In August 2023, members of the Class of 1979 sent a seemingly innocuous letter to the Commandant of the Coast Guard. The letter stated the signatories' support of the Commandant's initiatives in the aftermath of Operation Fouled Anchor. Their letter was printed in the August/September 2023 issue of the Alumni Association magazine The Bulletin. Months later, thanks to the efforts of Michele Fitzpatrick, the Class of 1980 took notice of the letter and the irony of it being written by the class with an unofficial motto of LCWB. The Class of 1980 went through an extensive group effort to write a rejoinder letter to the editor. Click on the links below to follow the saga of revisions, rejections, cease and desist letters and other obstacles from the Class of '79, and ultimately a letter to the editor in the October/November 2024 issue. 

August 2023 Class of 1979 letter that started it all

Class of '80 letter timeline - the whole saga

Version 1 August/September 2024 galley proof on LinkedIn

Version 2 that got rejected by the alumni association board of directors

Email from the alumni association detailing why Version 2 was rejected

Version 3 - submitted in response to the board's rejection of V2

Version 4 - final board of directors edits and approval by the board of directors