John and I went to USC on NROTC scholarships. When we went to the advanced naval air gunnery facility in Corpus Christi, Texas for our summer cruise at the end of our Sophmore year we were each assigned to a Marine or Naval aviator. Everyone got to go up in the latest two seat jet with our aviator who Wed to scare the bejesus out of us- We also were given sedated flights in the PBY seaplane which is a lot like driving a truch without power steering and a lot of other aircraft that escapes me now. The flying bug really hit John. The second half of our summer cruise was spent in Little Greek Virginia playing war games with the amphibious Marine Corps. Both John and I weren't very good at handling the troop landing craft that you see taking the Marine$ onto a beach in those WWI movies- I know I rammed mine into the side of an LET and I'm pretty sure John did too because we were reassigned to a Machine gun Platoon, put on board the LET, and given the glorious opportunity to go through the swampy portion of the camp in an amtrak that had a tendency to nearly sink, We were glad to be sent back to SC for our Junior year. At the end of our Junior year I was assigned to the US Fletcher which was an the first of the old WWII destroyer class which became known as the Fletcher Class. John was assigned to an aircraft carrier. I believe it was the Princeton- During that summer (11958) the Marines landed in Lebanon and we got to follow Russian made subs coming out of Vlaclovostok. For the first time in Naval History the atomic weapons were armed -aboard the Princeton. My ship got some shot gun shell like detonators for our depth charges. Somehow that didn't seem fair. Of greater concern was the rumor that the midshipman were going to be commissioned instead of sending us back for our senior year. This turned out to be untrue. At the end of our senior year neither John or I went into the service. John got a job as an engineer in one of the early computer companies and I became an owner of a small business. We both were married and working in the Glendale area. John decided he didn't like being a civilian and rejoined the navy and was sent to Quanbco for pilot training. After he got his wings he became carrier qualified ( meaning he could land one of those things on the pitching deck of a carrier.) This time period was after Sputnik but before the full involvement in Vietnam in the early 60s- Johns wife was Delia Redden, Dixie Redden's younger sister. As you may recall Dixie was married to our classmate Nick Georgino. Anyway John was killed in a plane accident around 1961. (not really sure of the year but that would be close) I was told that John's plane had a malfunction as he was returning to base from a exercise off the carrier. He did not eject. He was killed in the crash. He was a good friend -and we had more than our share of good times at SC and on those summer naval cruises. Even after 40 years I still miss him and think of him often, I hope this clears up Jay's inquiry. I have left out most of the things that John and I did in various ports and at various military camp$ that would have been frowned upon by our superior officers but you get the idea.