Up – Down and Sideways — Part I

Posted on August 23, 2025 by Thebeerchaser

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post) (#1 – #3)

I contemplated using the title “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,” but I wanted a third category where I could describe something that was neutral or perhaps where I’m ambivalent.

In these days of turmoil, I’ll try not to overload “The Down” category – besides, my wife would claim I was reinforcing perceptions that I’m a grumpy old man….

One of us is missing

For the last two years, I’ve been getting together each week with a group of four other retired guys – yes, they are also old, but not grumpy, which is good for me. They include a lawyer, title company exec, clinical psychologist and emergency room physician – all retired. Since we all travel, if there are at least three of us around, we’ll still get together.

We discuss a diverse group of topics and try to avoid politics. It usually starts out with what might be labeled “the organ recital” – a litany of what isn’t working up to par in our now seventy-year + bodies. (#4 – #5)

Earlier this summer, we were sitting around our usual small table, and three of us had our legs crossed and one of the group emphatically stated, “You guys shouldn’t cross your legs. My cardiologist said it’s bad for your circulation!”

I initially dismissed this, but then saw an internet caption entitled, “How sitting cross-legged is slowly killing your circulation.” Since it didn’t assert that it was killing me, I decided to ask Janet’s and my wonderful primary-care physician.

Dr. Laura Byerly specializes in geriatrics and also teaches at Oregon Health & Science University. Besides being a superb doctor, she is a wonderful human being and the epitome of common sense. (#6)

Without hesitating, Dr. Byerly responded, “Don, I’m not going to say crossing your legs is good for you, but I’d rather have you cross your legs than stress over the impact.”

And we are blessed to have the medical and pharmaceutical technology both to diagnose and treat the many conditions we face today. The challenge is to make better efforts to ensure that those who need the care – especially children and those in poverty-stricken areas have access.

Note: Medical vocabulary is also interesting and I’m fortunate to have two registered nurse daughters to help me interpret terms when I don’t want to bother the docs. For example, after a scan, I learned (somewhat to my surprise) that I didn’t need to be concerned that my aorta, arteries and gastrointestinal tract are “Grossly Patent.” (#7)

Grossly patent and unremarkable are a good

Counterintuitively, that’s actually a good thing and means they are open, unobstructed and functioning normally and I will be able to continue Beerchasing without reservation. Another issue which seems self-contradictory to an overachiever is the fact that one should be happy to hear that a test result is “unremarkable!”

Balance Issues

Since I was having some balance and gait issues after my back surgery, I got a referral for physical therapy. Again, I was blessed to have two wonderful PT’s – Dr. Noel Tenoso and Brionna Sims PTA at FYZICAL Therapy and Balance Center in West Linn.

I suggested to him that for balance and stability purposes, it would help if he recommended a bar in our shower and suggested the design below. I mentioned Thebeerchaser blog and told him that this would further my quest to visit “watering”.

(Credit for the concept goes to my friend Mitch Teemley, – writer, director and filmmaker, who also has a wonderful blog.) (#8)

Only for stability!

In our first session, Noel and I shared that our undergraduate schools were rivals – Oregon State and the University of Oregon. Noell is a die-hard U of O Duck – he even has an annoying small plushie duck on the reception counter.

The twelve sessions really helped. After the initial one, Neal had a weeklong trip to Kona planned, so Brionna and the staff teamed up with me for a coming-home surprise. Knowing what a Duck fan he is, they took advantage of International Beaver Day.

They plastered pictures of the industrious rodents all over his office – including the ceiling. On his desk, was my stuffed beaver you see in the picture below (It plays the Oregon State fight song.)

I was there when he returned and the photo captures his reaction.

Down

How many times recently have you gone to a service provider and as you’re leaving, your representative earnestly says, “By the way, you’ll be getting an e-mail survey on our performance. We have high standards here, so anything less than a ten is a problem…” (#9)

Does this take negative numbers?

We are fortunate to have a wealth of great shows and movies on cable and streaming, but I let the commercials drive me into an ad frenzy. It’s the endless repetition, the actors and the message – particularly on insurance commercials.

It doesn’t take a Nobel Prize in Economics , a personal audience with former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan or repeated admonitions from Progressive’s Flo, (Stephanie Courtney) for one to realize that it makes sense to “bundle” your car and home-owner’s insurance.

Further, why does Liberty Mutual’s Doug (David Hoffman) – and his ugly emu – incessantly advise, “Pay only for what you need!” Even a kindergartener would realize it doesn’t make sense to pay premiums on a tree house he doesn’t have if he only needs collision coverage on his training wheels….(#10 – #12)

Now perhaps I should not blame the actors but lay the onus on the ad agencies and the corporations they represent, because as you will see in Part II of this post, there are some really good commercials which endear one to the players and the product.

However, the two that make the term “irritating” inadequate are Toyota’s Jan (Laurel Coppock) and Jacuzzi’s Christine Haack (El Moussa, Anstead and Hall…). With the former, it just seems demeaning to have a smiling, effervescent woman do essentially nothing but hand people the keys to their new cars or point out models in a showroom.

(My time in management makes me view this bubbly persona as unnecessary overhead.) (#13 – #14)

But while the aforementioned performers in the commercials are professional actors, Christina Haack is not and this is obvious by her cadence and stilted articulation – best described as “Upspeak.“

Upspeak, also known as uptalk or high rising terminal (HRT), is a way of speaking where declarative sentences end with a rising intonation, making them sound like questions. As well-stated in an Oregon Live letter-to-the-editor:

“I hope that younger people listen to and model their tone of delivery, which projects conviction and confidence versus another prevalent stye of speaking producing a singsong, chirpy affectation, marking the speaker as tentative and approval-seeking.” (#15 – #16)

Sideways

Change can be both positive and negative and I’ve tried to adapt remembering the quote by John F. Kennedy (one Kennedy worth quoting…):

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

Of course, it also took me about ten years to accept the refutation of the maxim:

“Don’t go swimming for at least an hour after eating.”

Change can be glacial even when common sense and economic factors dictate it. For example, in Oregon, we were only able to pump our own gas starting in August 2023 leaving just New Jersey as a final holdout. (#17)

The final change I’ll address in this post is also neutral, but probably mostly positive. It’s another trend like the growing shift to non-alcoholic beer. (See Part II of this post.)

Names!

Not a recent change, but a major one that took place after twenty-six years was naming hurricanes with strictly female appellations. In 1979, that sexist practice changed. (“David” was the first male moniker.)

Not to digress, but for a fascinating article about hurricane naming conventions see this link from the National Hurricane Center.(#18)

Gender Neutral….

I’ve been surprised but pleased at how names have changed. One can always go to a website showing the most popular baby names. It probably won’t surprise you that in 2025 the two most popular girl’s names are Olivia and Emma (not Alexa for obvious reasons). For boys, Liam and Noah take the top spots.

It’s good that the most prevalent monikers in my day such as Tommy (#39) and Timmy (not in top 100) now don’t make the grade. And Lance is also not a common name now days, but in medieval times, people were called “Lance – a – lot.” (apologies for that….)

Checking out the names of the excellent athletes our local paper highlights each week reveals some creativity and a departure from established conventions. Just take a look at some of these. On a number, you wouldn’t be able to identify the gender and it’s also fun to see surnames employed quite a bit as first names.

Jaden	Kendall	Finley	Bailee
Enzo	Ava	Hayden	Barrett
Eamon	Davis	Teagan	Rhyson
Leah	Nixon	Biz	Kat
Rylan	Brooklyn	Turner	Hudson

In my last post, I mentioned how proud I was to be named after my dad’s best friend and fraternity brother, Don Wilburn, who was a genuine WWII hero. In May 2025 he was awarded a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross – 83 years after his heroic missions over North Africa as a pilot for the Army Air Corps.

It should be noted that for obvious reasons, one almost never sees a baby named Donald these days. And similarly, I haven’t seen any young children named TACO – but I guess that goes without saying! (#19)

TACO – not very popular

Heavenward... (#20)

Taste and Believe!

Since this is a blog about bars and breweries (and a lot of other stuff…). I’ll end on a very positive note. I was involved from the outset of the Benedictine Brewery and St. Michael Taproom on the grounds of the Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary when it opened in 2017.

It’s one of less than a handful in the US owned and operated by Benedictine Monks. I’ll never forget the “old-fashioned barn raising” we had on a cloudy day in November 2017, when 125 monks, priests, seminarians, members of the Mount Angel community and volunteers gathered to erect the framed structure from a concrete slab. https://thebeerchaser.com/2017/11/21/the-benedictine-brewery-beam-me-up

Fr. Martin Grassel O.S.B. the Head Brewer and Manager has developed a regional following for his excellent beers. Although some were skeptical that this enterprise could thrive in a competitive craft-brewing environment, the Brewery has exceeded all expectations celebrated its eighth birthday on August 8th. (#21 – #23)

“The August 8th milestone marks the anniversary of the brewery’s establishment, which launched its first partnership with Coleman Agriculture in 2018 to kick off the Oregon hop harvest…It also emphasized the monks’ values of stewardship and community, mirroring the sustainable farming practices of Coleman Agriculture.” https://newschoolbeer.com/home/2025/7/benedictine-brewery-8th-anniversary-collaboration-with-coleman-hops-kicks-off-hop-harvest

Cheers

External File Attribution

#1. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arrow_slim_up.svg) This file is licensed under (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en. Author: Wenflou – 20 August 2022.

#2. Wikimedia Commons (File:Arrow slim down.svg – Wikimedia Commons) This file is made available under the https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en. Author: Wenflou – 20 August 2022.

#3. Wikimedia Commons (File:Sideways Arrow Icon.svg – Wikimedia Commons) This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Subject to disclaimers. Attribution: Riley Huntley at the English-language Wikipedia. 29 August 2012.

#4. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Colour-Music – Page 44.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930. Author: Alexander Wallace Rimington1911.

#5. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Internal organs.svg – Wikimedia Commons) I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. Author: Mikael Haggstron – 23 June 2010.

#6. Oregon Health Sciences Website (Laura K. Byerly MD | Health care provider | OHSU).

#7 Wikimedia Commons (File:Moderní výpočetní tomografie s přímo digitální detekcí rentgenového záření.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Tomáš Vendiš – 14 February 2022.

#8. AI Microsoft Image Generator.

#9. Wikimedia Commons (File:Online Survey Icon or logo.svg – Wikimedia Commons) This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Author: Tungilik – 25 July 2014.

#10. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:The Nobel Prize.svg – Wikimedia Commons) This image of simple geometry is ineligible for copyright and therefore in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship. Author: Premeditated – 6 May 2019.

#11. Wikimedia Commons (File:Dromaius novaehollandiae – Maroparque 01.jpg – Wikimedia Commons). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: H. Zell – 18 March 2019. (IMU)

#12. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (Greenspan, Alan (Whitehouse) – Alan Greenspan – Wikipedia) This file is a work of an employee of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain. Author: White House photo by Shealah Craighead – 9 November 2005.

#13. Wikimedia Commons (File:Jemca Toyota, The Hyde – geograph.org.uk – 5188704.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Attribution: Jemca Toyota, The Hyde by David Howard – 10 November 2016.

#14. AI (https://designer.microsoft.com/editor?applied).

#15. Wikimedia Commons (File:Christina El Moussa 2.png – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Jocean4 – 23 September 2018.

#16. AI (Untitled Project | All In One Web Editor | Picsart).

#17. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Pumping gas by hand.JPG – Wikimedia Commons) This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Author: MarkBuckawicki – 22 October 2015.

#18. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Staring Down Hurricane Florence.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that “NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted.” Author: Alexander Gerst – 12 September 2018.

#19 AI Microsoft Image Generator.

#20 – #23. Benedictine Brewery Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BenedictineBrewery).

Beerchaser Notables – Captain Don Wilburn, US Army Air Corps – Part II

Posted on July 24, 2025 by Thebeerchaser

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos and the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post) (#1)

In my first post on Don Wilburn, I related a bit about his heroic aerial missions during World War II and the long overdue award of the Distinguished Flying Cross, his time at George Washington University including his friendship with my dad at the SAE house and a bit about his beautiful wife, Jeannette. https://thebeerchaser.com/2025/06/29/beerchaser-notable-captain-don-wilburn-us-army-air-corps-part-i/

In this post, you will learn more about the top-secret mission known as Operation Rusty, the other participants in this undertaking including Elliott Roosevelt (son of FDR) who was the chief navigator on their B-17 named the “Blue Goose.” The background on this mission is compelling and it will convey why I’m honored that my dad – FDW – named me – his first son, after his best friend and fraternity brother. (#2)

Don Wilburn met his future wife, Jeannette Stehman, when he was an SAE at George Washington University. She graduated from Washington–Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. Jeannette attended SAE house dances at the Washington City Rho chapter such as the one shown from her photo album in the attached picture dated 1939. Don and Jeannette are in the middle of the picture.

You can see that these were more formal affairs than the equivalent SAE functions I attended at Oregon State University such as the one shown below from a house dance in 1967. (We didn’t have a combo playing Big Band music.) (#3)

Don’s goal had always been to be a military pilot, and he applied for Flying Cadet Training in June, 1938 and then had both initial and advanced pilot training in Texas in 1939-40. He was commissioned as a 2^nd Lieutenant and received his pilot rating in November 1939.

His primary duties were Intelligence and Operations and Don trained in aerial mapping photography and flew mapping missions in Alaska and across Canada. Even with his rigorous training and duties as an officer, he took correspondence courses at the University of Texas and his regular letters to Jeannette chronicle his service.

They began dating exclusively, when he returned to Bolling Field in DC in November 1941. With the strong presumption that Don would be undertaking mission overseas, they decided to get married. (#4 – #6)

Duane Williams, Don’s fraternity brother, who had moved to New York and gone to work for American Airlines, made the flight arrangements and traveled to the wedding site with them in Bristol, Tennessee on Feb. 25, 1942. (#7)

The timing was fortuitous because Don was assigned to a top-secret mission named “Operation Rusty” on March 3, 1942 – less than two weeks later. It was an aerial photo mapping mission based in Accra, Gold Coast and the objective was to map North Africa along the Mediterranean and as far as China. He, as co-pilot, assisted in flying one of two B-17 Flying Fortresses equipped for extended long range operation, at high altitudes.

And were those two planes modified! “Two Boeing B‑17B ‘special flights’ were heavily modified by United Airlines at Cheyenne to carry six Fairchild K-17 cameras in a trimetrogon layout and extra long-range fuel tanks. They were painted haze-blue with identification marks removed.” A complete itemization of the alterations can be found at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Operation_Rusty#About_the_Aircraft

Interviewed after the War, one of the crew members, Lt. William Teague (23) said:

“Our Flying Fortress had to be equipped with cameras and plenty of gas tanks. Each plane had a 3,900-gallon capacity. It was impossible to carry guns of any sort on the bombers. Weight was so carefully allotted that we weren’t even allowed to carry coins in our pockets. In case of enemy attack, our only weapon was altitude, but that was enough.” (#8) (#9 – #12)

He met Captain Elliott Roosevelt, son of the President, who was his chief navigator for the missions shortly after that point. Don’s letters indicate that he and Elliott visited the White House a few times to discuss the mission with FDR. Roosevelt ultimately became a general in the Army Air Force.

The excerpt below from pages 51 – 56 of Roosevelt’s book (As he saw it by Elliott Roosevelt | Goodreads) provides fascinating insight on Operation Rusty.

“….unexpectedly, secret orders came through directing that I report to the commander of the First Mapping Group at Bolling Field, in Washington. There was so much secrecy attending my orders, and the nature of my future assignment, that my hopes were really soaring. Must be something big and important. Surely some sort of overseas assignment.

Well, it was an overseas assignment, all right, but when I found out what it was,
I was a little disgusted. It had code name: RUSTY PROJECT, and it seemed so tame to me that it was more than rusty, it was broken. I was one of two navigators to be assigned to do aerial intelligence and mapping photography of large parts of northern Africa. Africa!

Just before we left, I had a talk with Father, one of our after-breakfast-before-the-day’s-work chats, during which I told him with some disappointment about my supposedly ‘super’ assignment.

To be sure, it was top-secret, but I figured it was possible the Commander-in-Chief knew about it already. He did, and he quickly undertook to explain to me why my job was in fact more important than I had thereto-fore believed. Like all of his explanations, it also served to give me more perspective on the problems and strategies of global warfare, too. He began by glowing with pleasure when I told him what my job was to be.” (#13) (#14)

After the completion of one part of the mission, Don’s letter indicated that he was the last out of the B-17. The crew was standing around and Elliott Roosevelt pinned his own captain’s bars on Don. Roosevelt had just been promoted to major and also wanted to immediately recognize Don’s new rank. (#15)

Promoted to Captain.

This description of Don Wilburn’s role on the final flight of Operation Rusty in April 1942 is solid evidence of why the DFC was eventually awarded. Jason Garver, friend of the Wilburn family has done extensive research and documentation and his description for WikiTree is below:

“40,000 miles, of which nearly half were flown while taking 18,000 photographs in direct preparation for the invasion, were a success. All that was left was for the B-17 to return to its remote base in Accra and transfer the film back to the US to make maps. Less than 1000 miles from this goal, disaster struck in the form of a runaway propeller that threatened to tear the aircraft apart.

To make matters worse this put the aircraft into an uncontrolled plummet that lost 17,000 feet in minutes. If any bailout had been attempted, Elliott and the cameraman would have been left hopelessly trapped in the cramped nose. With a crash a minute or so away, this is where Don Wilburn’s piloting skills came to the rescue. As if righting a plummeting, damaged aircraft was not enough, 800 miles still lie between them and the airfield. Don’s skillful actions made it successful, with everyone and all the film plates safe.

Don Wilburn’s ability to recover from the catastrophic failure and his safe landing of the severely damaged aircraft was critical in getting photographs and intelligence immediately back to The Pentagon. Don Wilburn’s plane was the only aircraft that could get the photographs needed, and crashing would have killed Elliott Roosevelt, causing a huge blow to America’s morale as a whole.” (#16) (#17 – #18)

By the time they got back to Accra the aircraft was so damaged by vibration that it could not be repaired. Don removed the clock from the instrument panel and gave it to younger brother Gene when he returned to the States.

Another excerpt from Roosevelt’s book affirms the close call:

“Almost had to come down in the desert the last day. One engine nearly dropped off 850 miles from base over the desert but it froze and hung by hair & and after landing…the plane practically fell apart.”

Don’s aerial skills were also evident when they encountered German Messerschmidt 109’s and he eluded them by climbing and then ducking into clouds – remember there was no armament and no weaponry on the Blue Goose. (#19)

Eluded the Luftwaffe by evasion

Why did it take so long for Don Wilburn to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross – eighty-three years? Tragically, after arriving back in Washington DC in 1942, he was assigned to duty at MacDill Field in Florida and on a solo flight to the base, he was killed when his plane went down in bad weather on June 1, 1942.

The recommendation for the DFC was first made in 1942 by Colonel Paul Cullen – the commanding officer on the flight where Don’s piloting saved his crew and the plane. Cullen ultimately rose to the rank of Brigadier General.

He was lost on March 23, 1951, along with four senior Strategic Air Command staffers and fifty fliers who mysteriously disappeared with their C-124 transport over the Atlantic Ocean. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1951_Atlantic_C-124_disappearance (#20) (#21)

Cullen and the senior staffers were enroute to England to set up the 7th Air Division, which would spearhead any air assault against the Soviet Union, during a time of increasing tensions with the Communist bloc as the Korean War intensified.

So, the only ones to pursue the DFC were brother, Gene and friends, Jason and Laura Garver and Sue Froehlich (Jeanette Wilburn Froelich’s daughter). With the help of Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, it was finally presented to Gene Wilburn in May 2025. They also collaborated on a submission to the Library of Congress which is now in the archives. Donald Ernest Wilburn Collection | Library of Congress

Captain Wilburn was also honored by the establishment of the Wilburn Area at Bolling Field on July 11, 1942. Don’s parents and Gene were at the dedication of the plaque marking the Area. (#22 – #23)

Mission Success but Tragedy to Accomplish

Any account of Operation Rusty would be incomplete without including details of the flight crew lost on the second B-17 involved in the project:

“In the first days of April 1942, the mission began. The second B-17 went missing, no wreckage was ever found…Now, the entire mission depended on one aircraft and one crew. B-17B tail number 38-223, under the command of Captain Lovell S. Stuber, departed from Borinquen Field (modern-day Ramey Air Force Base), Puerto Rico, for Trinidad on 9 April 1942.

Contact was lost at 1242 Greenwich Civil Time…with the last coordinates being 16°01′12″N 64°12′00″W, with the assumed loss of all on board.”

Lovell “Stube” Stuber and his wife, Ginger socialized with Don and Jeannette and were friends before the mission. There are photos in Jeannette’s album of the couples. Tragically, Captain Stuber left a widow and baby boy when his plane was lost. (#24) (#25)

In Closing

The story of Operation Rusty and those who participated in the successful mission is one of patriotism, extraordinary service and exemplary performance. The crew of the second Flying Fortress gave the last full measure of devotion for their country and were a critical part of the Allied war strategy.

The brotherly love of Gene Wilburn along with the perseverance of Jason and Laura Garver and Sue Froelich in pursuing the Distinguished Flying Cross for Don Wilburn is a remarkable story in itself.

I’m also thankful to Sue Froelich for reaching out with the comment on this blog almost three years ago. While I knew that my namesake, Don Williams, was a wonderful friend of my dad and served as a pilot in the War, only to be killed in a tragic plane crash in the States, I never knew about Operation Rusty and his critical role in it. This makes the legacy of the gesture by my parents even more meaningful.

External Photo Attribution

#1 – #7, #15, #25. Photo Album of Jeannette Wilburn Stehman.

#8. Wikimedia Commons (File:Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress “Sally B” – geograph.org.uk – 4649104.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author: Evelyn Simak – 6 September 2015.

#9 – #12. Wikietree.com (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Operation_Rusty).

#13. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Lt Col Elliott Roosevelt (cropped).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Author: US Army – 27 December.

#14. Amazon.com (As He Saw It: The Story of the World Conferences of F.D.R.: Elliott Roosevelt: Amazon.com: Books).

#15. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Dfc-usa.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) The graphic is a representation of an award or decoration of the United States military. It is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from a U.S. military award.

#17. – #19. Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122107407968856600&set=a.122098683860856600).

#19. Wikimedia Commons (File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-662-6659-37, Flugzeug Messerschmitt Me 109.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license. Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-662-6659-37 / Hebenstreit / CC-BY-SA 3.0. This image was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) as part of a cooperation project.

#20. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Brigadier General Paul T. Cullen.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Author: US Air Force – circa 1949.

#21. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (22d TCS Douglas C-124A-DL Globemaster II 51-118 – 1951 Atlantic C-124 disappearance – Wikipedia) This image or file is a work of a U.S. Air Force Airman or employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. Author: US Air Force – 1952.

#22 – #23 Facebook Page of Jason Garver ((3) Fans of the B-17 Flying Fortress | Facebook).

#24. Captain Lovell Stuber – Wikitree (Captain Lovell Stuber (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Stuber-182).

FDW – Beerchaser of the Quarter – Part I

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Thebeerchaser

(Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.)

“Home is the Hunter – Home from the Hills”

This phrase from Robert Louis Stevenson’s eight-line poem “Requiem” is inscribed on my dad’s headstone. FDW, as we affectionately called him, was born Floyd Duane Williams on June 12, 1919 and was known as Duane during most of his life.

That is until he acquired the acronym, FDW, as his moniker that we, his four kids bestowed when we were adults. (Stay tuned for the story.) He signed letters, papers, etc. as F. Duane Williams.

Born in Ames, Iowa to Floyd and Clara Williams, his father was an inspector for the US Postal Service and his mother – a girl raised on a cattle ranch in Sheridan, Wyoming, was a housewife as they moved to Grand Island, Nebraska and then Washington D.C. when his dad was transferred.

As you can see by these photos, Dad was a photogenic toddler and a tyke as a little kid.

Why am I dedicating a blog post(s) to my Dad (also my mom, Frannie)? Those who follow Thebeerchaser, know that periodically I select an individual or group that may or may not have anything to do with beer or bars to feature as my Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter. The criteria is that they have made a contribution to society and have an interesting story.

They have included veterans and war heroes, authors, athletes, media personalities, academicians, lawyers and groups such as the 1967 Oregon State Giant Killer Football Team and the crew of the USS Constitution.

Twice, I have featured my own family – Janet my wife – the only Beerchaser-of-the-Year and my brother Retired Navy Captain Rick Williams — Beerchaser-of-the Quarter | Thebeerchaser, for his outstanding career in the US Navy. (Click on the links to view the posts.)

For a complete list of the BOQ’s for the last ten years, check out the following link: https://thebeerchaser.com/2020/12/13/beerchasers-of-the-quarter-who-what-why/

The pandemic, however, has been a time for reflection as well as going through old files and photos. It made me realize what an impact my Dad and Mom had on the lives of our family and their communities. The heartache of losing both of them at a young age (54 and 62 respectively) was offset, to some extent, by the fact that our memories of them are images of of vitality and humanity which characterized both of their lives and their marriage.

So in some of the next few posts, I’m going to relate the story of this remarkable man and woman.

Flashing Forward a Bit

After the family moved to Oregon in 1962, Dad was constantly captivated by Oregon’s natural beauty and adopted the phrase “spirit of high adventure” when we explored the coast, the Cascades and especially Central and Eastern Oregon.

As far as the pursuit of wild game, he went hunting only a few times with friends who were carpet dealers from John Day on his sales territory for Mohawk Carpets. I went with him on one of these ventures when I was in high school and as we were walked along the streams and through the forest, he would explain the geological formations – not the best strategy for bagging a deer.

Dad also was perpetually on the hunt for additional knowledge and creative approaches whether it be science – especially the environment – history or politics. And from the time he attended college at George Washington University until the time of his death – far too soon at the age of 55 – he stalked the fair and virtuous course of action.

Often this pursuit in civic and community work was time consuming and arduous including tirelessly working to pass school levy and bond elections in Oregon City.

And speaking of George Washington University, it was there that he joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity and he met Don Wilburn, who became his best friend and after whom I’m named. After graduation, Don was commissioned in the Army Air Corps and was killed in WW II when his plane crashed. And both my younger brother, Rick and I kept the SAE legacy going at Oregon State University.

Another great SAE connection which proved to be fortuitous for our family, occurred shortly after Dad moved to Oregon in 1962 before the rest of the family moved out West. He needed an attorney for family and business and picked a young lawyer from Oregon City. By coincidence that lawyer, Don Bowerman, also happened to be an SAE (and Beaver football player) from Oregon State University.

Don had (and is still practicing) an outstanding career as a trial lawyer and in professional activities including serving as an officer in local bar and Oregon State Bar boards and as Chairman of the Professional Liability Fund of the Oregon State Bar. He is a Fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

An outstanding lawyer and friend of the Williams family

He has been a great friend and advocate for the family. Recently, when we were reminiscing about my Dad, I remembered how FDW helped the SAE’s when I was at OSU including getting them a great deal on new carpet for the House.

Don stated, “Your Dad was the most effective and enthusiastic OSU/SAE alum on the planet.” (It’s this kind of effusive understatement which made me enjoy working with lawyers for thirty-five years during my career!)

Early Career and Frances Barry

Dad moved to New York City and started work for American Airlines in Manhattan. His first meeting with my mom, Frannie (Frances Barry), was essentially a collision in their office building. She was carrying some papers coming out a door that he was going in and they collided with papers flying everywhere.

Frannie – just to the rleft of the exec on the right

He asked her for a date and the rest is history. They married in 1943 in the Church of St. Kevin in Flushing, New York – she the youngest of five girls in a Catholic family who resided in Bayside, Long Island. Her parents had immigrated from Poland. Dad was required to take classes so they could get married in the church and his theological discussions/debates with the priest lengthened the class time considerably.

Not to be maudlin in this post, but the inscription on my Mom’s gravestone is “She Walks in Beauty.” It’s from Lord Byron’s poem of the same name and the last stanza is apt:

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

The poem conveys the experience of encountering sublime beauty in another person. One can see Frannie’s physical beauty from the photos, but her entire persona radiated warmth and kindness.

She walks in beauty.

New York Life and Civic Activism

The young couple established their home in Merrick, Long Island where Lynne was born in 1946 and Don in 1948. Dad loved Big Band music and they danced to the Glenn Miller Band at the Glen Island Casino: (*External photo attribution at the end of the post)

“One of the most enchanting dining-and-dancing rendezvous in this part of the country is the Glen Island Casino, overlooking Long Island Sound at New Rochelle. For many years the handsome two-story structure, perched majestically among the stately trees that dress the small island, has issued its yearly call to romance, and the youngsters and oldsters have responded with almost equal enthusiasm.”

They became friends with Paula Kelly and the Modernaires who performed there.

From reviewing papers and records in his files, it was here that FDW started his civic activism which continued through the remainder of his life. And he was not just involved, he was usually looked to as a leader in these endeavors.

I could find no details, but based on the letterhead below from the files, Dad was the Treasurer of the “Assessed Valuation Protest Committee of the Eastern Queens Civic Council.”

As another example, he was President of the newly formed “Lost Community Civic Association” that was evidently formed over issues of government boundaries and jurisdiction. According to an article in the January 16, 1947 edition of the Long Island Daily Press (founded in 1821 and published until 1977):

“(The group) reported that they were slightly confused by the fact that their mail comes from the New Hyde Park Post Office, police protection from Bayside Precinct and fire protection from Queens Village.”

The problem was also covered in the November 29, 1946 edition of the Queens County Times (Published from 1913 until 1975 and which you could procure for two cents in 1946….) which quoted Dad and reported:

“The similarity of ‘crying in the wilderness’ may be pessimistic to many of Queen’s County residents, in a borough of over a million population. But, to the families who have established their homes in a snug corner of Queens fringing on the border of Nassau County, it almost is like an ‘island’ apart: confused as to its community status.”

Queens, the largest borough of the City of New York, is adjacent to the borough of Brooklyn on the western end of Long Island.

Dad was quoted in the Long Island Daily Press article:

“We’ve spent months trying to dope out where we are…what this section is called. We haven’t been able to find out anything so we might as well face it. We’re lost! We will keep the name for a year. By that time, we may have a better name.”

Well, evidently FDW was wrong and while I could not find details on the history, the name stuck. According to the current list of civic organizations for New York City, “The Lost Community Civic Association holds its meetings on the second Wednesday of the month, excluding July and August.”

There is also a small triangular park named “The Lost Community Civic Association Triangle” still maintained by the City of New York City Parks Department.

The family, now with two kids, moved to Media, Pennsylvania – a suburb of Philadelphia in 1949, when I was one. Dad went to work as a sales rep. for Bigelow Carpets and our brother, Garry was born in 1950.

7313 Miami Ave. Madeira, Ohio

We moved to Madeira, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati on May 4, 1952. I know that date because we took an American Airlines flight. Because it was my birthday, I got to sit on the lap of the lead stewardess as we landed in Cincy. (I figured that lovely young woman is now in her mid nineties if she is still alive!)

Stay tuned for the impact FDW had on his family and community in Ohio in the next segment. If you are interested in viewing the second segment of this story, click on the following link: https://thebeerchaser.com/2021/11/09/fdw-beerchaser-of-the-quarter-part-ii/

External Photo Attribution

*1 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Glen_Island_Casino_jeh.jpg) Licensed and made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Author: Jim.henderson 14 July, 2011.

*2. (https://www.amazon.com/Orchestra-Live-Glen-Island-Casino/dp/B009H43Y3K)

*3 Wikimedia Commons – Public Domain – (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Kelly_(singer)#:~:text=By%20CBS%20Radio/CBS%20Photo%20-) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1926 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. Source: CBS Radio 1951.

*4 (https://www.google.com/maps/place/7313+Miami+Ave,+Cincinnati,+OH+45243/@39.1941026,-84.3627391,3a,75y,280.83h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sLgAVgCwMuAFfjGlHwr_)

Beerchaser Wonderings and Wanderings…

Posted on November 20, 2019 by Thebeerchaser

Courtesy of the Oregon State Bar

Lawyers and Drinking

I was delighted that the November edition of the Oregon State Bar Bulletin which has a circulation of about 12,000 Oregon lawyers included multiple mentions of both Thebeerchaser blog and the Benedictine Brewery in Mount Angel.

Talented author and lawyer, Jennie Bricker, who writes at Brick Work Writing & Editing LLC, did a great job in her article entitled “I’ll Drink to That – The Power and Peril of Alcohol’s Connection to the Legal Profession.” Check it out at the link below. (It starts on Page 28): https://www.osbar.org/bulletin/issues/2019/2019November/index.html

A New IPA? Don’t Count On It!!

The Benedictine Beers on tap in Mount Angel

I have been involved in the wonderful Benedictine Brewery and St. Michael Taproom since its inception in 2018 – one of three monk-owned and operated breweries in the US.

Fr. Martin – our Head Brewer has become an incredibly skilled brewer and there are nine of his beers on tap. Benedictine beers draw accolades throughout the region.

The flagship beer is Black Habit – described as a “Belgian dark strong ale,” has been widely acclaimed for its rich flavor. And don’t forget Mea Culpa Pale Ale.

I have been lobbying him to brew his first IPA and even have suggested the name and slogan. (He hasn’t returned my calls about this…. and I don’t expect to hear anytime soon!)

Quid Pro Quo IPA – Real Beer Flavor for a Favor *1

Image courtesy of the talented and creative Pam Williams

*1 Not available in Alabama, Greenland, Kyiv or Kharkiv

West Point and Veterans’ Day

Ambassador William Taylor

The impressive career and sterling character of a primary witness in the Impeachment Inquiry – Ambassador William Taylor who graduated from the US Military Academy in 1970 made me reminisce about my late brother, Garry, who also graduated from West Point (Class of1972) and served with distinction during his six-years in the Third Armored Cavalry.

While at West Point, Garry was in both the Glee Club and a quintet-combo called “The Headliners,” which resulted in appearances on national television and at the White House as can be seen by the photo with President Nixon in 1971 below.

(Garry is the tall cadet to the immediate left of Nixon.)

Garry with the Headliners at the Nixon White House in 1971

And here’s a belated toast to all of our veterans, among whom are several who were previous Beerchasers-of-the-Quarter and were decorated for heroism for their service in the Viet Nam War. Cheers to Jud Blakely, Doug Bomarito and Steve Lawrence.

Captain Don Wilburn

And two, who made the ultimate sacrifice – my best friend in high school, Garry Kestler, USMC in 1967 and my late father’s best friend and SAE Fraternity brother, Captain Donald E. Wilburn (after whom I’m named) and was a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World Watr II.

Amy, Amy, Amy

Those of us who were fans of the Mike and Amy Show are shaking our collective heads at the decision Entercom Broadcasting to discontinue the show after the two have been popular morning personalities on KWJJ The Wolf.

After canceling their show in 2012 – only to bring them back two years later, Entercom is making the same move as just announced after the duo has been together on KWJJ for a total of 18 years.

See the announcement from Amy below – and those involved in the non-profit world, get ready for what will be a win for your non-profit auction when Amy Faust finishes her training.

Amy (on the right) with three other members of the Faust clan – Charlie, Jack and Alice at a 2017 Beerchasing and a happy Beerchasing crew

And if you have any doubts as to why this talented and great-hearted lady will succeed in her endeavors, check out why she was named Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter in 2017:

https://thebeerchaser.com/…/amy-faust-beerchaser-of-the-qu…/

“I’m quite excited to announce the (possibly surprising) fact that in a few weeks I will be traveling to Clear Lake, Iowa, for 8 days to attend the World Wide College of Auctioneering and get certified to be a benefit auctioneer…. please join me on Instagram at my brand new account @amytheauctioneer “

PS: I received the following e-mail from Amy on 11/18 when I asked how her training was going:

“Greetings from Clear Lake, Iowa! I can’t even begin to tell you how strange and amazing this experience is. But I’m learning a ton and i will be ready to roll out my new skills very soon……Cheers from Bennigan’s, where I have eaten every single meal since Friday!”

(At least she’s hasn’t become a regular at The Olive Garden….!)

More Amy…..

And to demonstrate why I will appreciate the dry sense of humor of this lady, check out this from their Facebook page in 2018.

The Beerchaser’s Pet Peeves

At least I’ve only been around for 71 of these!!

As a guy who recently entered his seventh decade, I can say there are pros and cons about being older. An advantage reinforced each time one reads the obituaries is that at least there is less peer pressure.

And one has to get used to the fact that when you ask friends how they are doing, they spend way too much time telling you – typically including accounts on various parts of the human anatomy in their narratives.

Those on-line drop down menus that ask for birth date require too many “Page Downs” on the keyboard to reach the correct year. But I find, that some things annoy me a lot more than they used to including the following:

Leaf Blowers – in the fall, Boomer kids used to spend a lot of time and earn their allowances by raking leaves and hauling them to the spare lot or other repository.

Nowdays, one hears the irritating scream of leaf blowers each day. Whether it’s my lawn service or people in the burbs, the habit of blowing the leaves either into the street or whisking them off their sidewalk into the street where they clog the gutters or just blow into the next yard is annoying.

I guess in some respects its analogous to Portland shipping its garbage to Eastern Oregon and not thinking twice about it.

That’s my shovel after the lawn service “finished.”

Poop Bags

We have two wonderful grandpuppies – Sullivan, a great little Havanese who visits us from Seattle and Wesley Walter, a wonderful Golden Retriever who comes for walks from NE Portland.

Wesley Walter and Sullivan on a recent visit

In both cases, we use poop bags to take care of their “dispatches” when we take walks. Now while I hate it when dog walkers let their canines do their duty and just leave it in my yard, even more egregious are the heathens who do the following:

They self-righteously pick up the poop in a plastic bag but then leave the &*#*% bag along the sidewalk or parking strip where unless it is picked up by some good citizen, will set there for the next 250 years rather than decomposing naturally.

Yeah Right! Thanks for being a great environmentalist…..

Pharmaceutical Commercials – while the US is one of I believe, only two countries that allow these corporate behemoths to advertise their prescription medications on the air, the ads are ubiquitous It may be comforting to some that the advertised pill may allay the symptoms of psoriasis notwithstanding the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, internal bleeding, memory loss and lower libido etc.

I also marvel at the over-the-counter ads for Prevagen – an over-the-counter dietary supplement pill which is supposed to help your memory. In bold tones, the announcer lauds the benefits of this medication that is comprised of “ingredients originally found in jelly fish….”

Why is this an advantage? Who has ever interacted with a smart jelly fish? Do jelly fish have better memories than carp? Why would you want to emulate any creature with no central nervous or respiratory systems, lives only a few years and has its mouth and anus in the same body cavity (at least that’s what is appears from the diagram below):

Medicine with ingredients originally found in jellyfish!!???

And how smart were the hundreds of jelly fish that washed up on the Oregon coast in January near Haystack Rock? Did they show the same intellectual acumen as lemmings in following the leader to their ultimate demise?

Spelling Bees – now I may get attacked on this one, but it just floors me when I see the results of the latest Scripps National Spelling Bee – one with a 94-year history – and a story which states, “Spelling Experts say Tougher Words are Still Out There.” In the 2019 Bee, eight kids ended sharing the championship “…because they were simply too accomplished to stumble over any of the words Scripps threw out.”

The labyrinthine path to becoming a spelling bee champion….

One has to give credit to the parents who I assume drill their little prodigies who are eighth grade and below (now usually with professional coaches) for hours on such words as “auslaut”, “aiguillette” and “erysipelas” – words that even my Google spellcheck does not recognize. One has to ask, however, “Of what practical use is all the time spent trying to accomplish this Augean task??” (I looked up the definition, but couldn’t use spell check to write the word.)

Would it not be better for them to be out on the playground, interacting with peers or just reading a good book? Of course, I guess, some of you might ask, “Of what redeeming value is a blog in which the author writes about his exploits at 350+ bars, breweries and taverns?”

Metrics – these statistical indicators have become pervasive in all areas of our lives, and are now a staple for sports coaches and general managers. I think it was baseball that first relied on detailed statistical analysis of hitters rather than the gut instinct of famous Major League Baseball managers such as Tommy Lasorda, Casey Stengel, Connie Mack and my favorite Birdie Tebbetts, skipper of the Cincinnati Reds when I lived there from 1952 – 1959.

Birdie Tebbetts – notable Major League catcher and manager

But has it gone too far? I was struck by a recent Oregonian article entitled, “Blazers put Shot Tracking Into Practice.” A company called Noah Basketball has developed cameras, sensors and software to provide over half of the NBA teams, major college programs and even high school basketball teams with data and “real-time feedback” on every shot they take.

It tracks “…the arc, depth, location and accuracy of each shot on a laptop.”

Perfect arc, depth and velocity

Sports has become more of a business, but does this kind of tool, take some of the joy and spontaneity out of the game? Maybe the next step is to provide players with electronically edited comments in interviews after the game so the clause, “I just played my own game,” is replaced with more elevated prose……

“Well the radius of gyration and velocity of my shot was within the standard deviation laid out by Coach.”

Brewery Dynamics

Since this is a blog primarily about bars and breweries, I should end with a short section on the dynamic nature of the brewing industry especially in Oregon. One recent statistic I read stated that there are now more breweries than colleges in the US and that competition has resulted in some rather shocking casualties with some notable brewing firms.

There are too many closings in the last two years to list them all, but a number of noted breweries with Oregon roots are gone but not forgotten – also true of some fabled pubs and bars. The good news is that new ones seem to pop up almost simultaneously. The following does not purport to be all-inclusive, but just gives an idea.

Closings

Burnside Brewing Closes its Doors

Lompoc Tavern (NW) and Brewery (N) – Widmer’s Pub (N) – O’Neill Irish Pub (SE) – Burnside Brewing (E) – Bridgeport Brewing (E) – Alameda Brewing (SE) and Brewpub (NE) – Portland Brewing Taproom (NW) – Columbia River Brewing (NE) – Rock Bottom Pub (Downtown) – Henry’s Tavern (Pearl) – Seven Brides Brewing (Silverton) – Laurelwood Brewing Pubs (Sellwood and PDX) – Riverbend Brewing Brewpub (Bend) – Coalition Brewing (SE) bought by Gorges Beer and reopened.

Openings

Benedictine Brewery and St. Michael Taproom – owned and operated by monks

Level Beer Co. (Multnomah Village) – Breakside Brewing Taphouse (3rd location Slabtown) – Hopworks Urban Brewing Pub (2nd location PDX) – Ruse Brewing (SE) – Benedictine Brewing (Mount Angel) – Mt. Hood Brewing Taphouse (2nd location – Tilikum Crossing) – Backwoods Brewing (2nd location Pearl District)

And Finally re. Lagunitas Brewing

I read an October Willamette Week article which stated, in part:

“After three years of providing free event space for local non-profits, California-based, now Heineken-owned brewery Lagunitas abruptly shuttered its Community Taproom in Northeast Portland this week, sending dozens of charities scrambling to relocate fundraisers.”

As were many Portland residents, I was outraged and on 10/31 e-mailed Lagunitas the following without really expecting a response:

“You can do better….Your decision to discontinue the Community Room in NE Portland without any prior notice, thereby leaving a number of non-profits in a real dilemma, is uncalled for, unnecessary and shows disregard for your loyal customers. This is not indicative of the Oregon Brewing Community and this move will be remembered. How do you justify the manner in which this decision was handled?”

At least the Brewery Communications Dept. responded two days later:

“Thanks for reaching out and for your feedback. We recognize that the closing of the Community Room was sudden, and truly wish that we could have given more notice to the community and those organizations who had previously scheduled events.

There were a wide variety of factors that lead us to make this incredibly difficult decision. We let the Portland non-profit community know as soon as we could, but also understand that for many organizations, it wasn’t soon enough.

We’re currently working with those organizations that had an event scheduled, and are providing beer donations for them at alternative locations. We also look forward to continuing to support the incredible work that local Portland non-profits are doing in the future. Thanks again for your feedback.”

I’ll try to let you know in future posts whether the intent to help in the future becomes a reality.

Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving

Thebeerchaser

Bars, Breweries and Watering Holes – An Exploration

Tag Archives: Captain Don Wilburn US Army Air Corps

Up – Down and Sideways — Part I

Beerchaser Notables – Captain Don Wilburn, US Army Air Corps – Part II

FDW – Beerchaser of the Quarter – Part I

Beerchaser Wonderings and Wanderings…