A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Although I have spent the last 8 years living and working in Saudi Arabia, I did hear about the sad news a few weeks after Jay (Jay R. Beasley) died. Of course, I was very sad as we all were. Since then, I have thought about Jay often. Today as I was browsing the Net, I happened upon this great tribute to Jay. Thanks for your effort. I always considered Jay a close friend and I believe he felt the same about me. I first flew with Jay in 1966 in the P2V while serving with VP-24 in Norfolk, Virginia. After that, I never missed a chance to fly with him and I learned something new every time I did. I am not sure, but I must have flown with him more than 30 times in all. We flew P-3 A's, B's, C's and updates as well as a flight from Burbank to NAS Corpus Christi, Texas and back in a T-44 when I was the CO of VT-31 and he was our dinning-in guest speaker. He never ceased to amaze me with his inate understanding of how to fly an airplane. He was always so confortable and made the whole thing an easy natural experience. Jay had some unique tallents other than his flying skills. I have never met anyone (except maybe Admiral Andy Wilkinson) who could remember peoples names the way Jay could. He not only remembered their names but could tell you when he flew with them and what kind of pilot they were. As a VP-30 instructor, AIRLANT P-3 NATOPS evaluator, and Patrol Wings Atlantic Safety NATOPS Officer, I would be hard pressed to remember even half of the flights I flew. However, I do remember most of the ones that I flew with Jay. Another tallent that Jay had was his ability to tell great stories. He usually told these at the O club bar where he often demonstrated another talent, his ability to drink a significant number of vodka martinis with no apparent effect. By the way, he preferred them with an olive stirred twenty-six times clockwise. Jay was a great friend who has gone but by no means been forgotten. This outstanding Web site will remain a tribute to Jay and provide us all with many good memories of our time with him. Thanks again..." Contributed by CAPT Rick Magalis, USN(Ret) rmagalis@aol.com [30DEC98]

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