Andrew Van Sant

No

After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1969, served 6.5 years of active duty as a surface line officer. From 1976 - 1994 worked as an engineer for various defense contractors in Maryland and northern Virginia. From September 1994 to 1 September 2012, worked as an engineer for the Department of Defense. Now retired (Naval Reserves and Civil Service). If you are not retired, I recommend that you do so as soon as possible.

In May, 2011, I noticed that the wrestling team has apparently gone coed. Glad that was not allowed in the 60s. Would have never joined the team if it was. (Should probably change the name to "Joe's Secular Academy.") Recently heard of a young man who refused to wrestle a female opponent. Good for him. But he should never have been put in that situation. (What is with the "Spouse/Partner" category?)

My wife, younger daughter, and I recently returned from a trip (May 2014) to Peoria, Illinois, Le Claire, Iowa, and Kenosha. I recently discovered that I had a relative I did not know about. My Grandfather, George Van Sant, was married twice. After his first wife died, he married my Grandmother. I went to see George's Great Grandson, Bill, from George's first marriage. Bill and his wife Sue, along with my cousin Patricia, who I had not seen in years, showed us around Peoria, where my father was born, and then took us to Le Claire, IA, where my Great, Great Grandfather John Wesley Van Sant was a boat builder and river pilot on the upper Mississippi River. JW and one of his sons, Sam, developed and built the first river boat with enough power to push rafts of logs to the saw mills located on the river. Sam later was elected to two terms as Governor of Minnesota and was also Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. Another of JW's sons, was Elias, my Grandfather. Elias was known as the "great and good Van" in Peoria.

With the help of the Van Zandt Society, I have traced my lineage back to Christofel Harmenzen, who came to New Amsterdam (Brooklyn. NY) in 1651. Christofel was killed by Indians in the Peach War in 1655, but his son Garret, who first adopted the name Van Sand when he and some of his sons bought land in Bucks County, PA, had eleven children and is responsible for about 60 percent of the "Van Sants" (or variations like Van Zandt, Van Sand, etc) in the United States.

Betty and I celebrated our 45th anniversary on 6 June 2014 and attended my 45th reunion at the Naval Academy in November 2014. (I consider my marriage to be my only true success in my life.) (JW and his wife lived into their 90s and were married over 70 years.)

The funniest incident happened during Sophomore religion class when one of the larger members of the Class of 1965 fell asleep and was suddenly awakened by the tall, slim Jesuit who was teaching the class. You had to be there. If you were, you should be in stitches as you read this. As you will recall, no one laughed when the incident happened. That was the funniest part; well, almost the funniest part. John, struggling to get out of his desk, which was tipped over sideways on the floor, was the funniest part.