It was a cold and rainy Wednesday afternoon when President Joyce Hunter rang the bell to bring our meeting to order. Pianist extraordinaire Jody Tull de Salis led us in My Country ’Tis of Thee, and then, via zoom, Becky Pazkowski gave our welcoming inspiration, “Do It Anyway,” a poem of Mother Theresa.
Do it Anyway
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God; It was never between you and them anyway.
Song leader Don Devine then led us in an appropriate song for the rainy day, “April Showers,” then “Wait ’Til the Sun Shines Nellie.”
CLUB BUSINESS
President Joyce called for today’s special guests to be introduced, then Don Duquette was celebrated for his upcoming birthday. President Joyce thanked today’s meeting team including Mary Avrakotos, Dennis Burke, Terry Foster, Rick Jarzembowski, Ed Johnson, Linda Kentes, Fernando Leon, Agnes Reading, and Mary Steffek Blaske.
Kathy Waugh came to the podium to announce that the April 9 meeting featuring guest speaker Dusty May is at capacity for the Anderson Room. If you did not RSVP, you may attend via zoom as well as share that zoom link with friends.
President Joyce reminded Rotarians that the District Assembly is 8:30 – noon on April 12 in Troy. Registration is $10. Hunter announced that the Club Administrator position has been posted and thanked the search team of Norman Herbert, Bill McPherson, Susan Shipman, Kate VanHorn, and Kathy Waugh.
WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS
Five new Club Members were introduced today. Look for their new member badge ribbons and learn more about this quintet of community leaders:
* Kelly Doonan-Reed, introduced by Kathy Waugh.
* Roger Fraser, introduced by Collyer Smith.
* Karen Pancost, introduced by Bonita Singal.
* Susan Smith, introduced by Katie VanHorn.
* Jamie York, introduced by Ingrid Sheldon.
HIGHWAY CLEAN UP
Our Rotary Club’s name is on the stretch of I-94, east of the State Street exit. Ed Johnson invited all club members to help pick up trash on Saturday, April 12. Meet at the Kensington Hotel at 9 a.m. to work in teams. What weird object will you find? Lunch for all Road Warriors at 11:30.
President Joyce reminded Rotarians that the Rotary special edition of Wine, Women and Song is April 9 at 7:30 p.m. at Kerrytown Concert House.
MICHAEL FIELD PRESENTATION
Deatrick introduced our distinguished club member, Michael Field, a retired Navy captain who flew 2,500 hours as a pilot and made 900 carrier landings in a variety of jet fighter planes over his 28-year career. His personal awards include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal and several other awards and commendations. He also served as the Assistant Provost at Boston University from 1996 – 2008. He received degrees from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science from Boston University.
Field started with his first flying training in 1966 in a Beechcraft T-34 Mentor, to “getting his jets” with a T-2 Buckeye for basic training, including safe for solo flight, instrument training, formation flying, and initial carrier landing qualifications. From there it was on to Texas and the Grumman TF-9 Cougar for air combat, advanced instrument and low-level visual navigation and carrier qualification, finally earning his Wings of Gold in February 1968.
He was assigned to fly the McDonnell (now Boeing)F-4J in the Pacific Fleet and after a few months of type training reported to the “World Famous Fighting Falcons” of VF-96. His squadron embarked in USS Enterprise and began training for a deployment to the Vietnam War.
Field showed us with an exciting video of what it was like to land a jet onto a carrier deck in the daytime. Then, he scared the breath out of each audience member by showing a night-time landing on a carrier — when carrier lights only appear about ½ mile away from the deck itself.
During the Vietnam War, Field was primarily involved when bombing was suspended and he was engaged in reconnaissance missions over the southern portion of North Vietnam. His missions included bombing targets in Laos and South Vietnam, sometimes from high altitude under radar control, sometimes visual dive bombing; escorting fast-photo reconnaissance aircraft over southern North Vietnam; and many barrier combat air patrol missions in which he simply orbited off North Vietnam ready to engage any enemy aircraft that attempted to strike naval forces.
Field shared frightening stories of a flight deck fire on the USS Enterprise in January 1969, and just before Christmas that same year when a malfunctioning jet crashed into a hangar killing 15 of Field’s shipmates. Our speaker had just left the hangar only moments before that jet crashed.
Just when the audience at the Anderson Room had resumed breathing after the stories about the crashes, Field gave a thrilling account of his involvement in the evacuation of Saigon in 1975 complete with vivid descriptions of escorting helicopters jam-packed with refugees to the carriers escorted by zig-zagging fighter jets.
Field shared his experience delivering one of 77 F-14 Tomcat fighters in 1977 to Iran before the revolution, and concluded with his first-hand report of when his squadron shot down two Libyan fighters in 1981, making the front page of the New York Times.
The club gave Captain Field many rounds of appreciative applause.
President Joyce asked all to stand and recite the 4-way test to close our meeting.
Of the things we think, say or do…
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
