Donald Koger gave a talk on the Rutgers Oral History Archives. Oral histories can provide insight into the lived experiences of individuals during a particular point in history. The Archives were conceived and initiated in 1994 by the Rutgers class of 1942 as a way of documenting the stories of veterans/alumnae returning from World War II. He elaborated on some of the ongoing projects which collect the stories of Veterans; Rutgers alumnae, administrators, faculty & staff; as well as NJ residents at large. (Because of restrictions on how the excerpts from the oral histories can be used, no video of his presentation was posted at our You Tube site.)

Pictured: Donald Koger (left) and President William Fosina

Our Chapter Teacher of the Year is Matt Horner. He is a Computer Science and Mathematics teacher at Randolph High School, Randolph, NJ. He is also the teacher adviser to the Computer Club where he started an e-Sports team and coached the four CyberPatiot XI teams which our Chapter 195 sponsored. Two of the teams were seeded in the Gold and Platinum tiers while the two younger teams gained experience for future participation.

He is also a former RHS student who served as a CyberPatriot XI team mentor. The computer club provides opportunities for students to work with Arduino boards, learn languages, construct circuitry, and develop apps.

On Saturday, April 27th, Stu Shippey gave a talk on the Graf Zeppelin LZ 127 rigid airship 1928-1937 (before the Hindenburg) which provided the first commercial passenger transatlantic flight service in the world. The LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German-built and operated, passenger-carrying, hydrogen-filled rigid airship. It was named after German airship pioneer Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a count (Graf) in the German nobility. The airship made 590 flights covering more than 1.7 million kilometers (over 1 million miles). It was designed to be operated by a crew of 36 officers and men.

On Saturday, March 30th, Major Dan Kaufman, USAFR, with the 76th Air Refueling Squadron, at McGuire AFB, NJ, gave us a talk on “A Reservist Tanker Pilot’s view from FL 250”. He has been a KC-10 Instructor Pilot since February 2018 and has been deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. He is a high school math teacher at Kearny High School, Kearny, NJ, and has recently been hired by American Airlines.The 76th Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 514th Air Mobility Wing at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. It operates the McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender aircraft conducting air refueling missions as a reserve associate unit of the 305th Air Mobility Wing.

Pictured: (From L to R) Jim Morgan, speaker Major Dan Kaufman, Bob Vaucher (WW II vet) and Bill Fosina (Chapter President)

On Saturday, Feb 23rd, Howard Leach (Chapter Treasurer) gave a talk on the amazing life of Eddie Rickenbacker, WWI Ace of Aces, with the help of Stu Shippey (Chapter Secretary) who played some videos he downloaded. Rickenbacker received the Distinguished Service Cross a record number of eight times. In 1930, one of these awards was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. In addition, he received the Legion of Honor and the Croix de Guerre from France. He brought down 26 aircraft during the war, making him the United States ace of aces for the war. He was also a race car driver, an automotive designer, and a long-time head of Eastern Air Lines.

Pictured: Howard Leach (Chapter Secretary)

Joe Bacsick was drafted from December of 1968 to December 1970. He was awarded the Purple Heart for his service in Vietnam and relates his experience, firefights and equipment used in the jungles of Vietnam on the Cambodian border. His service activities included: Search & Destroy, Night Ambushes, Solo & Group Kills, Walking point as part of a 4 or 5 man Point Team, “D” type Ambushes using Claymore mines.

Pictured: (From L to R) Joyce & Joe Bacsick and Howard Leach (Treasurer)