October 2007 President's Corner

Mitch Rowland '71, USNAAA Atlanta Chapter President

For those of you who missed it, fall has arrived. With the temperatures here in hotlanta still hovering near 90, it is possible to wonder if there is a mistake on the calendar. Rest assured, it won't be long until we'll be longing for warmer weather. That is almost everybody. My wife thinks anything under 80 is too cold.

We had an absolutely great meeting for September. A lot of regulars were missing. It was something about Navy football and reunions. For those who just missed, shame on you. Actually, we were lucky. We only set up 30 seats and only 2 were vacant. It was fun to look out on a crowded room.

Those in attendance were: Ed Hux '61, Bill Williams ''65, Paul De La Llama '46 (our SOPA), Rico De La Llama, Paul's son, Tony Womble '63 and his wife Virginia, Reggie Vachon '58 and his wife Mary Eleanor, Lee Whitfield '71 and guest Matt Slappey, Stewart Caldwell '65, Ted Webster '68, Bob Bush '65 (more on him later) and his daughter Morgen, Ed Flynn '51 and his wife Sherrie, Bill Holmes '64, Bob Schultz '71, Sam Newton '68, Phil Polefrone '74, Ples Bruce '77, Donald Thompson '59, Mario Maddox '85, Jim Hatch '47, Bill Rentz '55, and Jim Slemenda '66.

We were glad to welcome Paul De La Llama '46. Paul has just moved to the Atlanta area after living 30 years in Brazil. It was nice having Paul here and seeing him just fit right in with our group. Notice, no one else was here from the class of '46. I keep being told by much younger alumni, that they would come if only more of there classmates were there. Well, there will never be more if someone isn't first. Thanks Paul for setting the example. We always seem to be able to look to our senior members for setting the standard. Thanks Paul, for keeping the bar HIGH!

This month we also had Bob Bush '65 in attendance. It was a long commute for our former Atlanta President. Bob came in from Singapore. So guys on the south side, no more whining. Bob is sailing around the world. Bob looked to be back in the shape he was at the end of plebe summer, except for the gray hair. Bob also came to our Navy-Duke get together at Frankie's on Saturday afternoon.

Our speaker for September was Russ Breault. Russ Breault is President of the Shroud of Turin Education Project, Inc. Russ is recognized as a leading expert and an engaging speaker on the Shroud of Turin. He has been studying the Shroud for 20 years. He has been a guest lecturer at numerous universities (including West Point and U.S. Army Command College). He has been a guest presenter at scientific societies including the American Chemical Society.

Russ presented his information about the Shroud "CIS Jerusalem" style. What are the facts? Where are the chemical analysis and DNA leading? Can a timeline and custody be established? For an adequate explanation for the image of the Shroud, one must have an explanation which is scientifically sound, from a physical, chemical, biological and medical viewpoint. The best dating is vague, but the Shroud is believed to be between 1300 and 3000 years old. Spores contained in the Shroud show that it had been within 50 miles of Jerusalem. There are also flower pedals from plants that flower in the March-April time frame. Since the Shroud does not have a name on it, it would be impossible to prove that any one specific person was wrapped in the Shroud. So, who was buried in this Shroud? The Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) involving 24 scientists had hands-on access to the cloth for five days in 1978. After three years analyzing the data, they rendered their verdict: "The Shroud image is that of a real human form of a scourged, crucified man. It is not the product of an artist. The blood stains are composed of hemoglobin and also give a positive test for serum albumin."

BEAT ARMY!

Mitch Rowland ’71
Chapter President