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Lew Jennings
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Email address: lewjennings@yahoo.com
Birthdate: 7-11-46
Family
Married? yes Married years? 13 Married times?
Children:
Personal/family website?
Job
Company:
Career/Job Title: Army Officer, Airline Pilot, Technical Writer/Trainer, Resort Operator
No job: retired
Company website: http://www.mantarayhouse.com
http://www.pvgolfvilla.com
Hobbies: Flying, Sailing, Golf, Aircraft Restoration
Community: La Cruz Friendship Club (sponsor a village in Mexico), Starter - Banderas Bay International Regatta, Publisher - Banderas Bay/Puerto Vallarta Cruisers Guide for visiting boaters to the region
How are you the same as you were at CHS? I can't remember that far back without help from friends
How are you different? Older and hopefully more mature, more conservative (cynical?), more understanding yet less tolerant
What is your proudest accomplishment? 20 years of service to the country
Where do you live? in the country
Parents: Father: deceased, Mother: deceased
What have you been up to for the last 45 years?
Virginia Atkins and I were married right out of high school and settled in Santa Cruz. Our son Michael Dennis (named after classmates Mike Thomas and Dennis Johnson) was born there in 1965 and became a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur (Oracle applications expert). He and his wife Corinne and our wonderful grand children, Eric and Brooke, still reside in that beautiful community over the hill.
Sadly, Virginia and I divorced in 1967 although we have remained close friends.
I went into the Army that year as an infantry private, qualified for flight school and graduated top of my class as a warrant officer (they needed a lot of helo pilots back then), flew 726 combat missions in Vietnam, awarded over 50 decorations including three Distinguished Flying Crosses, received a battlefield commission, commanded Infantry troop units at Fort Ord and Air Cavalry units overseas, completed college with a BS in Aeronautics, attended the Department of Defense Information School (journalism) followed by three years of duty as an Army spokesperson, newspaper publisher, speech writer and television producer, assigned to a 'think tank' to choose the Army's future scout helicopter and wrote and published articles, books and manuals on army aviation combat organization and tactics, assigned with the Navy for 2 years of sea duty as a liason officer and fleet helicopter operations and search and rescue coordinator with the Third and Seventh Fleets follwed by 2 years of shore duty with the Marine Corps as an amphibious combat operations instructor at their Landing Force Training Command, Coronado (San Diego) where I retired from active duty in 1987.
The following year, fullfilled a life-long dream becoming a commercial airline pilot flying Metroliner commuters for American Eagle out of San Francisco and later DC-10 jumbo jets for World Airways and Malaysia Airlines out of Kuala Lumpur.
Met my lovely wife Anneke on my return from Malaysia (we were fixed up on a blind date by friends in San Diego). We set up a training and education business in Seattle and later moved aboard our sailing Ketch, the Unicorn, our home for over 9 years (2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 fireplaces!) which we sailed on many wonderous adventures from Canada to southern Mexico and also did boat deliveries from the Virgin Islands to the Chesapeake on the east coast in between our company education and training projects.
We finally settled in beautiful Banderas Bay (Bay of Flags) near Puerto Vallarta Mexico in the quaint seaside fishing village of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle where we built and operated a lovely bed and breakfast oceanfront resort (Casa Mantaraya or The Mantaray House) for several years.
At this writing (9-04) we've retired once again, sold our bed and breakfast, finished remodeling an older golf course home just north of Puerto Vallarta, and now I spend my time golfing, sailing, publishing a local boating and visitors guide for charity, working for community organizations and traveling north to visit family and friends when it gets too hot and wet down here in late summer.
I have truly been blessed. -Lew
Angel Flight 300 Project – Lew Jennings
Warm regards to all my CHS ’64 Classmates. And my sincere thanks to so many of you who supported my disaster relief and Angel Flight efforts in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Because of you and many others from across the country who volunteered their support, our little one-man, one-airplane airline was able to transport 38,935 pounds of cargo, people and baggage over 23,296 nautical miles in six-weeks of continuous flight operations.
My teenage granddaughter Brooke, who lives in Santa Cruz, recently asked me to write to her and describe what I saw, who I met and how the whole experience change my life. I would like to share my response with you.
“I saw so much its hard to describe. You have seen the pictures. You have witnessed the awesome destruction and havoc created by these two natural disasters coupled with the aftermath of the flooding of New Orleans. It is estimated over 500,000 people were displaced from their homes, their jobs, their schools, their lives forever changed. We as a country will be dealing with the aftermath of these disasters for many years - maybe a lifetime.
What I remember most are the people I met and the joy I felt through helping them. People in tremendous pain, in terrible circumstances, in many cases afflicted with debilitating medical conditions - some that would not recover - yet all deeply thankful that someone would come to their aid and expressed their gratitude over and over again.
And all the people that helped me. Those that sent me money to help pay the operating expenses of the airplane, provided me a meal or a place to sleep, assisted me with transporting an ill patient, helped me load and unload, hangared, repaired and maintained the airplane or sent me e-mails, cards and letters of encouragement. The people we were able to help and those that assisted me in making the dream a reality are the memories I cherish.
This project changed my life and those of so many others. It taught me once again that one person CAN make a difference and that ANYTHING is possible if you have the desire, passion, courage and perseverance to see it through. And when others see your vision, believe in you and what you are trying to do, they lend their support to make it happen.
As an aside, here's some personal advice from Grandpa Lew: In life, always take the high road, always try to do the right thing, and always be ready to extend a helping hand to those in need regardless of race, religion, culture or nationality.”
The Angel Flight 300 project provided the most satisfaction I have had in my flying career since saving lives so long ago as a young and immortal helicopter pilot in Viet Nam.
Thanks again to my CHS classmates and I hope we get a chance to see one another again soon. May God Bless and Keep You. -Lew