College Friends


In 1979, I left Peoria for college. Because of all kinds of fortunate circumstances, I was able to attend the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where I met these three great folks above: Miles, Myra, and Duncan. 


I spent three years as a Trojan, and while I graduated from the University of Wisconsin, I've always considered USC my alma mater too. Freshman year, I lived in Marks Tower. Here it is below.


I lived on the fifth floor of Marks Tower with my roommate Cecelia, who was the valedictorian of her class of 600 at Mater Dei in Santa Ana. Lots of memories from this dorm: gazing at the flame burning at the Coliseum for our hostages in Iran; vacating the dorm in the middle of the night because of a bomb threat (related to the Iranian hostage crisis; USC had 600 Persians --ie Iranians--attending the school and the politics were complicated); when we had a little bit of a water backup on our floor (see below).


There's Myra, stranded near her room, due to the flood. She looks the same today as she did then. In the red pants is our excellent R.A. Wendelle. 


We had a lot of great dorm activities in Marks Tower, including trips to the beach, Westwood, and dances. Above are Miles and Duncan, who also look the same today. Miles was a fellow freshman, who played football at USC. Duncan was an R.A. in the dorm, who went on to become a Navy SEAL. Duncan was very tolerant and kind to us clueless freshman. In the photo above, Duncan and Miles are pretending to be models as they prepare to take Cecelia and me to a dance on the Queen Mary in Long Beach.


Here were are on December 2017 outside a restaurant in Woodland Hills: Miles and his wife Nancy, Myra and her husband Glenn, and Duncan and his mom, Dorothy. Everyone is doing so well! After a career in the Army, Miles is a high school teacher. Myra, a chemist, works developing computer chips. Duncan is planning his next chapter after more than three decades in the Navy special forces.


Hold onto your hat: Dorothy is 96 and lives by herself in her own home. She is amazing!


Thanks, Tommy Trojan, for the memories!

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