William H (Bill) Leech Jr

Profile Updated: December 29, 2019
Class Year: 1968
Residing In: Tyrone, GA USA
Spouse/Partner: Candi
Occupation: Retired
Children: Courtney(1985),married to Clayton Marcotte. Kristin(1988),married to Brian Adkins.
Military Service: USAF/USAFR  
Comments:

USAFA '72
UPT,Craig AFB Selma '73
McGuire AFB,Active.'73-'79.C-141.
McGuire AFB.Reserve.'79-'83. C-141.
CHS AFB,Reserve.'83-'93.C-141 Retired-'93.
Eastern Airlines.'79-'89.
United Airlines.'89-'14. Retired-'14.
Currently:Once-a-week volunteer at local VA clinic.Otherwise,annoy my wife on my days off.

School Story:

Similar to Ric,I,too,took two years to get into USAFA and spent two years on academic probation.My graduation "story" is that while I was not last in the Class ('72),I could see him from where I sat.

I am SO glad I made it thru...

William H (Bill)'s Latest Interactions

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Sep 02, 2023 at 4:33 AM
Sep 02, 2022 at 4:33 AM
Sep 02, 2021 at 4:33 AM
Sep 28, 2020 at 3:17 PM

Hi Gregory,

At the risk of boring other classmates who may have seen this,go to my link (Bill Leech '68) and take a look at pictures and a narrative to go with them from a 2019 visit to Millard.

What a ride !

Sep 02, 2020 at 4:33 AM
Jan 01, 2020 at 10:27 AM

Hi David,

Bill Leech,Millard '68.I saw you also listed as a Millard '68. My apologies for not finding you in the photos of my Class,especially since we've all changed over the years. I'm the tall,ugly guy in the very back row of the first picture;the door seam of the two main doors goes right thru the center of my head,if that helps.

Did I miss you in here somewhere or were you,by chance,in the Summer Class of '68 ? Our group went from October '67-March '68.

Thanks for your time,

Bill Leech
(trnsprtpltual@aol.com)

Dec 29, 2019 at 7:53 AM
Dec 28, 2019 at 8:41 AM
Dec 28, 2019 at 8:39 AM
Dec 28, 2019 at 8:29 AM
William H (Bill) Leech Jr added a photo to his profile gallery.
Dec 28, 2019 at 8:28 AM
Dec 27, 2019 at 10:02 AM

Hi everyone,

I just sent a Dec. 27 narrative with pictures that reflect an October 2019 visit to the Millard grounds.

I also have available a very short 360 degree sweep video of the grounds taken during that visit. I am unable to load that video here because of the format requirements. But if anyone wishes to see it,let me know via e-mail (trnsprtpltual@aol.com) and I will forward it to you.

Also,the best current official pictoral is thru Google and the following links:

Google:Lake Bradley Christian Camp
The link:53880 Beach Loop Road-Paradym.

Enjoy,

Bill Leech

Dec 27, 2019 at 9:38 AM

Hi everyone,
I finally made that long-talked about,recently planned trip to our old school grounds,Millard.My wife,Candi,and I were in Oregon for a week (October 14-18),with the purpose of being in Bandon from 15-16 October. I wanted to send y'all a narrative and a few pics that I hope you'll enjoy. And I certainly hope I can do so without boring everyone or being annoying in the process. I say that because,as mentioned before,I appreciate that most folks have left all this behind them and this may be of no interest whatsoever. But it was important to me on many levels to make the trip and to see that the things I remembered vs the things I saw were...well...interesting.
Before I begin,two things:
1. My thanks to Ric Lewallen ( Millard '71) for creating the Millard website that allowed me to make contacts and get this all started.
My thanks for Tom Hauser (Millard '62) for saving the still pictures from his time that reflect how the school continued to look until its sale.
My thanks to my classmate John Laakman (Millard '68) for those three short 35mm films he converted to links so that we would stay forever young.
2. The school grounds,now known as the Lake Bradley Christian Camp,is up for sale. The real estate video/pics preparing the grounds for the market are extraordinary and no pics or narrative I send can do justice to its quality presentation.If you'd like to see,in detail,what the grounds look like now:
Google: Lake Bradley Christian Camp Bandon Oregon
Click link: 53880 Beach Loop Road -Paradym

So...
******************************
My adventure to Millard began in October '67 with a jet plane ride from Alabama to San Francisco,a prop plane ride to Klamath Falls and Coos Bay Oregon,an overnite (I actually found the same hotel) and a Greyhound ride to the school the next day.,Six months later,I did the same thing in reverse.
This time my wife and I flew to Eugene from Atlanta.,driving the beautiful valleys of OR 38W and the forest-lined corridors of US 101S to Bandon. Along the way,about 3 miles N of Bandon,we passed the Bandon Dunes Golf Course,now one of the leading courses in the nation.

From this point on the surprises began:

I had remembered Bandon as a small seaside town of 1200+ people,an undeveloped waterfront and a scattering of neighborhoods and communities,just 7 miles south of which was a dirty-graveled parking lot surrounded by a few buildings known as the Millard Prep School. Between the two...town and school...there was nothing.

Now the town has a fully developed waterfront,based largely on the restoration of the older buildings,and known locally now as "Old Town". It is not only a commercial success,but it has become a magnet for visitors and artists alike. Adding to that is the lure of the Dune Golf Course. More visitors are coming every day and the local population has grown to 3300+.

We stayed at a small but very nice hotel that overlooked the waterfront and had a beautiful view of the inlet that leads into the "Port" of Bandon. From there we explored every inch of Bandon and discovered all manner and size of homes...all over everywhere...from the shore to both sides of US 101S...and...to within a few miles of Millard

On the day of our planned visit to Millard,we first stopped by the Bandon Historical Museum. Though the building is quite small,the museum has managed to keep bits and pieces of every part of Bandon's history,so much so that one could spend hours there and not see it all.And,yes,there "we" were in the corner of one wall: the Millard Canon,a few school patches,a chalice dedicated to Mrs Millard from one of her classes and three albums of collectables from Mrs Millard herself,.one of which was a letter I had written her on her retirement.

At the intersection of US 101S and Beach Loop Road ( where the road to Millard begins) there are now two buildings: a book store and some shop,now boarded up.When we were there there was only that one shop.When "Gene" used to make his weekend bus runs to town,he would drop me off there and I would make collect calls home to my Mom,Dad and brothers. Then I would walk back to school.

Driving Beach Loop Road to the school,we had to go almost to the end just before it parallels the coast. At that point I turned into the grounds and had to think hard about where I was. The buildings were all the same shape and in the same location but between the re-purposing of the school,the landscaping and the high-quality upgrades of the facilities I had to pause to make sure I was in the right place. Now I hope you see why I sent these before-after pics and that link. What a difference !
At this point I was met by my guide,Brenda Rowley,one of the manager/supervisors for the Christian camp. (see first 3 pics with her,my wife and me) She was very gracious with her time and took me all around,allowing me to crawl over every inch of the place...and bore her to tears about our life stories there.The details of the grounds are best shown in that "53880 Paradym" link. The one big difference not shown is that our old classroom in the back has been converted into a magnificent pictured-windowed chapel.
I was there for about two hours. Almost at the very end Brenda invited me,per my earlier request,to have one last cup of coffee in the restaurant/cafeteria. What a nice "gift". I never tired of the view and enjoyed it even mow.:the lake,the surrounding trees and the sand dunes to the Ocean. And I could have sworn I thought I heard my classmates laughter...
Finally,it was time to leave. We bid Brenda a heartfelt thank you and goodbye. She returned to her office in the gym and Candi and I headed to the car. Then this happened:
...it was the quiet calm of the late afternoon and I paused to take one last look. Suddenly a gust of wind blew thru the trees as if to tell me to move on.
I had just been reflecting that the 20-year owners of the place were trying to leave and Mrs Millard herself had walked away almost 40 years earlier.Thinking then about how long ago it had been for us, I had the oddest sense that maybe we had never been here at all.
Amazing,the tricks the mind plays on one sometimes...
*************
Anyway,thank you all for your time...and the memories.
Bill
P.S. Those last two pics are me on the school steps in October of '67,right after I got off the bus...and me again in October of '19. What a difference a day makes !

Sep 02, 2019 at 4:33 AM
William H (Bill) Leech Jr posted a message. New comment added.
Jul 05, 2019 at 3:45 PM

Posted on: Jul 05, 2019 at 12:21 AM

Hi Dan. Bill Leech,Millard '68,too. In your Class photo,I'm the tall ugly guy in back,immediately to Jim Putnam's right.

Having often thought of you guys and the school, I planned a trip,Fall of '19, to at least see the school and city. While searching Google,etc,I stumbled on the Millard website,saw familiar names and started reaching out. I'm already getting feed back (see my profile e-mails) thru both this site and classmates regular e-mails as well.

It's nice to see your history and learn how well things seemed to have turned out. And I'm certainly glad,based on your exchange with John,that Fred Peche is doing okay,too,especially since learning of that IED episode.

I and others really looked up to you and Fred (and Bill Looney...now AF general,ret). Y'all were kinda the class leaders if for no other reason than all of you had been "around",unlike some of us rednecks from Alabama.

Anyway,I hope this stage of your life is going as well.

If time allows,please stay in touch. My e-mail address is: trnsprtpltual@aol.com.

Bill Leech
121 Magnolia Dr
Tyrone,GA 30290
770-487-2821

Jul 04, 2019 at 11:53 PM

John,I tried to send a reply to your recent reply but had my e-mail kicked back twice.Your address is :jlaakman@cox.net,correct ? Anyway,your full note to me is here as well as my most recent response to it.Hope you get it this time. Thanks for your patience.

***********************




John,

Thanks for this,too.

...and I'll keep digging.

Do you remember what the building in between our dorm and the gym was ? It's not too recognizable in the video.

"Gene" does sound familiar. I also remember we (perhaps unfairly now) ragged him endlessly.

BTW,our Math teacher was Ernie Wholab (sp?).

Ah,the memories.

Bill



-----Original Message-----
From: jlaakman
To: William Leech
Sent: Thu, Jul 4, 2019 6:59 pm
Subject: Re: Millard

Bill I think you’re right about the dark house being where our classrooms were and where Mrs. Millard lived. I wish I could remember our bus driver’s name but I am almost positive his first name was Gene because I remember we’d all be yelling “Eat me Gene” during some kind of chant. i’m trying to remember the math teacher’s name and I think it was Mr. Woble or something like that. I’d love to know what looney was trying to explain to them at the beginning of the movie. It looked like Gene and Mr. Woble were unimpressed with whatever he was saying...lol! Yes the gym and the cafeteria were in the same building. When you go there this summer you won’t believe how green everything is and how well-maintained it is compared to when we were there. The dorm building hasn’t changed at all and the rooms are exactly the same. In fact I took some videos of that and I’ll try to find them and send them to you.

Jul 02, 2019 at 11:20 PM

Posted on: Jul 02, 2019 at 9:55 AM

Ric,

I didn't have your regular e-mail address so I went back to this forum for small update:one of my forum messages had my e-mail address wrong ( my fault). It is: trnsprtpltual@aol.com.I just wanted to make sure that if any Millardies saw the picture request,they could send stuff to the right place.Incidentally,one classmate already sent 3 short videos....51 years old. Wow!

Thanks for your time.

Bill Leech

William H (Bill) Leech Jr posted a message. New comment added.
Jul 02, 2019 at 9:02 AM

Posted on: Jun 30, 2019 at 3:10 PM

Planning a Fall 2019 trip to Bandon and the current Christian Camp facility (old Millard).
Would anyone mind any photos (or photos of photos) that can be e-mailed directly to me at my personal e-mail address:trnsprtpltual@aol.com ?

The photos would be any of those taken at Millard...about Millard,the people or places surrounding Millard.It would not matter what Class you were from.

Thank you all for your time.

Bill

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Posted: Dec 28, 2019 at 8:28 AM