Class Note 1964

Dave Hope joined Army ROTC at Dartmouth and, after law school, went to Vietnam as an intelligence officer, as did many international relations majors. Dave followed the civilian custom and sent a resume to the commander of the unit he wanted to join and became its executive officer. Dave collected information on and analyzed the Viet Cong political structure through interrogations and captured documents. Upon returning he was distressed at the rejection of Vietnam veterans. He was assigned as a counter-intelligence officer with long hair and plain clothes, monitoring demonstrations in Boston. Later he joined a large law firm in Philadelphia, where he was a corporate partner specializing in reorganization. He has two children, a daughter who is a TV producer and a son who is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oceanographer.


Alan Ferris arrived at Dartmouth without family connections or even high school friends on campus. He managed the lab requirements of his chemistry major with Army ROTC commitments. After Dartmouth he was deferred while he got an M.B.A., then, like many of his classmates, entered the Army Intelligence Corps as a second lieutenant. He was assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency in Arlington, Virginia, where he was a consultant interfacing intelligence analysts and computer specialists. There he met his future wife, Madeleine, then a graduate student at Georgetown. Later he, Madeleine, his father and late brother Julian ’66 built a real estate investment and management firm, which still keeps him quite busy. Alan maintains contact with numerous classmates, including former roomie Carl DuRei. He and Madeline have two children, Greg ’94 and Katie, and three grandchildren.


Bruce Kuniholm arrived at Dartmouth planning to major in math, but graduated as class poet with a degree in English. He taught in Turkey for three years, where he met his wife, Liz. He joined the Marine Corps and served as rifle platoon commander in Vietnam and was awarded a Bronze Star. He earned a Ph.D. in history at Duke University and served in the State Department as intelligence analyst and member of the policy planning staff. He returned to Duke, where he became professor of public policy and history and is currently the dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy. He represented Duke University at President Kim’s inauguration. He and Liz, a trial lawyer, have daughter Erin and son Jonathan ’93, who served as a Marine in Iraq, where he lost his arm. Jonathan is currently working on a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, where he is developing prostheses.


In six columns we’ve covered only 20-plus of the 140-plus classmates who served in the armed forces during Vietnam. Few made military service a career, most were in ROTC. We lost two classmates in Vietnam—Pete Morrison and Bruce Nickerson. The son of another classmate was badly wounded in Iraq and lost his arm. There were many positive comments about personal growth during service and a few regrets. Jonathan Kuniholm’s work on prostheses will, we hope, benefit many people. However, what should sadden us all is our country’s inability to learn when not to go to war.


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