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Mike Julian
As the Class of ‘63 has scheduled another reunion, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Joe Como and Sandy Jurechka for letting me out of my wall locker. Lee Potts stuffed me into my wall locker on multiple occasions. Sandy came to school on the last bus to arrive and let me out more than once. I never did find out who grabbed me from behind and threw me off the Peoria Avenue Bridge into the Rock River. These and other messages I received from students and teachers over my four years at DHS conveyed that I was somehow a burden. I now live just a few miles from Bob O’Conner. I’ve contacted him but he has no time for a meet. So, the question becomes what after all this time would coming to a reunion gain for me or the survivors of the class?
I would like to thank Miss Christine Bessmer (Latin) for her message to my mother that I would never graduate HS-that I would never make it on my own. In 1987, I finished a Masters’ Degree in Strategic Intelligence at the Defense Intelligence College (now the JMIC). I set the school record for academic achievement and my thesis was one of two published from a class of 79.
I would also like to thank the Draft Board for allowing me to serve during the Vietnam era. After almost ten years in the Army on active duty and two years in the Army Reserves, I switched to the Navy Reserves an finished another ten years of service. Along the way, I served in the Defense Intelligence Agency, the CIA, as a Defense contractor, had my own construction company, repaired projectors, was an automotive overhaul mechanic and a real estate agent. I had fun every day.
Physically, I’m no longer four and a half feet tall and 65 pounds. No one beats on me anymore. Since the Army came into my life, no one ever told me that I would fail. What I learned, I taught to others. My time was spent helping people as much as I could, standing under the Flag, serving and protecting the country in very unusual ways. I never expected to have those privileges. The greatest gifts were wife and family.
The class of ’63 contributed foundations for social skills. I got beaten, tripped, pushed down stairs—scarcely a day went by that someone didn’t knock my books out of my arms. Y’all were great. If I ever got a tattoo, it would be the Golden Rule. I wish to thank Dick Smith and Larry Hagan for their personal efforts to invite me to previous reunions. Thank you.
My membership on the class website is much appreciated, but I do wonder if this message will be allowed. Please enjoy the gifts God gave you.
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