|
|
|
|
|
VOLUME 25 • CHAPTER 2 • April 2025MemoirsThe first Campionette, the student newsletter, was published 106 years ago, on November 11, 1917. The first editor of the Campionette was Tom O'Connor, class of 1920. The last official issue was the one announcing the closing of the school in May 1975. Over the years, various classes have published special editions for their class reunions, some of which have been pretty extravagant.
Celebrating 25 Years!The Campion Forever Newsletter was first published by Aaron Huguenard, class of 1947, in December 2000 in the Inprivatum Campianum at Campion-Knights.org as a means for alumni and faculty to keep in touch and share life experiences. CampionForever.org began in October 2001. Tom Olson '72 became editor and publisher in July 2010 at the behest of Aaron prior to his passing. We've been trying to get memoirs from retired and not-so-retired Campion Jebbies for our newsletter for quite some time. We don't care if the memoirs are about when they went to Campion, taught at Campion, or just what they've done since leaving Campion. We just want to hear something from our mentors in the first person; perhaps words of wisdom learned while IHS; typically, we only get third-person accounts post mortem. Not to lay all the blame on the Jebbies, but why can't we get memoirs from more alumni, or what they've done since leaving Campion? Where are all those other authors and editors of the old 'ette"? While it has been a task getting people to submit articles, there are a few dedicated alumni and Jebbies who do regularly provide ideas for articles. This is a good thing; otherwise, I would have to conjure the 'Ghost of Joe Campion' for ideas more than I care to. From Jerry O'Kane '64
The January edition of Campion Forever! featured a profile of the military service of Terry Miedzianowski ’64. His was one of 77 such profiles that I compiled into a book and presented as a tribute to the Men of Campion Class of 1964 who have notably served their Country, Church and Community. A promise was made to those profiled that they would control who would be able to access their story, and some have agreed to share their profile of service in Campion Forever! The war in Vietnam was escalating when Class of ’64 graduated from Campion. At age 18 we all had to take our draft physical. Some who were fit for military service chose to enlist or be drafted right then, but most went to college and received student deferments. A surprising number joined their college ROTC program. The Vietnam War still was raging in 1968-69 when most from the Class of ’64 graduated from college. Those in ROTC knew they soon would be officers in the Armed Forces. But the others knew their student deferments were ending, and it was decision time. Only those in longer undergraduate programs received a last shot at not being drafted when birthdates were drawn in the first modern draft lottery December 1, 1969. Eventually all physically able men in the Class of ’64 had to choose how they would complete their military obligation or be drafted. These profiles featured in Campion Forever! are not biographies or memoirs. They are a record of how the Class of 1964 did noble service, as Men of Campion always have done. Jerry W. O’Kane ‘64
From Tim Cagney '72
Marking off the Bucket ListLike many of us I turned 70 in 2024. As I approached 70 I decided this would be a good time to complete a long awaited bucket list item. I made plans to visit my 7th continent, Antarctica! To back up a bit, about 50 years or so, I started my international travel the summer between junior and senior year. I had been invited by Chris Smith ’72 to stay with his family in Jakarta, Indonesia. His father was the Senior Medical Officer of Southeast Asia. My dad worked for UNITED Airlines so neither transportation nor lodging was an issue. I left the US on June 05,1971 heading to Jakarta. Once there I travelled with the Smith’s on their R & R vacation. We flew to Bangkok. From there we took a train north to Phitsanulok, one of the oldest cities in Thailand and then Chiang Mai, a major crafts center. We returned south by train to the Thai border crossing into Malaysia at Kota Bharu. From there we travelled by car to Kuala Lumpur and then flew to Singapore and back to Jakarta. My continent count was now two. Since then we’ve visited Sydney, Australia in 2002, continent three and the Great Pyramids of Egypt in 2009, continent four. In 2021 we took a river cruise on the Rhine from Basel, Switzerland through France, and Germany to Amsterdam. This brought me to five. Last December I reached continent six by flying to Buenos Aires where we stayed three nights. This was followed by a flight to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost city on the planet where we boarded our cruise/expedition ship the Viking Polaris heading for Antarctica. On board Polaris there were labs of biologists, botanists and geologists, hence the term Expedition Cruise. They are studying the southern ocean marine life and Antarctica itself. The Polaris and its sister ship Octanis were built for Viking in 2002 and held just 378 passengers with a crew of 256. Though small they were just as impressive and luxurious as any ocean liner but built specifically to deal with ocean ice and conduct research. We sailed south through the Drake Passage , the roughest seas in the world where the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern oceans converge. Luckily we did not get seasick even with 7 - 8 meter swells and winds approaching 100 knots. We reached Antarctic waters on December 25, 2024, Christmas day. Once there we had scheduled off ship outings to Danco Island, Portal Point, Mikkelson Harbor and Damoy Landing. At each location there was no docking available so we rode by zodiak from ship to shore. A zodiak is a hard rubber boat about 20 feet long 7-8 feet across. It had an outboard motor and you sat on the side pontoons facing in holding onto a rope. It was a blast riding through the waves, being splashed by the cold Antarctic water. The ship stayed geo-located using global positioning, azipods and bow thrusters. The big moment came when I swung my legs across the pontoon of the zodiac and sloshed through the water and rocks to Portal Point. It was 4 pm, December 29, 2024, sunny and about 35 degrees. It was summer in the southern hemisphere. I’d made it to all seven continents. On one day we dove in a submersible vessel built for just 7 down to the sea bottom which in this area was 850 feet. We saw sea stars, sponges, sea cucumbers, brittle stars, barnacles, and other bottom dwelling crustaceans, and unusual fish. When the lights were switched off the area was pitch dark. Absolutely no light reached this depth. Additionally during the off ship expeditions we investigated land and wildlife along with cabins and research stations. We saw the hull of an abandoned whaling ship with lots of whale bones in and around it. Testing of the abandoned hull determined the ship had been from North America. It was likely from the early 1900’s as were some of the abandoned research shacks. We visited Deception Island and Edinburgh Hill the Devil’s Tower of Antarctica. The ocean, land and wildlife were like something out of a story book. Huge icebergs. Three types of penguins. Seals, whales and several types of birds. In some places we got as close as 5 meters to the penguins. There was a strict rule of no interaction between us and the wildlife. If any penguins approached we were told to back off. This was their territory. There were also extremely strict regulations associated with visiting the continent. Heavy duty outerwear was given to us for the outings. If we wanted to wear anything from home it was thoroughly inspected and vacuumed first. In one instance I was not allowed to wear a knit cap I brought because it could have released fibers into the environment. Coming home we again passed through Drake Passage this time on New Year’s Eve. Rocking party was an understatement. When we reached South America we stayed a day and a half in Ushuaia and then flew back So now I can say I’ve visited all seven continents. In all my travels nothing can beat Antarctica with it’s pristine white environment, icebergs and wildlife. There are only a handful of ships permitted to visit Antarctica such as Amundsen, National Geographic, and Hurtigren but Viking is top of the line for their service and attention to detail. If you ever get the chance to visit the bottom of the world don’t pass it up. It truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
From Charles 'Pat' McCarty '64 The fall of 1964 found me with limited options. While I have an innate mechanical ability to fix anything except a broken heart and I can make any parts necessary to accomplish the repair, I was young then and had zero experience so my occupational prospects were few. One day I ran into a friend from elementary school, resplendent in his dress blue “saltwater tuxedo.” After we chatted a bit, I decided to check out the "World's Largest Nuclear Powered Canoe Club." I visited the Navy Recruiter, took a test, and he said, "You're my boy!” He never mentioned the Group W bench. Two days later I was in the Navy. I survived the eight-weeks of Navy boot camp ("finishing school") at Great Lakes IL, and I traveled to Millington TN for technical training (“A” school). Next came specialized skill classroom training ( "C" school) in Lakehurst NJ. The rest of my years in the Navy were spent at Forrest Sherman Field NAS Pensacola FL, known as the “Cradle of Naval Aviation” or “Annapolis of the Air.” I was in Aircrew as a Rescue Air Crewman with Search and Rescue NAS Pensacola. I maintained and flew in fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft. I also rebuilt jet engines at the Overhaul and Repair facility at the Aircraft Maintenance Division. After we rebuilt an engine, we would hang it on the plane and go for a test ride. It was not as risky as it sounds. We ran the engine in a test cell before it went on the aircraft. Our mission was to keep our birds ready to go, 24/7/365, but Navy supply systems weren’t always up to the challenge. We managed, no matter the obstacles. Perhaps that’s why we were known at Sherman Field as Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. But that is a story in itself. The Navy has two identifiers, rating and rank. My rating was ADJ, meaning I had been trained as an Aviation Machinist Mate (Jets). Ranks for enlisted personnel are E-1 to E-9. When I later became a PFC, i.e. a “Proud F***ing Civilian,” I was an ADJ-2, E-5. The friendships I made in the Navy endure to this day. I put together a reunion in 2009 for all Search and Rescue personnel I could find in order to honor Chief Harold E. Holt, who was in charge of SAR NAS Pensacola. His influence was profound. To become a member of SAR, you had to be invited by Chief Holt. He was a father figure to the youngsters and well-liked and respected by the lifers. He was my "Sea Daddy" and literally like a father to me. He retired in 1967. I was discharged in December 1968, and I kept in touch with him until his passing in 2013.
From the desk of John Duskey '63
There are a few brief points I want to post here, as a follow-up to my January article as I mentioned vaccines. Some people take the covid vaccine and it helps them; subsequently they are doing fine and they suggest everyone should take the vaccine. Meanwhile, others take it and have adverse effects; some even die after taking the vaccine. A doctor I know recently wrote me about this problem and cited these three points he found in doing his research.
(1) the number of lipid nano-particles varies from batch to batch. The patients who receive a dose that is too strong may be at risk. He cites a web site “howbadismybatch.com”
Obviously the questions about dosage, heat, and blood thinners should have been researched and answered before the vaccine was released. The necessary research would have taken more time, but it should have been done. While this information has not been reviewed or published by NIH, it does show the need for more research. The second point I want to recall is about toxic elements like lead, mercury, and aluminum. Lead and mercury have long been known to be toxic, but aluminum fits in the same category. Vaccines, in general, need to have an adjuvant, an element that acts as a ‘helper” in order to have the desired effect. From what I have read, research is continuing on what the best adjuvant should be. But all this points to a larger question: The public seems to want some sort of “magic capsule or vaccine” to do away with any infection, virus, or other problem, (without undesirable side effects) so they can go on with their lives as usual. Pharmaceutical companies are working to provide just that. But this is not an ideal world, and what we want may be impossible to find. If not impossible, it may take a long time and research costs could be excessive. A better answer could be the the healthful adjustment of diet and the use of some vitamins and natural dietary supplements, such as Quercetin, Zinc, Magnesium and Iodine. Soil has become deficient in several nutrients in recent years, and we can’t always depend on getting all we need from our food. There is one problem that we experienced in the environment at Campion. I’ve heard about this from several alumni. Smoking was, at least in our time in the early sixties, forbidden for freshmen and sophomores. This gave some apparent prestige to juniors and seniors—that they were allowed to smoke. In retrospect, we can see that some students took strongly to cigarettes and gained a habit that would last for many years thereafter. Today, we can recall these classmates—many of whom suffered and even died from the effects of cancer. We wish they could be with us at our reunions, but cancer, in one way or another, took them away from the rest of us. In the process of going through some things at my house, I have found some interesting films that recall life at Campion, and I include a few snips from them here. My father took home movies, using Kodachrome 8mm film, of family events from 1946 until he retired and moved to Arizona in 1974. I feel I should apologize, on behalf of my father, for the fact that, in May 1963, he forgot to bring his movie camera and a supply of film on Mothers’ weekend. If he had remembered, we would have a film record of several of the scenes from the play “Oliver Twist.” It would have been great to see that, even with poor photo resolution and no sound. In any case, with these films, he gave me, and quite a few others, a reminder of the way film can preserve our memories, our experiences, and our education. You could write a poem about that. I think that’s already been done, and made public in time for our 10 year reunion. And when the poet says “Don’t take my Kodachrome away.” he really means “Don’t close my high school.”
This is Fr. Kalb and Fr. Larkin handing out diplomas at the 1963 graduation. 
This is a student marching with the bass drum after the Mother’s weekend parade in May 1969. 
This is Jim Duskey (a freshman) with a classmate, walking back to Marquette Hall after the parade in May 1969. 
This is our mother, Mrs. Theodosia Duskey, with my sister Mary Frances, and a Campion student May 1969.  One final note: There are some Campion students pictured here who are not identified by name. If you know who any of them are, please email me at JohnsDesk@CampionForever.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obituaries: