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officer candidate, and with
a 3.64 GPA in Engineer-
ing, he was the best quali-
fied Navy option Senior
student to receive the
sword!
The Greater Kansas
City Council of the United
States Navy League
awarded its annual scholar-
ship to Midshipman 2/C
Marley Fisher at the April
15, 2015 KU-ROTC,
awards ceremony at the Uni-
versity of Kansas.
Midshipman Fisher is a
Pre-Med student from Con-
way Springs, KS majoring in
Human Biology. She is a
Junior who hopes to pursue a
Navy career in medicine as a
physician.
The Admiral Miller
Sword was presented to Of-
ficer Candidate Jeremiah
Karczewski, an active duty
sailor who was selected to
participate in the STA-21
program.
He was commissioned an
Ensign on April 18th and
will train as a Surface Nu-
clear Warfare Officer. As
the KUROTC Battalion Ex-
ecutive Officer, a STA-21
June 1, 2015
Membership Info:
Jack Rush
913.219.7460
Meeting Info:
Ward Cook
816-210-3276
Where did you grow up?
I grew up on a family farm in
Knoxville, Iowa. My family
operated a dairy and I was out
of bed at 4 AM every morning
caring for the cows.
Where did you go to school?
I went to the University Of
Iowa for one year and then
joined the Navy Cadet pro-
gram in 1943 during World
War II. After the war, I com-
pleted my education at the Uni-
versity Of Oklahoma. I have a
masters degree in business ad-
ministration and am a Certifi-
cated Public Accountant.
How long have you been mar-
ried?
I have been married for 67
years. I met Betty when she
(Continued on page 2)
Member Profile
Joe Dwigans - Aviator Extraordinaire
MDSN 2/C Marley Fisher receiv-ing $1,000 scholarship from Ron Brooks
Officer Candidate Jeremiah Karczewski receiving Admiral Miller Sword from Ron Brooks
Navy League Recognition for
University of Kansas ROTC Students
Lt. Joe Dwigans, USN
Volume 3
P a g e 2
Joe Dwigans Profile (continued)
Presidents Message Spring is the time for cele-
brating the winter’s work. Na-
ture does that with buds, blos-
soms, and flowers. People do it
with graduations, awards and
commissionings. It’s all to cele-
brate successful achievement.
We do it to reward and encour-
age. We take time to honor the
efforts of those who are taking
their place around us. We do it
with pride and happiness. Our
Sea Cadets were featured in the
last issue. In this issue we fea-
ture the NJROTC programs and
MCJROTC Programs our
Greater Kansas City Council
sponsors. There are several arti-
cles about them in this issue. We
are pleased to have presented six
medals and five plaques this year
to the units we sponsor. Some of
their achievements are in the sto-
ries you will read here. One of
them was written by Mark
Rakestraw, the Instructor of Na-
val Science at Shawnee Heights
High School in Tecumseh, Kan-
sas. There is also a profile to
honor the achievement of Joe
Dwigans who served our country
well in uniform earlier in life and
continues to serve as a member
of our Board of Directors. It is
another premier issue describ-
ing the work our Council does
locally. We are not only fo-
cused on national and world
issues, but the community in
which we live and serve. We
care about the lives of our chil-
dren and youth. We need your
help to be involved in formation
of sea service values in the lives
of generations to come. If you
have not donated this year,
write a check to Navy League
Kansas City and mail it to our
address in this newsletter.
Ron Brooks, President
Did you fly combat missions?
No. The war ended before I could fly
missions for the invasion of Japan.
What kind of airplanes did you fly?
I was trained in the SB2C Helldiver
for the invasion of Japan. After the
war and active in the reserves, I flew
a number of airplanes including the
F4U Corsair and the F9F Cougar.
SB2C Helldiver
What was your favorite airplane to
fly?
My favorite was the F4U Corsair. It
had a 2,000 horsepower engine, gull
shaped wings, and a top speed of 450
miles per hour. There were six fifty
caliber machine guns--a lot of fire-
power. I did most of my U.S. Navy
flying at the Dallas Naval Air Sta-
tion.
F4U Corsair
What was it like to land on an air-
craft carrier?
We were trained well and it was not a
problem.
Did you ever have frightening mo-
ments flying the Corsair? Yes. Once while night flying near
San Francisco, the cowling broke,
and the Corsair became a "bucking
bronco". I nursed the airplane back,
missed the Oakland bridge, and
landed safely.
When I was flying the F9F Cougar, I
took off from the Dallas Naval Air
Station, and the hydraulic system
failed. I guided the aircraft using the
rudder and adjusting engine power.
The ground crew placed arresting
cables across the runway, I dropped
was a school teacher in Knoxville,
Iowa.
What about your family?
I have three daughters and one son
and seven grandchildren and five
great grandchildren. My son Dean is
a retired U.S. Navy Captain and was
a JAG officer.
Joe and betty Dwigans with their
granddaughter
Dwigans Profile (cont.)
P a g e 3 J u n e 1 , 2 0 1 5
the tail hook, caught a cable, and
landed safely.
How long did you serve in the U.S.
Navy?
I retired after 26 years as a Lieutenant
Commander. I was working in Iowa
for the Panhandle Pipeline Company
and was transferred to Kansas City
in 1960. A few years later, I was
hired by Kansas City Power and
Light Company and worked as a
CPA until 1989.
As I write my first reflection in our
newsletter, I pay tribute to a former
Navy priest-chaplain, Archbishop
Joseph T. Dimino, 7 January to 25
November 2014.
The setting was one of those idyllic
beaches in Vietnam. The war seemed
far away. Father Dimino and his
chaplain's assistants had organized a
picnic for the Marines of their
unit. The meat was on the grill and
the Marines were swimming and
horsing around in the surf when they
came under attack from small arms
fire. Marines being Marines, they
quickly took the situation in hand,
but not before several of them were
wounded, one of them very seriously.
With the Marine in his arms, Father
Dimino gave absolution and assured
him that the corpsmen were on the
way. The young man smiled at him
and said: "You know, Father, I was
an altar boy." The future Archbishop
responded with those Latin words
from Psalm 43 so familiar to any
Catholic boy who grew up serving
the tradit ional form of the
Mass: "Introibo ad altare Dei (I will
go the altar of God.)" The Marine
replied: "Ad Deum qui laetificat ju-
ventutem mean (To God who gives
joy to my youth)." And with those
words on his lips he died.
This vignette from a war fought half
a century ago goes to the heart of
what it means to be a priest serving
with our Armed Forces.
Fr. Jerry Spenser
Another tier of Navy League Pro-
grams for the youth of our communi-
ties are found in our high schools.
There are three of them, NJROTC,
Navy Junior Reserve Officer Train-
ing Corps; NNDCC, Navy National
Defense Cade t Corps ; and
MCJROTC for the Marine Corps
program which is sometimes known
as Young Marines. All requirements
are set up nationally in conjunction
with Naval Service Training Com-
mand or Marine Corps Training and
Education Command, but are admin-
istered locally by either a Naval Sci-
ence Instructor or a Marine Corps
Military Science Instructor.
These programs are all designed to
instill our Core Values in the students
they serve and to create respect for
the Sea Services to which they be-
long. We find these young people in
our local communities and work with
them through local educational insti-
tutions. We want to encourage the
development of personal integrity
and a spirit of patriotism.
There are two national competitions
in April. One is held in Pensacola
currently and includes Academics,
Athletics and Drill Championships.
This is a three day examination of
their training and performance. At
least one of the units we sponsor,
Shawnee Mission North NJROTC
went to Pensacola with about a hun-
dred cadets and performed with hon-
ors. The night of their Awards Pro-
gram held at home in their high
school, they provided a 45 minute
demonstration of close order preci-
sion drills with weapons and flags as
they marched in formation in the
gymnasium. It was an awesome sight
and conducted as well as any drill
team exhibition. The second national
competition for units is completed by
the Managers of the Eleven Regions
where they are located. There are two
winning units in this competition:
Most Outstanding in the Nation and
Most Improved in the Nation. There
are trophies, plaques and medals for
all.
The local awards we present at their
events include a Cadet of the Year
Plaque and the Theodore Roosevelt
Youth Medal which includes a rib-
bon, certificate and a pamphlet ex-
plaining the medal and the require-
ments they met which qualifies them
to wear it. It is usually awarded in
the cadets junior year so they may
wear it the final year of enrollment in
the program.
These cadets start their day early,
usually at the high school by 0600
hours. It takes a lot of dedication to
excel by both the cadets and their
parents. They are by no means aver-
age students. We will arrange to
have some of them attend one of our
Council meetings while they are out
of school this summer. You can be
proud of this program and of their
achievements.
Chaplains Corner
Junior Reserve
Officer Training
Programs
the “JUMS” JROTC computer sys-
tem which is the master database
used by the Navy to record supply
and administrative actions. I antici-
pate that Hunter will be an out-
s t a n d i n g e x e c u t i ve a s s i s -
tant.” (LCDR Mark Rakestraw)
Hunter intends to complete his sen-
ior year at Shawnee Heights and is
interested in pursuing a business
degree in accounting.
Cadet Ensign
Hunter Rieman
Receives Navy League
Youth Award Shawnee Heights High School’s
Navy National Defense Cadet
Corps held their annual, end-of-
year, awards banquet on the eve-
ning of April 17, 2015. A family-
style, buffet dinner was provided
and we were pleased to host Mr.
Ron Brooks of the Navy League of
Kansas City who presented a Youth
Award to Cadet Ensign Hunter Rie-
man.
Hunter, a Junior, has been active in
the Shawnee Heights High School
NNDCC for 3 years. He has been a
cornerstone of the community color
guard unit and participates actively
on the unit drill teams. During staff
announcements during the cere-
mony, Hunter was selected to be the
unit’s Administration Officer.
“In the short time that Hunter has
been assigned as the ADMIN O, he
has been very proactive in learning
Your Sea Cadets
NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES Post Office Box 411361 Kansas City, Missouri 64141
For up-to-date information on our monthly
meeting and programs, visit our website
http://www.navyleaguekansascity.org/
Ron Brooks, Navy League Presi-
dent presents Youth Award to Cadet
Ensign Hunter Rieman.
Last weekend our Harry S. Truman
Sea Cadet Squadron won first
place among five other units.
There were six areas of competi-
tion at Camp Clark in a Regional
Event called Flagship. The six
areas included: Physical Readi-
ness, Regular Drill Marching,
Color Guard, Land Navigation,
First Aid, and Knot Tying.
Good performance shows good
leadership from both Adults and
Cadets. If you know a Cadet or
Leader pass along our pride! Nice
Work Everybody!!
Ron Brooks, President