Identifying class veterans has been a challenge. Nowhere does Dartmouth keep a record of veterans, but Rauner Library’s great staff found the ROTC-commissioned ’64s. That doesn’t include draftees or volunteers. Inevitably I missed some veterans, which I regret. 


Case in point: Roy Minich, a “local” classmate from Saxtons River, Vermont. He attended Vermont Academy as a day student and graduated at the top of his class. Headmaster Laurence G. Leavitt ’25 encouraged Roy to attend Dartmouth. Jess Kilgore, also from Vermont Academy, was Roy’s freshman roommate. Bob Newman roomed with Jess and Roy during sophomore year. Roy majored in English and was a brother at Phi Tau, where he roomed with Larry Cabell. After graduation Roy volunteered for the draft with a guarantee of attending officer candidate school at Fort Sill. In May 1966 Lt. Minich arrived with the 2/35th Artillery Battalion at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. During his year in-country he worked as a forward observer and liaison officer with the Australian Expeditionary Force, with various Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) units, including the ARVN 5th Marine Battalion during Operation Junction City. For his service he was awarded a bronze star. On returning home he started a career in secondary school education, then moved into business training and development, ultimately heading up the human resource development function for Arco Products Co. (now part of BP) in Los Angeles. He has five children and nine grandchildren and resides with his wife, Patricia, in Brighton, Colorado. 


We became lifetime members of the class when we matriculated. Some graduated and didn’t look back, some didn’t yet still maintain strong connections to Dartmouth. One example is Bill Streitz, who came to Dartmouth with high school friend Dave Hanson from Waseca, Minnesota. Bill roomed with Taylor Washburn freshman year. After first term sophomore year Bill transferred to the University of Minnesota because he missed his family, felt a lack of direction and was uncomfortable with the lack of social opportunities at an isolated, all-male school. He paid for college and medical school by working for the Northern Pacific Railroad. He graduated with an M.D. in 1968, just as he would have if he had continued at Dartmouth. When it came to selecting a residency he was undecided. That left him in a particularly vulnerable position when he was completing his internship at the University of California, Irvine—exposed to the draft. So Bill volunteered for the Navy, which trained him briefly and sent him to Vietnam. He was attached to a Marine battalion his full tour because the Marines thought so highly of him. He provided care for Marines and for Vietnamese as part of the program to win the “hearts and minds” of the inhabitants. After his tour he returned to pursue orthopedics. Upon completing residency he accepted a position in Roseburg, Oregon, and never left. Besides his practice he was team doctor for the high school football team for more than 30 years. Bill has traveled widely, still bikes and hunts. He has a daughter and a son. Bill attended our 25th and 50th reunions.


—Phil Schaefer, Box 1278, Grantham, NH 03753; (603) 863-1178; philschaefer42@gmail.com