How it looked to me

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATTER, THE WAY IT LOOKED TO ME…

By Guy Damiani - June, 1998

(Written Right After the 25th Reunion)

Joe Smith; Now Joe’s story is a mystery to me… someone said he works aboard ship, then I heard he lives in Costa Rica farming Bananas, (like you need a private 8000 foot air strip for Bananas?) But later I understood he was still a diver for the Navy...Who's Navy ??? Personally, I think Joe works for the CIA or some other clandestine government organization with a non-existing Washington, DC address and is watching us right now, I for one am not taking any chances.

Chris Lasher; Chris and I have always kept in touch or lived close by, even when he was attending Auburn University he would send me tickets to the football games (as long as I would bring down a couple of Atlanta girls). Chris now has a big house, great wife and many kids, 3 at last count. Last summer he put in a pool that is shaped exactly like the old Gatun pool. On the weekends he wares his old red lifeguard shorts and once an hour blows his whistle and yells "Adult Swim". Some things never change.

Jerry Coffin; Crow, Pigeon, Daniel Dupery, all these nicknames have a story but I don’t want to bore you with the details. Jerry’s a firefighter, member of local 455 (remember the movie) and a model %&*$ New Yorker! Speaking of nicknames, the guys down at the firehouse have a couple of names for him too, like… pencil &%$# and sleeping %&*$ beauty (he once slept through a %&*$ 4 alarmer).

Brian DeRaps; What can I say… great job you and Jerry did putting this together! But, I didn’t realize how much a jokester You are. Brian had Jerry looking over his shoulder all weekend not knowing what would be coming next. The black widow in the bed gag was too much. (I am, talking about spiders, right?) Brian did a little of everything this weekend, I even heard he was helping the hotel with deliveries. Soooo that’s how Joe’s Smith’s rollaway bed ended up in the elevator…

Leland Cummings; Leland is still Leland… I mean that in a good way. His love for electronics and skilled hands of a surgeon has served him well. As long as I can remember he always liked to touch, hold and take apart anything electronic that didn’t belong to him, and thank the lord, his knack for breaking anything that he touched, held or took apart has finally been put to rest. Now you can play with my radio! Leland told me over and over (and he probably told all of you) that by using satellites and the internet he could take a picture of your house no matter where you live… so when you go to bed tonight, sleep well, knowing that Leland could be watching over you. Ahhhhhhhh

George Cruz; I have not seen George in 15 years and what does he do… he yells "Set Meeeeeee" Hell, I had to ask Leland what "Set Me" meant, and frankly I was afraid of what I was going to be told… after Leland explained that it was a volleyball term I felt a little better, but then Leland went into a long winded dissertation about satellites and the internet again, I just kept nodding and acted interested, thinking that the heat had gotten to him. Anyway, I was happy to play two games with George in 97-degree heat at 1pm in Orlando Florida without any water. George, you’re still a competitor and I would play on any team with you and Leland. "Set Meeeeeee"!

Roy Gott; The man with the Blue "Datsun" truck. Back then, there was no "Nissan" yet. Without Roy’s driving lessons through the saw grass I would not be the driver that I am today. Even now when I see a field of tall grass I have to drive into it and cut paths, my wife and Daughter just shake their heads and hold on. You’ve undoubtedly heard of the mysterious crop circles in the Iowa cornfields, thought to have been left by UFO’s, well… Roy and I know differently.

Tony Barr; Tony was at the reunion with his oldest son, nice kid, lot of holes but a nice kid. It was good seeing Tony again, and boy can he still tell a story… the landing barge was my favorite. But we only saw Tony after dark… someone said he spends the days in a long wooden produce box under the salad bar at the hotel. I was beginning to believe those Bats stories he would tell us about how back in the Zone this one particular bat that looked like Barbie Benton would bite his neck at night. Actually, all those years in the sun had taken it’s toll and his doctor recommended he keep SPF 2 million on all the times. Probably something we all should do. Personally, I like the Barbie Benton story.

Robert Nordstrom; I was not surprised to hear he was still in the Car business, but I was surprised to hear he hadn’t played golf in 13 years! He and I played back in the zone… he kept hitting his ball on the green and I spent all day looking for mine in the bush. And, to this day nothing has changed with my game. He told us that before he quite, he was carrying a One handicap, I think it was the rum talking and there were a couple of ladies around… Roster overheard him, and thought he was taking about being able to use the handicap parking space at the Seven-Elevens....

Mike Johnson; My pal Rooster looked good. He struggled a little more with that bad knee, but look on the bright side, you’re one of the few that can truly say it was an "old football injury"… (next time I make that block) Roster’s lives in Denver and works for US Customs. I figure if anyone knows what to look for, it’s him! His boss said he’s better than some of the dogs they use. Roster, Keep a close eye on those Euro trash types, especially the French… You know... how I feel about the French. Note: This was written 5 years ago!

George Fryer; "Ferryboat Captain, George Fryer", sounds good doesn’t it. I will make no jokes about Ferryboats and the men that sail them. he-he.. I kept looking up George in the ’73 yearbook but the only thing I could find was a sophomore kid with the same name… could this be George? I think he was latter banned by the class of ‘75 because he hung around with the class of ’73. George actually graduated with honors from the "Instituteo-Corozal for Radically Aspiring Zone Youths" ( 95% of "I-CRAZY " grads become Navy SEALS the other 5% are Ferryboat Captains) It’s my thought, that after smashing Rich Murphy in the head with a ball during a game of survival at the gym, George’s parents said enough is enough and he was off to the big C. PS… Don’t ever, ever, let Jerry see your hat…

Hank and Peter Goldmann; The Dynamic dual. After living in Coco Solo, Hank & Peter’s Parents sent the boys over to the Pacific side to attend senior year at BHS and told them that Mom and Dad would be over shortly. (Mr. and Mrs. Goldmann promptly packed and moved back to the states leaving no forwarding address) Who can blame them? Finally, in late ’87 Hank and Peter realized that Mom and Dad were not coming, so Hank gave up his WSJ paper route and Peter closed his lottery stand & bootleg HP radio licenses, and they too moved back to the States. I must say that it was a pleasure seeing them again at the reunion as well as meeting their wives, who by the way, told Hank and Peter to head back home and they would be home shortly… oh no not again.