WWII Fighter Pilot, Shot Down Over Germany, Will Get New POW Medal

Irvine resident Clair E. Buskirk, who was shot down and captured in Germany during World War II, will receive the new Prisoner of War Medal during a special ceremony Saturday at a reunion of the 55th Fighter Group/442nd Air Service Group at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha.

The fighter pilot was on his second tour of duty when his P-51 Mustang fighter plane was shot down over Germany while providing escort for B-17 and B-24 bombers. He earlier had flown the twin-engine P-38 Lightning fighter plane.

The new medal recently was created by Congress and will be given to anyone who was a prisoner during World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam wars. About 142,000 servicemen qualify for the medal.

Rancho Santiago College telecommunications instructor Terry Bales will receive a special medallion to recognize his teaching excellence at the 11th annual International Conference on Teaching Excellence May 21 in Austin, Tex. The event is coordinated by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development of the University of Texas.

Pomona College senior Robert Koepp of Huntington Beach has been awarded an $18,000 fellowship from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation of Rhode Island for a year of independent study and travel abroad after graduation.

He will study calligraphy traditions and developments in China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.

Stanley Bors, Seymour Litwin, Miriam Zolten, Doris B. Miller, Hyman Weiser, Ruth Mervis, Albert Holtz, Ruth Watnick, Mary Gartenberg, Harry Mages, Joseph Dienstfrey, Maryann Feingold, Mary Kauffman and Lisbet Kahn were honored by the Leisure World Laguna Hills Region of the Jewish Federation for their work as volunteers.

Laguna Beach resident Ed Sauls, a co-founder of the UC Irvine and UC Riverside light construction and development- management program, has been presented the Case Bradford Memorial Award by the Home Builders Council for superior service and dedication to the council.

In 1981, Sauls recognized the need in Orange County for college-level instruction in real estate and development. The UCI program has since gained national recognition for its curriculum.

Sauls, a land-acquisition director, is a graduate of Cal State Fullerton with a degree in finance and real estate, and he holds general contractor and real estate broker licenses.

A drawing by first-grader Amanda Rayback of Huntington Beach titled “Summer Vacation” was printed in “Highlights for Children,” a national magazine with a circulation of 2.5 million. She is the daughter of Kathy and Terrence Rayback.

Nineteen students in Lynn Harding’s Latin class at Marina High School in Huntington Beach were award winners in the recent National Latin Exam that included Roman history, mythology, Roman prose and poetry, vocabulary, grammar and abbreviations.

Silver medal winners were Seungtaek Choi, Sandra Au, Christine Whaling, Larissa Ng, Jeff Risher and Erin Palmer. Certificate winners were Loan Vu, Joan Greve, Di Tran, Ronald Mallory, Sarah Stauffer, Thu Pham, Esther Lee, William Kahng, Marianne Mata, Miya Suzuki, Steven Ray, Keith Toda and Naomi Calick.

“They took the test on their own only for the joy of the challenge,” Harding wrote. “I think that’s neat.”

Chris Jarvi, director of the Anaheim Park, Recreation and Community Service Department, has been named president of the 3,500-member California Parks and Recreation Society.

Jarvi, director of the Anaheim department since 1982, oversees the activities of the city’s 27 parks, nine public swimming pools, four community recreation buildings, two senior citizen centers and an outdoor theater.

The nonprofit professional society is concerned with filling the recreation needs of communities, improving recreational opportunities in California by promoting community support for parks and recreation, and developing an awareness of the necessity of recreation.

Pat Halberstadt, director of the Garden Grove Girls Club, has been named Citizen of the Year by Garden Grove Elks Lodge No. 1952 “in recognition of her dedication to Garden Grove children and the community.”