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The

Adventurers� Club News©

Volume 57 March 2013 Number 3

Yungas Road in Bolivia � The most dangerous road in the world

March 2013 ADVENTURERS� CLUB NEWS

The Adventurers� Club NewsThe Official Publication of the Adventurers� Club of Los Angeles®, California

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FRONT COVER .................................................................... YUNGAS ROAD IN BOLIVIAPHOTO SHANE BERRY

DIRECTORY ............................................................................... INSIDE FRONT COVER

PRESIDENT�S PAGE .................................................................................................... 1

ARTICLES � OGTA � ALMOST: MY THREE CAT LIVES ................................................ 2

OGTA � LET THERE BE AIR .................................................................... 4LUCY � THE ADVENTURING LAB ........................................................... 5

N.O.H.A. ........................................................................................................................ 7

THRAWN RICKLE ........................................................................................................ 8

BOOK REVIEW: FLATLAND � A ROMANCE OF MANY DIMENSIONS .......................... 9

WHAT�S HAPPENING... .............................................................................................. 10

THURSDAY NIGHTS AT THE CLUB ............................................................................. 12

FORTHCOMING PROGRAMS .................................................................................... 21

PRESIDENTRick Flores

1ST VICE PRESRalph Perez

2ND VICE PRESMike Gwaltney

TREASURERRoger Haft

ADDRESS2433 N BroadwayLos Angeles, CA 90086

MAILINGADDRESSPO Box 31226Los Angeles, CA 90031

DINNERRESERVATIONS(323) 223-3948Deadline:TuesdayNoon

SECRETARYEric Flanders

Volume 57 ............................................................................................... Number 3Publisher ....................................................ACLA President, Rick Flores #1120Editor .........................................Robert G. Williscroft #1116, Lewiston, ID 83501

Cell (818) 613-9445; [email protected]. Editor .................................................................................................. [OPEN]Club Phone (323) 223-3948 (24 Hrs) ...........................www.adventurersclub.org

March 2013

ADVENTURERS� CLUB NEWS March 2013

The

ADVENTURERS� CLUB NEWS©

Volume 57 March 2013 Number 3

THE PRESIDENT�S PAGERick Flores #1120- President

1

March isalready

looking like agreat month.On my lasthike in theSanta MonicaMountains onthe 3rd, the

hillsides were verdant, the early springflowers were blooming, and I spot-ted at least ten different types of but-terflies. There were a limited varietyof birds, but they will come eventu-ally; and based on the snow stillpresent on the Angelus Mountains,we will soon have some great water-fall hikes to enjoy.

Life is good!We had a great lineup of speakers

last month, and this month is look-ing equally exciting. Keep checking theClub website. The lineup of speakersis always subject to change, but RalphPerez and Rich Jackson are doing agreat job keeping the website current.

We got a very good response to thesurvey that we sent out last month.We asked for your opinion and yougave it to us; at least half the mem-bership responded! It will take ussome time to compile the answers toeach question. We will let the mem-

bership know the results as soon aswe finish. I want to give a specialcall-out to Steve Lawson who wentabove and beyond the call of duty.In addition to providing a detailed re-sponse to the survey, Steve created adigital map with the location of eachmember pinpointed on it. ThanksSteve, the Club appreciates your workin creating this useful document.

We will be having the first cateredevening of the year on March 14th; ifall goes well the Plum Tree Restau-rant will cater the event. In the past,these catered events were well attend-ed, so please call and make a reser-vation by the Tuesday before themeeting. Getting an accurate countis vital to making the evening a suc-cess. If this first catered event is suc-cessful, we can plan more through-out the year.

I put out a call for volunteers to fillthe vacant 2nd Vice President�s po-sition and for a News co-editor to as-sist Robert Williscroft. I am relievedto announce that we have a volun-teer for the 2nd Vice President�s po-sition, but nobody has, as of yet,come forward to help with the News.So come on, somebody please stepup to the plate and help out with thisimportant job.

Take care all.

March 2013 ADVENTURERS� CLUB NEWS2

OTGA � Almost: My Three Cat LivesOTGA � Almost: Shane Berry

Shane Berry (#1093)

Shane Berry came up with a marvelous concept for a continuing series of articles from fellow Clubmembers about their nearly going OTGA while on an adventure. The articles are to be short, first-person narratives that we can feature each month in the News. All it will take is for each of you toparticipate in the process and send Shane (or me directly) your �OTGA � Almost� story. Pleaseinclude the highest resolution photos you have. So, this month we feature Shane�s narrative � �MyThree Cat Lives,� and Larry Schutte�s �Let there be Air.�

I seem to have been in places where,had I been there a few hours, days

or weeks later, I would have died.Here are three of my �cat lives.�

In January 1999, I was traveling inIndia with Ryan, my youngest son. Igot some free flights to Mumbai, butwe had to catch a flight to New Del-hi, and at that time of the year therecan be heavy fog. All of my Indianfriends and fellow travelers told meto avoid Air India. A 2011 article rat-ed only China Air as having a worsesafety record while Air India was sec-ond (data since 1970). Air India hadmany flights that day compared toonly a few on the regional airlines. Irolled the dice and took a chance onAir India. The plane looked and feltlike it was falling apart. Although myluggage got stuck in the overhead bin,the plane landed okay. About twomonths later, the same flight at thesame time went down in New Delhikilling over 300 passengers.

I was skiing with a friend in theLake Tahoe area in the 1980s, andspent the two nights in a motel at In-cline Village. We skied Incline, nowcalled Diamond Peak Ski Resort. Thefollowing week an avalanche killedeveryone at that motel.

In 2009, I was mountain biking Yun-gas Road in Bolivia (also known as ElCamino Del Muerte or the Road of

Death). In 1995, the InterAmericanDevelopment Bank christened it as the�worlds�s most dangerous road.� Oneestimate is that 200 to 300 travelers arekilled yearly along the road, or one ve-hicle every two weeks. In July 1983, abus veered off the road and killed morethan 100 passengers.

Satellite view of the Yungas Road route

Photos Shane Berry

Shane on the Road of Death


OTGA � Almost: Shane Berry

The road is mostly single lane with-out guardrails and has extreme dropoffs from 300 to 800 feet,making the road extreme-ly dangerous. Rain, fog,loose rocks, and a smallwaterfall cascading on theroad � not to speak of cars,busses, and trucks � makethis a difficult mountainbike ride.

Yungas Road is one ofthe few roads in SouthAmerican where youdrive on the left side going uphill.This gives drivers a better idea howclose they are to the edge.

Mountain biking El Camino DelMuerte is high on the list of things to

do in South America. The road fromLa Paz to Corioco starts at 15,400feet then drops 11,800 feet over forty-two miles. I have mountain biked forthe past thirty years and consideredmyself very up-to-the-ride.

The first part of the trip was pavedand uneventful. Then, however, wearrived at the unpaved, dirt road por-tion. I found myself racing with thebike leader in the early going. As I

Top of the Road of Death at 15,400 feet

was racing down the road I didn�t havetime to sightsee, because of the hair-

pin turns and loose rock.Out of the corner of myeye, I was able to viewall the white crossesalong the road that rep-resent sites where peoplehave died. That got myattention.

At one straightawaysection while travelingfaster than normal, wehit some gravel. I skid-

ded out, landing in the middle of thesingle lane road � fortunately. A fewmore feet and I would have fallen tomy death � another white cross alongEl Camino Del Muerte.

On our return trip back up themountain, the road was closed. Alandslide had completely closed theroad at the spot where I skidded outthe day before. This landslide hap-pened shortly after we passed. Itwould have pushed all of us off themountain road to our deaths.

I nearly went OTGA twice that day.

Yungas Road

The landslide that nearly got Shane


OTGA � Almost: Let there be Air

OTGA � Almost: Larry Schutte

Larry Schutte (#1121)

After coming very close to deathin a plane crash in Sept. 2009, I

once again dodged the grave as I wasdiving deep in Roatan, Honduras inFeb. of 2010.

Having gotcaught up in theamazing beautyof this place, Ifound myselfsuddenly at 119feet of depth andnot enough air toget to the surface with the proper safe-ty stops to successfully purge the ni-trogen out of my blood stream andtissues.

Anxiety was the first thing that hitme, and it hit hard as I thought about�the bends� and the possibility ofbeing left paralyzed or worse.

Then my training kicked in, and Itold myself I was going to control thissituation with all the willpower I had.I went into slow, controlled breaths,not shallow or deep, but just enoughto keep me conscious on my slow as-

cent to my fifteen feet safety stopthreshold. All was going well as I as-cended except for the worry as I sawthe remaining air in my tank hit zero.

I was at abouttwenty-five feetfrom the surfaceat this point, butas those of youwho dive know, Icouldn�t just jamon up to air andsunshine. Then I

saw the glint of metal. It was a tankand regulator hanging at the fifteenfeet level off the back of the boatladder. Not every boat captain doesthis as a safety measure, but I can tellyou, I was very glad to see it.

It seemed like it took forever toclose that ten foot gap between meand air, especially since my tank wascompletely empty. Reaching themouthpiece,I breathed infresh, sweetair and wasable to com-plete mysafety stopwithout in-cident.

After hun-dreds ofdives, I fellinto a rook-ie mistake, which, I assure you, willnever happen again!

Down deep off Roatan

The 15-foot safety stop


Lucy � Adventurer

Lucy � The Adventuring LabRalph H. Perez (#1150)

Deep in Azusa Canyon, made fa-mous by Mafia dead-body drop-

offs, lies the Bridge to Nowhere. Fromits name, it really does go no where.According to the City of Azusa, thefirst recorded reference to this areawas found in Father Juan Crespi�s1769 diary, while on his way from SanDiego looking for Monterey Bay.

The Bridgeto Nowhere isone of themost bizarreartifacts to befound in theSan GabrielM o u n t a i n s .Back in the1920s, LosAngeles Coun-ty planned tobuild a high-way up the East Fork canyon to theMine Gulch. From there the roadwould climb over Blue Ridge anddrop down into Wrightwood. It wouldbe among the most scenic roads inAmerica.

Construction began in 1929, mostof the work being done by Countyprison work crews. By the mid-1930sthe highway had reached The Nar-rows (2,800 ft) where the East Forkflows through a very deep gorge, thedeepest in Southern California. Thereit was necessary to construct a con-crete bridge high above the waters ofthe gorge. A tunnel was also chiseled

out of sheer rock.After this difficult construction task

had been completed, however, onMarch 1, 1938, an unprecedentedstorm deposited many inches of rainon the San Gabriel Mountains. Theresult was a tremendous flood thatroared down the East Fork, obliter-ating everything in its path including

more thanfive miles ofthe painstak-ingly con-structed high-way. Only thebridge, highabove the rag-ing waters re-mained un-touched. Thefutility of theproject hav-

ing been so emphatically demonstrat-ed, the County abandoned their plans,leaving a brand-new concrete roadbridge standing alone in the middleof the wilderness more than fivemiles from the nearest highway.

On today�s hike I nearly killed myloyal and trusting two-year-old choc-olate lab, Lucy. People actually do diein these canyons; but today pleasedon�t add my dog to the count. Onthe return part of the hike, Lucy andI found ourselves on this huge near-vertical cliff. We both had fought hardto get there by free climbing a rockwall, up and over tree roots, and fi-

Lucy headed down the difficult trail with the SanGabriel River below

(Lucy continued on page 6)


Lucy � Adventurer

nally climbing over a small wormshaped oak tree. After a little morefree climbing I started to become con-cerned, not necessarily for me, but formy dog. Time seemed to stand still.The little brown dog, ever so trust-ing, kept her cool. Our climb startedout as a hiking trail, then became aclimbing trail that continued to turnvertical. While still safe, we reacheda go or no-gomoment. Goand possiblyrisk losing mybest dog in theprime of herlife; in my headI gave it agreater than 70percent slip-f a l l - and -d i echance. I madethe decision togo back down. Of course, by notclimbing on, we needed to get backdown to where we started . We rest-ed for about fifteen minutes. What todo?

Due to numerous earlier watercrossings my feet were soggy, myhands and clothing muddy, and I wascovered in sweat. I could feel myheart racing as I considered the life-critical decision. My first choiceturned out to be snapping a quickmemorial picture and video of Lucy,to remember her by � just in case. Asit was, I considered the odds of go-ing back down just as bad. Hey, I�m

a hiker not a rock climber, so whywas I even there? Also, I�m OK withheights; otherwise, I might havedropped off the edge earlier, withLucy staring down at me, all broken,face up on the San Gabriel river rocksbelow.

Another highly addictive and some-times rewarding hobby in the riverbelow is recreational gold prospect-

ing. Theseguys were outin force, butnot below us.One of therichest strikeson the EastFork wasmade at Alli-son Mine � lo-cated on thewest slope ofMt Baldy

above the confluence of Iron Forkand the East Fork, just upstream fromthe Bridge to Nowhere.

Lucy seemed to know the conse-quences of one missed step. The edgeof a huge drop-off above the rockySan Gabriel River was just one footaway. Sure-footed, she held on as Icoaxed her down to where even asure-footed mountain lion couldmake the descent.

Had we missed the trail? After acouple hundred more feet up the trail,the roadbed abruptly ended with thetrail dropping into the riverbed. Ichose to continue upward rather than

Ralph and Lucy posing on the Bridge toNowhere

(Lucy continued from page 5)


N.O.H.A. / Lucy � Adventurer

attempt a deep water crossing. Attimes we were on an old roadbed thatcarved its way along the canyon wallwith the rocky boulder-filled creekbelow.

The bridge is five advanced-hikingmiles into the canyon. The many ob-stacles in the path transform this intoa seven-mile difficult and treacher-ous hike over severe, rocky terrainwith numerous water crossings. Attimes, while hiking on an old broken-asphalt road, I told myself that thebridge was near. It was getting closerall right, but the elevation was get-

Deep in Azusa Canyon

ting higher. We pushed on, Lucy ei-ther to my side or ahead, briefly stop-ping to look back as I caught up.

Our arrival at the bridge caught usby surprise. After a few well-earned

parting pictures of the Bridge to No-where, we realized that the sun wouldbe setting soon, and commenced ourdownhill trek out of the canyon.

My feeling of accomplishment athaving cheated death for my dog isdifficult to describe.

And now my goal in life (at least inthis respect, anyway) is to be as good aperson as my dog already thinks I am.

Deep in Azusa Canyon


Thrawn Rickle

Judging fromthe feedback

I receivedaboutthe full-color edi-tion of the News(zero... nada), Iwould have to

guess that it fell flat. If this is incor-rect, let me know so we can do sev-eral more full-color editions. It onlytakes a few minutes to pen an email.If you are the old-fashioned type, wewelcome hand-written snail-mail aswell. Or leave me a voicemail withthe title: �A letter to the editor.�

The members of our Club are aneclectic lot, having in common thatwe tend to travel the world off thebeaten path. There are others who dothe same, although not trekking hid-den trails or exploring lost islands. In-stead, they fathom the depths of theuniverse. They explore the leading edgeof scientific discovery, men like Ein-stein who became mainstream, and likeTesla who remained on the fringes.

In today�s world, Ruggero Maria San-tilli is one of these kindred souls. Bornin Capracotta in the Italian region ofMolise, Santilli studied physics in Na-ples and Turin in the early 1960s, andconducted NASA research at the Uni-versity of Miami in 1967. He becamean Associate Professor of Physics atBoston University, where he taughtphysics and math and conducted re-search for the Air Force. In the 1970s

THE THRAWN RICKLE From the Ancient Scottish: thrawn = stubborn; rickle = loose, dilapidated heap

Robert G. Williscroft #1116 � Editor he was a visiting scholar at the Centerfor Theoretical Physics at MIT. Follow-ing that he was a visiting scholar inmathematics at Harvard. Then hefounded the Institute for Basic Re-search with branch divisions around theworld, and subsequently MagneGasCorporation to exploit the research.

I have listed these credentials togive you a sense of Santilli�s back-ground and experience. Santilli, yousee, does not agree entirely with Ein-stein. He has developed �HadronicMechanics,� contrasted with main-stream �Quantum Mechanics,� thatpoints to another kind of chemicalbond that he calls a magnecularbond.

Now, understand that very fewmainstream western scientists willgive Santilli the time of day, let alonegive credence to his theories � eventhough several well-respected scien-tists from the old Soviet Union andfrom several Eastern European coun-tries are actively pursuing his ideas,and even though he is manufacturingand selling devices that appear to pro-duce a new kind of clean fuel fromboth water and waste (garbage). (No,it�s neither hydrogen nor methane.)

One of his devices produces�HHO gas� from water, which San-tilli says is a �new� form of water, ofthe form (HxH)-O, where �x� is amagnecular bond and �-� is a valencebond. Western science laughs whilethe Russians and Eastern Europeansappear to be doing it.


Book Review � Flatland

9

BOOK REVIEW:Flatland: A Romance Of Many DimensionsEdwin A. Abbott, Greenbook Publications, Sioux Falls, SD, 2010 (originally published in 1884), 6x9 Hardcover, 74 p, ISBN 978-1617430091, Review by Editor with material supplied by online sources.

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimen-sions is an 1884 satirical novella by

the English school-master Edwin Abbott.Writing pseudony-mously as �A Square,�Abbott used the fic-tional two-dimension-al world of Flatlandto offer pointed ob-servations on the so-cial hierarchy of Vic-torian culture. Thenovella�s more endur-ing contribution,however, is its exam-ination and explora-tion of dimensions. Itis in this �explora-tion� capacity that Ipresent it here.

In Flatland, women are simple line-segments, while men are polygons withvarious numbers of sides. The narrator,A Square, is a humble square who guidesus through some of the implications oflife in two dimensions.

Square has a dream about visitingLineland, a one-dimensional world in-habited by �lustrous points.� He at-tempts to convince the realm�s igno-rant monarch of a second dimension,but finds it essentially impossible tomake him see outside of his eternal-ly straight line.

He is then visited by a three-dimen-sional sphere, that he cannot compre-

hend until he seesSpaceland for himself.From the safety ofSpaceland, he is ableto observe the lead-ers of Flatland secret-ly acknowledging theexistence of theSphere and prescrib-ing the silencing ofanyone found preach-ing the truth of thethird dimension.

Square tries to con-vince the Sphere of thetheoretical possibility ofthe existence of a fourth(and fifth, and sixth...)spatial dimension.

Offended by this presumption, theSphere returns Square to Flatland indisgrace.

Square recognizes the connectionbetween the ignorance of the Line-land monarch with his own (and theSphere�s) previous ignorance of theexistence of higher dimensions.

Back in Flatland, Square cannotconvince anyone of Spaceland�s ex-istence. Eventually, Square is impris-oned, where he spends the rest of hisdays attempting to explain the thirddimension to his brother.


What�s Happening...

What�s Happening...Shane Berry � Photo-astronomer

Shane Berry (#1093) reports...I recently attended a weekend

workshop on Night Sky Photographyand really enjoyed it and learned someideas on taking sunrise, sunset, nightsky photographs, and star trail pho-tos. It is ran by the Desert Institute atJoshua Tree National Park (Oasis vis-itor�s center at Joshua Tree). The classis limited to fifteen photographers.The instructor is Dennis Mammana,one of the top five night sky photog-raphers in the USA. He has led nightsky photography and astronomy tripsaround the world along with Dr. Ro-saly Lopez and Dr. Frank Drake(#1132) of the SETI Institute.

You have to know your camera set-tings, especially the manual settings.I had photography problems the Sat.night out at Joshua Tree during theworkshop. Focusing and taking pho-tographs in the dark is hard.

I reread all the instructor�s notes,looked at my Canon 60D manual, andwent back to Hidden Valley at JoshuaTree two days later. I used an Apu-

ture Remote cord (generic version ofCanon�s that costs around $35) thatlets me take shots with very long orshort time exposures, and set bothinterval times and number of expo-sures. My lens is a 24-105 EF Canonwith a Canon 60D body. I used a 4.5Fstop, ISO of 400 on my two photos.

After trial and error, I went with aone-minute exposure, 15 seconds ofinterval and 24 individual photos. Iused my compass and eye to guessthe true north. I used the free StarTrails software that the instructor rec-ommended. (http://www.startrails.de/html/software.html)

I finished the photo with a layersor levels adjustment in PhotoshopCS5 and used Niks Define (noise re-duction), Niks Color Efex Pro 4, andNiks Sharpter to finish it. I saved itas a TIFF file then resized for email.

The first photo is my first Star Trails (24photos).ThesecondphotoisoftheJoshuaTree and done with only two photos.

Photos Shane Berry


What�s Happening...

11

Editor�s Note: Each month we will feature recentactivities of members and friends on this page.Please send your material along with any photosto the Editor by email or snail mail. Designate itfor �What�s Happening....�

Kevin Lee...LAUPS Photographer of the Year

Kevin Lee (#1163) is honored asthe Los Angeles Underwater

Photographic Society (LAUPS) 2012Photographer of the Year. He hasalso been Orange County Underwa-ter Photographic Society (OCUPS)Photographer of the Year numeroustimes.

Has dived all seven continents

Despite inclement weather, sometimes with deafening thunder

and lightning bolts sizzling across asinister sky, Kevin Lee dived in Aus-tralia (Nelson Bay & Sydney) in Feb-ruary, thereby completing a quest toscuba dive all Seven Continents. Im-ages from his dive travels can be seenat www.diverkevin.com.

Kevin and friend John 800 miles fromNorth Pole

Robert Marx guest speaker atCalifornia Wreck Divers banquet

Marx was guest speaker at the CWDMarch 2. His adventures have

taken him throughout the world and ledto the discovery of Spanish and Manilagalleons, Civil War ironclads, French,English and Dutch shipwrecks as wellas Mayan temple sites in the remotejungles of British Honduras.

He was Director of ArchaeologicalExcavation of the sunken city of PortRoyal, Jamaica, which sank in 1692during an earthquake, and was knight-ed by the Spanish government for

being coleader and navigator on thevoyage of the Nina II, an endeavorto sail a replica of the Columbus� car-avel across the Atlantic.

Nina II


Minutes � February 7, 2013

THURSDAY NIGHTS AT THE CLUBFebruary 7, 2013Bob Zeman (#878)

We had one of our largest crowdsever with active duty Marines from

the Palmdale-Lancaster area joining us.Also having dinner were about fortyMarine recruits. They are mostly seniorsin high school. They have signed on toenlist upon graduation and are nowmeeting once a week with their recruit-ers for physical and mental training.

President Rick Flores #1120 presidedand he thanked Allan Smith #1069 forgetting in touch with our speaker andpromoting the event with the Marines.

Bob Gannon #1066 was able to getto Cuba via Mexico and showed slidesof his visit �before the end of Fidel.�

Marie Martin #1047A joined with six-ty-seven of her Sherlock Holmes friendsto travel to Switzerland. There they re-enacted the episode of Holmes throw-ing Professor Moriarty to his death overReichenbach Falls.

Dave Finnern #1065, our cover guyfor the February issue, told of a 1944incident in which a P-38 collided with aCorsair. The P-38 pilot bailed out andlived. But the Corsair pilot was not solucky. The two planes went down in thePacific just off the coast. The P-38 wasfound some years ago. But Dave andSteve Lawson #1032 just recently foundthe Corsair in 150 feet of water.

Eric Simmel took out some old skisto go skiing. His bindings broke on thesecond run but he got a new set and wasback on the slopes in half an hour.

Brian Cruickshank #1158 said that hiswife is pregnant and their daughter is dueApril 8th. Brian has been hired by the RedCross to fly down to Peru and Chile to

film a Red Cross project there.Joe Brown #928 said that Walt Ehlers

#1119 came down with a case of pneu-monia and is in Los Alamitos MedicalCenter.

Bernie Harris #1063 is teaching acourse in CPR in Santa Monica.

Jay Foonberg #1126 will be running ahalf marathon in Fredricksburg, Mary-land in May.

We were pleased to have Loren Janes#704 and Charles Rozaire #744 in theaudience.Marine Corps Night

Colonel Joseph Shusko was the speaker.Allan Smith enlisted in the Marine

Corps on May 5, 1980, and served for sixyears. He showed a five-minute slide showof the Marines in action. He then praisedthe late Ted Williams (#999) who served.

Roy Roush (#864) served in the Marinesfrom July 4, 1942, to July 3, 1946. In late1942 he was sent to the South Pacific andlanded on Guam, Guadalcanal, Saipan, andTinian.Roy said the Marine Corpswill makea man out of you. You will know yourlimitations and your capabilities.

When the Korean War broke out, Royjoined the Air Force because he had al-ways wanted to fly. He rememberedgrowing up in Oklahoma where, at theage of seven, he saw Charles Lindberghfly overhead.Roy later flew aP-51, T-38, F-80 and F-86among otherplanes.

Colonel Jo-seph Shuskotook his Marineoath in 1975.



He has served in the joint Endeavor inBosnia-Herzegovina and in Desert Stormand Desert Shield. His call sign is JoeMarine.

He also qualified as a helicopter pilot,and for five years he flew for PresidentRonald Reagan whom he commendedas a true patriot.

Colonel Shusko said that the Marineshave a brotherhood, an ethos, camara-derie, and a history. They come from allwalks of life and live by the warrior�screed. There is no such thing as a formerMarine. Marines value honor, courage,and commitment.

In 1999, he attended a symposium puton by the Air Force to establish that ser-vice�s core values. It turns out that theNavy had copied the Marines� values ofhonor, courage and commitment. Oncean Air Force colonel heard that, he saidthe Air Force should follow suit.

The Marines were started November10, 1775, at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia,and they have distinguished themselvesever since.

Colonel Shusko was called upon todevelop the Marine Corps Martial ArtsProgram MCMAP. He took the besttechniques from each group of martial

arts. He had to consider what could bedone, considering all the gear that eachMarine wears.

MCMAP in-cludes techniques,mental training, andcharacter buildingto the ethical war-rior. Now almostall Marines aretrained in martialarts.

Our speaker hadnumerous tie-ins afew of which he related.

One related to words. The five mostimportant are �All men are created equal.�The four most important are �Live a bal-anced life.� The three most important are

�I love you.�The two mostimportant are� G e n u i n ec o n c e r n . �And the mosti m p o r t a n tword is�Humble.�

A n o t h e rtie-in related

to the pencil. The pain of sharpening isworth it to be sharper afterwards. Allmake mistakes and that is why we needan eraser. The best part of a pencil iswhat is inside just as your character ismost important. One can go out everyday and do great things and leave one�ssignature.

In the summers in the nation�s Capi-tol there are weekly events. There is aformal parade at 8th and I on Fridaynights and there is an informal gather-

Marine One in flight

MCMAP InstructorTrainer Black Belt

MCMAP shoulder throw

(Minutes continued on page 14)


(Minutes continued from page 13)

Minutes � February 7 & 14, 2013

14

ing on Tuesdays at the Iwo Jima Me-morial.

In responseto a question,Col. Shuskosaid that theIsraeli versionof martial artscalled KravMaga is simi-lar to MC-MAP. Combat knife with rifle

February 14, 2013Eric Flanders(#1162)

Those Returning fromAdventure

Chuck Jonkey #1026 went to a me-morial for his sitar teachers, one of

whom was Ravi Shankar, which was inan art exhibit hall where the art was allfrom found objects. He did a perfor-mance playing on found objects such asbunt pans, glass objects and others. Thisinspired him to make a glass marimbawhich he just finished.

Roger Haft #1098 reported that he re-turned from his daughter�s wedding,avoiding blizzards but because of weath-er delays he missed a flight and had toovernight in Atlanta.

Jeff Holmes #1148 and Bob Silver#728 visited Russell Wulf #675 (presi-dent 1964) at an assisted living facility anddelivered to him his Emeritus member-ship.

Jay Foonberg #1126 went to Indone-sia but was not accepted at his hotel ashe had no luggage. It was lost on hisflight. He went out and bought a suitcaseand returned to the hotel where he wasnow acceptable.

Announcements

Roger Haft reported that attendanceat the Riviera Golf Course is free to

veterans who register at the VA office inWestwood.

Ralph Perez #1150 announced thatthere would be a special tour of the USSIowa at 10 AM on Wednesday for anywho wished to attend.

Chuck Jonkey updated us on JohnGoddard who is undergoing chemother-apy but can get out some.

An Icelander�s Adventure

After reviewing the history of Iceland,Kris Kristjansson told the story of

his life. Beginning with working in theherring fishing industry where he workedin the salting of the herring. Herring wasexported in large amounts mainly toRussia and the USA. This was good until1969, when over-fishing caused the her-ring supply to dwindle. He then went onto reindeer hunting.

He became adiver and showedfascinating pic-tures of cave div-ing and told ofdiving after carsthat had plungedinto the harbor af-ter he had joinedthe police force.The recent reced-ing ice packhasaf-fected the weatherand livelihood ofmany of the people.

Kris was present during the large vol-canic eruption and showed pictures ofthe lava flows and the damage done by

Nicholas�s rift inThingvellir

Photos Kris Kristjansson



15

the fall of ash on the town. As the lavaflowed, help came in the form of watercannons blasting the lava to cool it down.It took considerable time for the towns-people to recover from the damage.

Iceland has a long history of culturalexchange with Russia.

Kris went to the University of Illinoisto continue his education in law enforce-ment. Among his other law enforcementduties, he was a sector chief providingsecurity for the Olympics in Atlanta.

Kris has traveled extensively throughoutthe world and has visited eighty-nine coun-tries including traveling through Europe by3rd class rail, and becoming a political ac-tivist in South Africa. His presentation wasillustrated with many slides and a strikingmovie of Iguazu Falls in Argentina.

Volcanic eruption on the Island ofHeimaey, ten kilometers off thesouthern coast of Iceland

Kris as a political activist in SouthAfrica


President Rick Flores #1120 welcomedall including guests.

One of the guests was Rich Abele whois a tour guide docent on the USS Iowa(BB-61). He recently led a group includ-ing Doug Brown #1160, Larry Schutte#1121, Jeff Holmes #1148, Bob Perez#958, Richard Litchfield #1118, BobWalters #1047, and Marie Martin#1047A on the ship. It was launched in1942, and is one of two battleships thathas recall rights meaning it can be re-com-missioned in six months. The remains ofthe April 18, 1989, turret explosion inwhich forty-seven died are still visible.

Vince Weatherby #1060 introducedtwelve-year-old Michael Hobbs who re-cently defeated Vince in a BB-gun com-petition.

Another guest was Bruce Lesher whosefather fought with the Marines on IwoJima.

Eric Flanders #1162 is leaving forMexico on a non-native non-dietary(Cancun) trip.

An organization funded by the WorldBank is setting up a gemstone and jewel-

February 21, 2013Bob Zeman (#878)

The Soviets in Iceland



Minutes � February 21. 2013

16

ry training center in Arusha, Tanzania, andhas asked Charles Carmona #1136 foron-site assistance.Iwo Jima � My Story

Jay Foonberg #1126 lectures abouttwice a month to lawyers. Over the

years he has talked to 300,000 lawyers,CPAs and business people. He felt thatthis presentation is his most important.He was inspired to go to Iwo Jima by

Pat Connelly, the main coach of L. A.Marathoners. Jay went as a tourist butcame away emotionally charged by theloyalty of Marines to each other and thesite of the invasion beach where so manyMarines died.

Jay dedicated his program to JohnBooth #869, John Goddard #507,Pierre Odier #988, Walt Ehlers #1119,and Roy Roush #864. On his climb ofMt. Suribachi, Jay said the man standingnext to him said, �If I die climbing thismountain, then tell my wife I died aMarine.�

Jay talked about the flag-raising photoknown to all Americans � the most re-produced photograph in the world. Fivedays after the landings, a group reachedthe top of Mt. Suribachi and raised a smallAmerican flag. An officer on a Navy ship

said I want that flag and ordered anoth-er flag put up that was bigger. A Navycorpsman took another flag and raised

it with five Marines using twelve feet ofJapanese water pipe. An Associated Pressphotographer whirled around and tookthe photo of this second flag raising onnegative #10. He then got a photo of acelebration of men on negative #11 thatwas staged.

When asked later if the photo wasstaged, Rosenthal said yes, thinking ofnegative #11. He did not realize the im-pact of negative #10 would have on the

war effort and afterwards.

Painting from the original JoeRosenthal photo

Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima

Jay lecturing to attorneys



Iwo Jima is located 700 miles northof Guam and 700 miles south of To-kyo. It is considered part of the Japa-nese mainland. It is volcanic and notsandy and its name means sulfur island.It is a pork chop-sized island about fourmiles by two miles with three airfields.B-29s taking off from Saipan and Tin-ian were being shot out of the air byJapanese fighters based on Iwo.

U. S. forces blockaded the island andbombarded it for months. There were23,000 defenders on the island living in5,000 caves connected by eleven milesof tunnels. The Japanese had construct-ed 750 pillboxes.

Over the course of the invasion 880Allied ships and 110,000 troops includ-ing 80,000 Marines were involved. Thefighting went on for thirty-one days andclaimed 7,700 Allied dead and 17,000wounded.

Jay himself went to Iwo Jima in 2008and took his own personal American flagand a Club flag which he hoisted on thetop of Mt. Suribachi. He later loaned thisflag to Allan Smith and Bill Burke #1157who took it with them on their trip toMt. Everest. Bill Burke was in the audi-ence. He was impressed by this act. Boththe American flag and the Club flag werealso hoisted on the Missouri and the Ari-zona.

Tadamuchi Kurabayashi was a sixthgeneration Samurai. He had spent threeyears in America and two years in Cana-da studying how Americans thought andfelt about many issues. He also was a lead-er in the invasion of Hong Kong. OnJune 8, 1944, he met with the Emperorfor the first and only time. They believedthat the only way to end the war short

of surrender was to make the Alliedforces pay for every inch of it in bloodand lose their will to continue the war,preferring a peace treaty instead.

The high cost in American lives was amajor reason to drop the atomic bombs,as casualties of up to 1,000,000 dead werepredicted if we had invaded Japan.

The Shintos believed that Japan was par-adise. The soldiers followed the warriorcode of Bushido loyalty. Marines believein Semper Fi which includes loyalty to theCorps and to fellow Marines contrastedwith Bushido loyalty which was only tosuperior not fellow soldiers. Bushido be-lieved that suicide was an act of loyalty andthat surrender was an act of disloyalty. TheBanzai act was not an act of suicide, butrather an attempt to break up enemy lineswith a frontal challenge.

At the battle of Tinian, the Americantroops just landed and walked inland.Roy Roush was in the audience and con-firmed the exact spot of Jay�s photo. OnIwo, the troops landed and filled thebeach and then the Japanese fire openedup. In two hours 550 Marines died and1,100 were wounded. The Japanesewould fire out of an opening and thenfall back to another opening. Flame


USS Arizona Visitors Center




18


Rick Flores #1120: Godson DanielEstrada.

Those Leaving on Adventure

throwers were needed and did their jobby sucking out oxygen. .

On his trip Jay also went to Guam,Saipan, and Tinian. He went to the sui-cide cliffs on Saipan where 1,200 wom-en and children either jumped or werepushed off. The soldiers jumped at Ban-zai cliff. He saw the wreckage of the B-29 on Saipan that had crashed in 1945carrying American POWs back fromTokyo to San Francisco. All aboard died.

Jay went to Pearl Harbor and hoistedhis flag on the USS Missouri where thesurrender documents were signed.

The United States eventually gave Iwoback to the Japanese who use it as a mil-itary base. But a special plane or planesfrom America is allowed to land one daya year � March 12th � and to renew theirremembrances. A ceremony is held withtop-level Japanese people including thegrandson of General Kurabayashi.

Kevin Lee � Leaving in April for thePhilippines and more scuba diving.

He will dive in an area 2 ½ hours southof Manila.

Bob Oberto #1124 � Will travel to

February 28, 2013Doug Brown (#1160)

President Rick Flores #1120 called themeeting to order with the traditional

standing silent toast to honor absent anddeparted members wherever they may be.

Guests

Those Returning fromAdventure

Jay collecting sand from the Iwo Jimabeach

Kevin Lee #1163 � Returned fromscuba diving near Sydney, Australia

including Nelson Bay. Visibility waspoor, not more than five feet. Kevin hasnow completed at least one dive on allseven continents.

Steve Bein #1057 � Was driving hiscar when he was hit broadside. He wasshaken but not stirred. Steve was in Yel-lowstone National Park two weeks agoin temperatures of -10°F. He photo-graphed bison, coyote, and bobcat. Nowolves. He recently tested a new cameralens in the Bolsa Chica area.

Doug Brown #1160 � Traveled withSandra to Catalina Island for four daysto celebrate his birthday.

Jay Foonberg #1126 � Jay received atelephone call from his dermatologistabout a cancer diagnosis that turned outto be a false alarm. His doctor called thewrong Jay. We give thanks. Jay also sug-gested a new recognition plaque, one thathonors Club members who haveachieved the same adventure on all sev-en continents, e.g., Kevin Lee�s scubadives on all seven continents, Jay Foonberg�stravels to all the continents, and Bill Burke�s#1157 ascent of the highest mountain onevery continent after age sixty.



19

Montana for some downhill skiing andthen onto Yellowstone, if all goes well.Next will be free diving for abalone offthe coast of Northern California.

Park with a niece of Adlai Stevenson II.

In September 2009, Ed and Neeka, aregistered Arabian endurance horse, ar-rived at Boundary Monument 78, on theCanada-United States border, after com-pleting a 2,663-mile journey on the Pa-cific Crest Trail (PCT). (The PCT is oc-casionally designated as the Pacific CrestNational Scenic Trail.) He began the PCTon another Arabian horse, Primo, fromthe border of Mexico on April 19, 2008,and traveled through state parks, countyparks, a national park, several wilderness

areas and national forests, BLM lands,and across easements through privatelands. Ed gave an account of what hesaw and what it was like to solo-ride a

Ed with Arabian Primo at the Mexicanborder

On the Pacific Crest Trail


Announcements

President Rick Flores � Read a letterthat contained an inquiry about Ed-

ward P. Bailet #5. Yes, #5. A family isconducting research and believes Ed is afamily member. If anyone has informa-tion, please contact President Rick.

President Rick Flores � Gave a saluteto Joe Brown #928 for his extraordi-nary work in the Club�s library.

Roger Haft #1098 � Shared an emailstory about a buddy who sent him aphoto of the Blackbird (SR-71) pilotedby Bob Gilliland #888.

Bob Silver #728 � Announced aNOHA project for which he is respon-sible. He asked all members to contrib-ute a photo or film footage that depictseither the essence of adventure or theheight of embarrassment experiencedwhile adventuring. From member sub-missions Larry Schutte #1121 will cre-ate a DVD that will debut October 26,2013 during the Night Of High Adven-ture (NOHA).

President Flores � NOHA plans aremoving along with the able leadershipof Martin Bloom #1147. NOHA isnow on the Club website. The date:October 26, 2013.

Over 47,000 miles on Horseback

Ed Anderson is a Back Country Horse-man from California � Antelope Val-

ley Unit, and a member of the PacificCrest Trail Association and the Ameri-can Endurance Ride Conference. He hasthe distinction of having ridden in Griffith


Minutes � February 28, 2013..

20


horse on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).Last year, starting early in July, he jour-

neyed the PCT from Sierra City to Bur-ney Falls, California.(He missed thispart in 2008 be-cause of trail clo-sures due to fires.)

On July 18 herode west out ofSisters on the OldSantiam WagonRoad, and reachedthe PCT beforegoing north to Can-ada. He resuppliedhimself by drivingahead and caching (burying) food at trail-heads and road crossings. He always lefthis tent and packs and his horse in a safeplace, usually on private property near aresidence. His horse was high lined andhad plenty of hayand water.

Once he drovenorth to a (prear-ranged) safe loca-tion he had theproblem of gettingback to where heleft his horse. Hetook public trans-portation, if avail-able, and if hedidn�t have to waittoo long. Other-wise, he hitchhiked. Sometimes a volun-teer Angel drove him back � he was gladto pay for the gas.

As for horse-friendly places to camp,he looked for water, graze, and trees tohigh line. Corrals were nice if there was

also good graze nearby, and water. Edrode two horses, Primo for the earliersegments and Neeka for the final stretch

to the Canadianborder. The highestelevation reachedwas 13,153 feet atForester Pass in theSierra Nevada. Thelowest point of140 feet wasreached at Cas-cades Lock, a city inHood County, Or-egon. The actualtime for the PCTride was six

months. Close calls were avoided becauseEd chose safety first. He carried packetsof mothballs because bears do not likethe way they smell. His tool of choicewas a Japanese-made Silky Bigboy

curved-blade fold-ing saw with a14.2-in blade. Sam-urai swords weremade of the samemetal.

The PCT passesthrough twenty-five national forestsand seven nationalparks. Its midpointis in Chester, Cali-fornia, near Mt.Lassen. It was des-

ignated a National Scenic Trail in 1968,although it was not officially completeduntil 1993. Clinton C. Clarke conceivedthe PCT in 1932. It received official sta-tus under the National Trails System Actof 1968.


Camping at Warner Springs Resort

Camp along the Pacific Crest Trail


Programs / Notes

Forthcoming ProgramsMarch 7, 2013 � Roy Roush � Searching for pirate treasure on Mona IslandMarch 14, 2013 � Pierre Odier � Vanishing Swiss Mountain VillagesMarch 21, 2013 � Bill Altaffer � 6,000 Miles Through TurkeyMarch 28, 2013 � Richard Gaskin � Rock art sites in the Northwestern MojaveApril 4, 2013 � Ralph Velasco � Cuba: 90 Miles to Another WorldApril 11, 2013 � [OPEN]April 18, 2013 � Jeff & Evan Bozanic � Cave Diving in AfricaApril 25, 2013 � Jace � The Pacific Crest TrailMay 2, 2013 � Stuart Witt � Mojave Air & Space PortMay 9, 2013 � Kevin Lee � Diving in AntarcticaMay 16, 2013 � LADIES� NIGHT � Bob Bitchin � The Bob Bitchen ShowMay 23, 2013 � Chuck Jonkey � PeruMay 30, 2013 � Ralph H. Perez � 10,000 Miles by Foot, Ferrari, Jet Boat on

the Alaska Marine High

Notes

the adventurers club newsadventurersclub.org/archives/ac news/ac news mar 2013.pdf · include the...

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