Reflections of a Viet Nam Veteran
Warren "Weird Wendell" Welch
Going on a panty raid to CWC with Dan Mullins and Gerry Trione in 1963.
Gerry got caught and put in jail for trespassing and was bitching us out
because he now had a criminal record.
Burning
newspapers in protest at the corner of Evans and University in 1964
because DU was raising the tuition from $300 to $600 a quarter.
We
pledges spiking the beer keg with Everclear in 1963 and most of the
brothers dates get sick at the party in the basement much to the pledges
detriment when the brothers learned of our deed.
In 63 or
64 we had a party at a penthouse on the top floor of an apartment
building that was about 10 stories tall. When the party was coming to an
end and the keg was empty, Clifford and Mintz decided that it would be
great fun to throw the keg over the side. It was all great fun as it
went over the edge, but I think we all suddenly had second thoughts as
it was on its way. I think that Theta Chi’s karma was with us that night
because nobody walked under the keg and it narrowly missed several
vehicles as it bounced across the parking lot
Getting
kidnapped by Tim McCaughey and the pledge class in 1964. They took me to
this cabin on an old mining claim in the mountains in hand cuffs. Little
did they know that I had a set of cuff keys in my pocket. When they let
me out of the car, sans hand cuffs, I ran off and soon lost them in the
dark. Now the bad news: I didn’t have a clue as to where I was, it was
about 30 degrees, and I had no coat. I hid in a clump of trees and
listened to them frantically search for me, but I eventually got so cold
I had to go turn myself in. The rest of my Fraternity brothers (McCurdy,
Trione, Mintz, Clifford, Trumpy, etc.) didn’t ever come close to finding
me and make the pledges pay for their dastardly deed.
Doing 90
miles per hour on Evans Boulevard, parking the Lotus in the alley by Tim
McCaughey’s apartment, and having a police car pull in behind me and
tell me I better slow that damn thing down.
Mike
Bacon building a harpiscord or some such musical instrument. MIke could
make music with anything.
Drag
racing on I-25: McCaughey’s Sunbeam Tiger against Wolper’s Dodge. I was
pretty tanked up and was following in my Lotus. After it was over I
punched the Lotus and screamed off towards Colorado Springs at 120 miles
per hour. Felitti and Wolper finally caught up with me and said the
Lotus was streaming flames from the tail pipe. I looked at my dash and
saw that I had forgotten to push the manual choke back in and was
dumping raw fuel through the engine.
Letting
Chris Reade borrow my Lotus for a date and having him bring it back with
no oil in the crankcase
Being
told to leave the Alpha Chi Omega sisters alone.
JJ
making me prove I wasn’t a narc under the back stairs of the house.
Al Moll
giving me a tour of the big anti-war protest camp out on the lawn at DU.
My
getting drunk on Ripple and roommate John Crystal letting me go to sleep
on the top bunk (big mistake John).
Watching
the astronauts land on the moon in 1969 at Tim McCaughey’s apartment.
Bill
Felliti talking me into moving into the house so I could take over as
Treasurer.
Having
to listen to Joe Politi’s alarm ring for hours at a time.
John
Crystal shooting off his 357 Magnum with a blank to quiet down the party
going on down the hall in the house.
Watching
Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin from the nose
bleed section of the stadium with Rich Bergner.
Tubing
in the stream that runs along route 6 just before it goes over a 20 foot
drop off.
My wedding reception in the house in 1971 with Randy Tuttle as my best
man and Kevin Moylan the bartender. Sumner Rollings and his girlfriend
did the catering that I paid for with the last $600 that I had in my Sky
Chef’s Credit Union account. An open bar in the house with all the booze
provided by my wife’s dad. A good time was had by all.
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Warren's wedding reception at the
Theta Chi House in 1971.
Randy, Bonnie, Warren, and Kris