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The Flying Midshipmen 34th West Coast Reunion....September 11-13 ...2006...Monterey...California.

The Flying Midshipmen 32nd West Coast Reunion....September 21-23 ...2004...Monterey...California.

One of the highlights of this year's Reunion was the attendance of all seven of the remaining Charter members of the West Coast Reunion. The six shown in the accompanying photo were joined by the illustrious AL WEIL down from Olympia, Washington. See Charter Members for individual photos of this infamous and gregarious group. Also go to Reunion 2004 to see a commemorative booklet which includes bios of selected ex-middies.

What led you to join up?

I was probably destined to be in the Navy from the looks of all the navy suits my mother dressed me in. Anyway, after flunking the Navy physical just out of high school, I was resigned to sitting out the Big War. I was nailing 2 x 4s on a house my Dad was building, when Jim Hendrix came by with a deal I couldn’t pass up. We hitch hike to LA after submitting applications for the V-5 program...get free room and board...visit my Aunt Kay and Uncle Carl... and live it up for a few days while Jim joins up and I flunk the physical. Lo and behold, we were among the five out of 50 applicants who made it. (I finally figured out that my original turn down was because some swabbie had left a thumb print on my chest x-ray.)

What was your V-5 college? What (and who) stands out?

We were sent to Arizona State College at Flagstaff, currently Northern Arizona University. As the first V-5’s at ASU we were treated like third class citizens by the V-12 engineers. There was no love lost, either way. Incidentally, most of the V-5 and V-12 students were from California and had a hard time adjusting to life in the woods. When the word came down that the Naval Unit was being decommissioned, rumors were rampant as to where we would go next.

It was one of the most emotional experiences of my young life when the Skipper crowded all of us into the lounge to announce the news...some good...some not so good. First, the V-12’s were to be transferred to the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque....dead silence. And the V-5s are to go to...drum roll...USC! Bedlam from the underclassmen! Well it changed my life...as you’ll see!

One day, as I was studying at USC, my roommate, Dave Cobb, suggested I go with him to Doheney Library and meet one of his English Composition classmates. Fortunately, I was willing to tear myself away from the books and was introduced to his classmate...a cute blonde named Barbara Johnson and, as they say, the rest is history.

Where did you attend Selective Training? What fond memories and/or unusual events?

From USC we were sent to N.A.S. Los Alamitos for our 1O hours in Stearmans, where I almost flunked out. It wasn’t difficult to do as my good friends Bill Burlem and Les Berg found out. Anyway, I drew the C. O., CDR. Chamberlain, for my check ride and almost drove him into a tree. Not good! Four more hours of training on how to avoid trees and a check ride with Ens. Art Konas. I had been a gym rat and, since Ens. Konas was in charge of physical fitness, had developed a good enough relationship that he lobbied to be my check pilot and give me a final chance. It was a very windy day and Art reluctantly got out of the Yellow Peril and sent me on my way. I survived the touch and go landings as he kneeled and assumed a prayful attitude. Thanks, Art. That took guts! As a footnote, I never received another down check throughout my flying career.

Pre-Flight….what event or occurrence will you never forget?

Arriving at Ottumwa, Iowa, in January wearing a light weight Navy jacket. The snow was coming down horizontally and I couldn’t believe this was to be my home for the next three months! But what fun we had suffering together...swimming at 8 am...marching and sliding along the icy roads to class...P.E. with Mighty Mouse...having to wrestle. (I’m drawing a blank on my partner’s name for obvious reasons) Junior was 30 pounds heavier and six times stronger...and who will ever forget hearing Peggy Lee every morning at 6 am belting out on the local radio station “It’s a Good Day!” Yes, they did have radio in Iowa in 1947!

Describe your hairiest experience at Corpus or Pensacola?

Night flying. Always an adventure. We were making touch and go landings at Cabaniss Field one pitch black night. I was landing on the right side of the runway when I was surprised to see another SNJ parked off the runway to my right. I found out that Leo Reagan had landed on the left side of the runway ahead of me, had ground looped and passed right in front of me. Miraculously, we avoided a fiery confrontation. Stuff you have nightmares about!

Where did you go for Advanced and in what aircraft? Describe the highlights.

Went back to Corpus for training in PB4Y-2s. Not my first choice. Bill Rankin and Russ Baum and I had been accelerated through carrier quals and wanted to be fighter jocks in the worst way. Since no VF billets were given to the class ahead of us, at the last minute, we changed our requests to VA. As it happened everyone who applied was given VF and we were the only ones picked for VP. Tragedy of all tragedies! It changed, and perhaps shortened, Russ’s life and turned Bill into a commercial pilot. As for me...read on.

On to the fleet….where did you go and what was it like being a Flying Midshipman?

Went to VP-20 at Whidbey Island. No money...not sunny...what’s this midshipman doing here? Roomed with Alex Dunn. Learned to play squash.

How did your life progress…marriage…Korea…Viet Nam…civilian occupation… family…retirement…etc.

Married Barbara in LA the day after I became an Ens. USN. Three glorious days honeymooning in Santa Barbara then back to Whidbey only to find that our squadron had been decommission. I was ecstatic to find that I had been assigned to VP-22 in Hawaii. But, hold the presses...VP-22 was scheduled to deploy to Guam for six months...without dependents. So, after being on Guam a short while, I was anxious to reconstitute my marriage. The first stateside school available was Navy Justice School at Port Hueneme just 50 miles from LA where Barbara resided. Naturally I jumped at the opportunity. Henceforth I was the squadron’s legal officer, a job I thoroughly enjoyed.

Aviation Midshipmen include Bud Hower, John "Hootch" Grauer,
John Mulcahy, Bill Mallinger, Rod Williams and yours truly.
Shortly after Karl Olds and Irv Wesenberg joined the squadron.

Was not selected for retention contrary to promises of the Holloway Plan. We were offered six more months of active duty when no one knew what was happening in Korea. Said, “You had your chance!” and headed back to USC only to be diverted once again. Visited Barbara’s sister and brother-in-law in Palo Alto and Tom talked me into going to Stanford. (They moved to Southern California three months later, but living our lives in Palo Alto has been a blessing. Muchas gracias, Thomas)

Flipped a coin between architecture and the law and it came up heads! Graduated with honors...went to work as a flunky and wound up president of Spencer Associates, Architects and Planners. At Stanford a fellow student, Tito Seigel, talked me into joining the Navy Reserve...it didn’t take much talking...we needed the cash. Flew SNJ’s, F4U’s, F-80s, F2H’s, S2F’s and wound up as the skipper of a P2V Squadron at Alameda...full circle.

All the while we had three children...Curt who studied baboons in Africa for three years and is currently a computer guru in Puerto Rico...Jan who studied art at UCLA and is currently a graphic designer in San Francisco...and Matt who is a soil microbiologist in Redding, California. If you are curious about the details, visit our family web site at www.bbusse.com

Had a great career in architecture and retired in 1988. Since then Barbara and I have been living the good life. Lots of traveling...baby sitting with assorted granddaughters...building furniture...gardening...attending reunions...making video movies and doing computer graphics...all the while working with other volunteers to save the world.