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December 2001 Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year, Great '98! Here we are at the end of another year. Unbelievable. As president, I wish I could always bring you good news in these articles. However, this is the first article written after the attack on 11 September, and as such, I have yet to write about the loss of another one of our Classmates. Darin Howard Pontell joined the naval intelligence community, and was in the Pentagon on the day of the attacks. His life, along with so many others, was prematurely ended on that terrible and unforgettable day. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family. Just a few days after the 11th, I ran into Sumner Lee and Jen Seguin at Duke's. Sumner was on the first flight from California to Hawaii, and Jen had just come off deployment. I shared the news about Darin with them, and they were equally shocked, just as I was, that we had lost another Classmate. I also ran into Eric Sager while at a party at RADM John B. Padgett's '69 house (yes, our Plebe year Commandant). Small world. Eric is doing well with his wife, Myra. Jimi Bailey wrote me a letter from Okinawa, Japan. He talks a lot with Johnie Chau, Brendan Higgens, Sumner Lee, Jake Harriman, and Donnie Faul, and he says everyone is doing well. That is all the news I have this month. I wish I had more, and I wish it was all good news, but as many others have written about and commented on: It is difficult to rejoice at a time when American servicemen and women are in far off lands fighting for America. I'm sure many of our Classmates will support our war on terrorism in many ways. I hope this article finds all of you safe and well. For those of you on the front line, our prayers are with you, and we thank you. Fair winds... DSF