Especially lacking are photos from all reunions. Credit will be given directly on the gallery page that your photo appears.

Memories

This section contains memories, recollections, war stories, fairly tales, and any narratives, true or near true (in other words, BS) as long as they are entertaining and invoke memories of "the way it was." (Also known as "Oral Histories")

History

The History Section is generally early USAFA and Class History. If you have any documents, ANYTHING related to your life as a cadet, contact me about including it in the site. Nothing is too trivial or insignificant (as evidenced by some of the ephemera). History treatments are neither rigorous nor exhaustive. They are a snapshot or scrapbook of a particular topic, comprising photos and documents culled from the Special Collections archives.

Facebook and Twitter

The Class of 1975 has a Facebook and a Twitter (A.K.A. "X") page. It can become a nexus for the class community, especially for those active on Facebook.

Acknowledgements

Contributors

Perry Lamy: Massive quantities of documents to include Talon, Dodo, Falconews, brochures, papers, and documents.

Bill Estelle: A collection of publications, papers, and documents second only to that of Perry Lamy.

Dean Cox: Graduation ephemera.

Jim Marburger: Air show poster from graduation.

Jeff Chappell: Dodo magazines.

Mike Witherspoon: Dodo magazines.

Personal Photos: Akers, Barber, Barrowclough, Bryant, Buchta, Byrd, Carlson, Carson, Chappell, Cox, Douglas, Ehrhart, Estelle, Held, Henney, Janetta, Jude, Kent, Knoelling, Lamy, Lenci, Lewallen, Lyerly, Meyerrose, Naas, Narzinski, Osterheld, Park, Pomrenke, Roberts, Rogers, Romanowicz, Ruth, M., Waters, Witherspoon.

Legal Advisors

Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish & Short, LLP

Disclaimer

The content of this site does not reflect the opinions, standards, policy, or endorsement of the United States Air Force Academy, the United States Air Force, or the United States Government. Additionally, the appearance on this site of certain images, words, or phrases is not meant to offend, insult, demean, or diminish the beliefs, feelings, or the self-esteem of any individual or group of individuals, nor is it meant to endorse or condemn any political perspective, religious belief, or lifestyle choice. Words and/or phrases which fit into this category may include, but are not limited to: “men,” “bring me men,” and “amen.” No malice or offense is implied or intended. Please don't search for any. Thank you.

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