CLASS COnnections

A Class Response to a Mother’s Request
By Commander W. Britt Watwood ’72, USN (Ret.)

In early 1971, just before finals, I got a newsy letter from my mother, Barbara Watwood, in Georgia. She previously requested I send her some info on the Naval Academy for Greg Zaworski. Greg was a 14-year-old who was the son of a friend. She explained that her friend’s son had one aim in life: attending the Naval Academy.

Greg was an all-state football player from Morrow, GA, and an all-around good kid. Unfortunately, in that February letter, she shared the tragic news that Greg was diagnosed with an aggressive bone cancer. The disease was so aggressive the doctors reluctantly amputated one leg and did not hold out very much hope for his future. She also shared one of the biggest letdowns he experienced with the amputation was the way it dashed his hopes for coming to Annapolis.

She asked if my company could find any way to “adopt” him or do anything else, as he was crazy about the Academy. Joe Glover, an 8th Company mate, was our class president. Joe and I tossed around ideas with other classmates and came up with the idea of inviting Greg and his family to spend a weekend at the Academy as a guest of the Class of 1972.
Everyone in “Skate Eight” was excited about setting this in motion. We contacted then-Brigade Commander Mike Hecomovich ’71 and with permission from then-Commandant Robert Coogan ’44’s staff, within a few weeks, an invitation was sent to Greg and his family in Georgia.

Greg wrote back happily accepting, noting “Don’t worry about making special plans for me … Since losing my leg, I have been dancing, playing basketball and chasing girls, all on crutches … .” His father, Tom, in a separate letter, detailed that he and Greg’s younger brother, Chris, would accompany Greg for a weekend stay in mid-April 1971. Tom noted, “What you young men are doing for Greg is really wonderful. As parents, the future looks very bleak to us and this gesture by all your friends to Greg will be cherished and remembered by the entire family.”

Greg, along with his father and brother, flew into Baltimore, MD, on 16 April. The two boys stayed in my room in the fifth wing of Bancroft Hall for the weekend. During a whirlwind weekend, they attended their first lacrosse game, watched Navy beat Army in rugby, ate meals with 8th Company and the football team (one of the high points to Greg) and attended a band concert and chapel services. During the evening meal, it was announced Greg had been made an honorary member of both the Class of 1972 and 8th Company.

We were all impressed with this young man and commented on how he would have been a stellar member of the Brigade. Greg noted in a letter after the visit that he “really had a blast” and that eating with the mids was a lot more fun than eating with the officers! UPI published a photo of Greg on crutches in his USNA 1972 jacket silhouetted in the entrance to Bancroft Hall looking out at noon meal formation. The story ran in hundreds of papers around the nation.

Tom Zaworski sent Commandant Robert P. Coogan ’44. USN, a thank you letter later that month, noting the visit “… will probably be the most memorable experience that Greg will ever have … I was so favorably impressed by the young men at the Academy. My faith in the young people of this great nation was restored as I viewed the Brigade and saw the leaders of tomorrow.”

The following Christmas break, my fiancé, Linda Moreland, and I visited the Zaworskis. The three days in April were still a high point for Greg and his entire family. Unfortunately, that was the last time I saw Greg. His cancer metastasized into his lungs and bones right after Christmas, and he passed in 1973 while I was on my first deployment.

Bob Hanby, a Blue and Gold officer from the Class of 1948, attended the funeral and proudly noted the family included “honorary member of the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1972” in Greg’s obituary.

Our 50th reunion has come and gone, but we should not forget a young boy from Morrow, GA, who was also a link in the chain—for one weekend—a classmate in a place he truly loved, thanks to a request from a midshipman’s mother.