Why not close out the year with another wedding....this time its Adam Pegues of 18th Company.  Also adding to this edition is an update from the world of EOD and the unsupervised antics of many '03 grads at Navy's home opener against Duke this past Labor Day weekend.   John Hiler was thoughtful and has contributed a special segment dedicated to the memory of our classmate Brett Harman.  Here is the latest from '03.  Keep the articles coming.

"Adam Pegues (18th Co.) married Kathryn Kennedy 9 July 2004 in Tacoma, WA, with their immediate families in attendance. The newlyweds spent their honeymoon hiking and kayaking the Olympic Peninsula. The highlight was a one day, 45 mile trek across the Olympic National Park (cougar and bear territory!). ENS Pegues is studying transportation engineering at the University of Virginia, and will begin flight school next summer. Kathryn is an Army 1LT and Black Hawk pilot, currently stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC and preparing for deployment to Iraq this winter."

 Emmanuel Borromeo, just to let you know your family wrote in with your update:

Just to let other Alumni know, Emmanuel Borromeo of Hawaii, is in Flight Navigation Training in San Antonio, TX.  He hopes to earn his wings by December 2004.  Also, he is engaged to Nicole Royal of Anchorage, Alaska.  They met while Nicole was working in Senator Stevens' office in Washington, DC.  They are planning a June 2005 wedding in Anchorage, AK.

Allow me to paint you the current EOD picture.  Its 224 feet of wood and the AC never works.  You guessed it, it¡¦s a Minesweeper home ported in Ingleside, TX.  The majority of '03 grads that went EOD are serving on these small ships fulfilling their SWO qualifications in hopes of very timely orders to EOD school in Eglin, FL.  Most ships are currently involved in their Basic-Advanced Training Cycles, few have been so lucky to experience INSURV, and the really lucky ones have the opportunity to dive with the SIMA divers to maintain their dive quals.  Brian Reitter and Todd Fruehuaf are the newest junior officers onboard the USS Sentry, Peter Glynn is on the USS Devastator, and I am doing the good duty one berth over on the USS Scout.  John Brenner has since departed for Bahrain in compliance with the whole ¡§crew swap¡¨ idea.  Don¡¦t worry we are all gonna get ours as the higher ups continue to cycle through each crew on the waterfront.  Of note with this crew swap is the return of Matt Preston, Eric Hui, and Jimmy Vandervoort who will all be leaving Bahrain and  returning stateside in late September.   Nick Parker is still out in Japan doing who knows what, and Leslie Esher is stationed in Little Creek, Va.      

Over the Labor Day weekend many 03 grads were spotted gathering outside Navy-Marine Memorial Stadium in observance of Navy Football Kick-Off weekend 2004.  The outcome was as expected, Navy won, Duke lost and the stadium looked amazing.  Many of the grads pictured below enjoyed a well done tailgate mainly supported by Steve Kuehn¡¦s local Annapolis family.  From what I could make out, we all had our fill.  Steve Kuehn was spotted eating hamburgers with hot dog buns and hot dogs with hamburger buns...very weird, I guess its all food to Steve.  In other news discussed, Mike Mullen, Joey Sheridan, and Mike Aurillio were fresh off a 6 month cruise to the Middle East on board USS Vella Gulf. {Of note,  Mike Mullen was demoted to Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy after a highly visible run in with authorities in an overseas port that will be left unnamed.}   Joey Sheridan is set to come out with his latest exercise video which promises 2-3 inches on your calves-you just have to do nonstop calve raises while standing lots of watch and eat each meal onboard ship.  Also sighted in Annapolis were the likes of a shirtless CAPT Skip Crocket and Aviation expert Johnny Craighill (also shirtless).  Eric Cabana and Lnychmob were obviously there drinking COOKS top-shelf champagne.  Also of note was Cabana¡¦s man beard (Pilots get away with anything).  Brian Abell was also in attendance trying to soak up the fun before his impending deployment in mid-September to Fallujah.  Our thoughts are with you as with all others on the front lines. 

Greetings! Well, Andrew Woolley and I recently returned to San Diego and the mighty Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) from our ¡§vacation¡¨ in Newport at the new "Baby SWOS" all the Swarriors have to go through now to get their pins. (Best of luck to everyone who still has to go endure the pain of that Navy School!) The best thing about SWOS, besides the city of Newport in the summer, was that it was a veritable reunion! Andrew and I were joined by Chuck Bunton, Alex Irving, Damian Dodge, Juliann Flacke, Paul Haberlein, Eric Boernke, Mitch McGuffie, Brent Richardson, Mylie Ordiz, Pat Nissen, and quite a few others„m We spent many raucous evenings at the O-Club and on Thames Street, trying to fit 6 months of partying it up into 3 measly weeks. It was great to see familiar faces again and see how everyone is doing. From what I gathered, Pat was going back to Sasebo to head off on deployment,  Juliann and Brent were about to tie the knot (congrats!), the Valley Forge was being decommed, sending Damian to the precom Bainbridge in Maine, and Chuck was headed to Lincoln since the Detroit was also being decommed. All in all, it was a worthwhile trip if just to see old friends again.

As for an update on me, my husband, Kendall Bodnar '01 is due to return from his second deployment in Iraq very shortly. The BHR and the associated ESG 5 has got a short time left here before we head out on deployment ourselves, and then it¡¦s off to Nuclear Power School for me in March. Hopefully I will see a bunch of our classmates there as well. In the meantime, best wishes to all! Meghan (Poukish) Bodnar

To those of you who knew Brett Harman only by name or by face, you probably still knew his ear to ear grin or his obnoxiously loud laugh.  He was that undeniably funny, irresistibly energetic, and always witty person to whom so many people were drawn throughout his 23 short years.  Though it is almost impossible for us to realize at this point in time, Brett's sole purpose in life was to make the people around him happy.  Whether you knew him for four years or four minutes, you were attracted to his magnetism and his zest for life.  This enthusiasm carried not only from the Navy wrestling mat to the Academy classrooms and beyond but also to the ranks of Marine Infantry Officers.  The same competitive spirit that made him a force to be reckoned with on the mat made him a warrior to be feared on the battlefield.  If you knew the more personal side of Brett, you probably appreciated his unconquerable drive and his immeasurable love for his friends.

We've all struggled to make sense of this random act of violence that has robbed us of such a dear person.  Perhaps our only solace is that he is now one of God's Marines serving a much greater purpose, and he is now a guardian angel for the Class of 2003.  From now until our number is called, we must always remember Brett as the best we could hope to be...a classmate, a friend, a brother.  On behalf of Brett's Naval Academy family, I would like to thank the Brigade and the extended Brigade for their prayers and support through this ordeal. 
God Bless, Jonny Hiler

"I want to give a hearty hello to my peeps from 2003.  I just got my SWO qualification behind me so it's smooth sailing for me.  My fellow 03 shipmates on my ship (LHD 7), ENS Shanna Conklin and Elaine Davis are doing great.  They both just completed their 18th SWO module and should get their pin in about 10 months.  I miss everyone and I will always keep USNA close to my heart." Thanks-Brett Cochorane

That¡¦s all for this edition.  Everyone enjoy a safe and relaxing holiday.  We all look forward to more great stories from '03 in the New Year. -Dan.