Your memories are correct. John started Total Fitness Institute and ran it from his ranch in North Fork, CA (although we also went camping in the mountains.) It was designed to be akin to Outward Bound. I went through the training in 1976, and found most of it to be a very positive experience (although frankly, I did not enjoy listening to the PFAL class AGAIN even if it was in the great outdoors.) I believe that John and VPW did not agree on some things and VPW refused to send the Corp there, and I think that John was depending on that money. Not that John was perfect either. (One of the program assistants was a womanizer and John wanted to fire him at one point when he found out because a member of the Corp complained about what this guy did to her Corp sister. John's wife, Mary, interceded and the guy stayed a while longer -- which I can tell you from personal experience, was unfortunate. On the other hand, when you put together a bunch of young men and young women, things are going to happen. What is important is how you deal with the situation.) But, overall, it was a good program and it is unfortunate that it did not continue.
John also ran some Bible Land Tours in which I also participated and found them to be a great experience.
I find it pretty remarkable how many "golden boys" of TWI fell out of favor and sort of slid into the background. Walter, Del Duncan, David A, John S, and others at the top, and any number of promising corps grads that found themselves stuck working Food Services at the ROA.
Anyway, a web search seems to show that John S. sells security equipment and occasionally does an AM radio show. It's a strange world.
Does anybody have more information on why Lead got the corps training and TFI didn't?
There was some discussion a short time ago (within the last few months) regarding John's relationship with VPW. I think it might be in the LEAD accident thread.
I hope John is doing well. I tried goggling a few months ago and didn't turn up anything so I'm glad you let us know what he is doing. I would think that he is retired now from the military.
I just found an article that John wrote recently for the Fresno newspapers (and there is some information about John at the bottom.) The link is http://www.fresnobee.com/283/story/489468.html. If that doesn't work, I found it googling John T. Somerville.
hi all!.........the biggest "surprise" to me, vermontlaw, regarding john's short "editorial" in the fresno bee ,was that, he is listed as being a "staff member" of john hagee ministries!.........i lived in san antonio, tx, for 3 years, and that was sufficiently long enough for me to acquire a severe distaste for all things pertaining to john hagee and his "ministries"..........he is rabidly pro-israel...........maybe he has john s. do tours of israel for him?.........john really does great tours and, is very well connected over in israel............nevertheless, if john is a staff member for hagee, then i'm as disappointed in john s. as he is in george dubya!...........
but, i will always respect john s., because he was always forthright and honest with me, and he stood up for what he believed...........right or wrong...........and, he never let vic bully him into submission, no matter how hard vic tried to "tame" him and "put him in his place".......resorting even to attempting to "prophesy" john's son luke into the 3rd presidency of twi, as well as bringing whatever familial pressure to bear upon john and mary, imho...........it's sad to me, that such great ability and talent is now given to john hagee minitries..........although the venue and "christian professionalism" is far bigger than anything vic had to offer, not to mention the oblivion that rosie and the twi of today might have to offer!..............too bad, 'cuz john s. is a really good guy, imho!............................................peace.
I don't know if John still does the Bible Lands tours -- I went way back in the early 1980's. If he still is I am certain that they are good. Even when I went he knew about places and people who were off the beaten path. And I respect how he stood up to VPW.
But I have to admit that I find his support for John Hagee Ministries extremely distasteful. I am very supportive of Israel and find it infuriating how the Middle East situation is portrayed in the media. But John Hagee is off the wall.
I attended a number of events at North Fork in 1972-75 when John was starting Total Fitness Institute. As I remember, John was the first national coordinator of the College Outreach program which later became the College WOW Ambassador program. We had a few 'weekends in the Word' when after he purchased the property and moved in with his family. We camped out around the home in the beginning weekends and hiked out to other locations as John became familiar with the area. We also helped cleanup the land, chop firewood and other outdoor tasks. There were a few occasions where John would call believers a few days prior and invite them for a weekend fellowship. We would drive to North Fork after school on Friday and be their Friday night for dinner where John, Mary and the family would greet us. One memorable session was in the Winter during a long weekend. We backpacked on nordic skis into Sequoia National Park and camped in the redwood glens for two nights on about 10 feet of snow pack. It was a quite a humbling experience to be among the giant Sequoias on a clear winter night and sharing around a campfire. We woke up one morning with fresh powder covering our tents from a brief snow storm. John would teach from the Bible, explain the constellations under the bright stars, teach Old Testament history, or share some of his Vietnam experiences. Overall, TFI sessions were enjoyable, adventuresome, challenging and invigorating learning experiences. I recall there were separate TFI sessions for the 1st thru 5th Corps during those years. They hitchhiked or took bus transportation from OH to CA for their sessions. I recalled receiving a phone call from a fellow Californian at HDQ to pickup two 5th Corps sisters who just arrived at a Berkeley IHOP at 6am on their way to North Fork. The had never been to the area so a friend and I gave them an 18-hour accelerated tour of the SF Bay Area from the Berkeley, to the City, to Mt Tam-Muir Woods, Mill Valley and Sausalito before placing them on a bus to Fresno. Another College WOW was a MBA student and his thesis was developing a marketing program for TFI addressed to business corporations and churches as a leadership motivational vehicle based on the Bible. I think that was John's concept for TFI. At the time, he was still in the reserves and traveled to D.C. He rarely talked about this current military service but it seemed to involve consulting or strategic planning regarding the Middle East which was getting a lot of attention during the 70s. Regarding the LEAD vs. TFI angle. I remember Dr mentioned acquiring a location in CA, but I think the property in Tinnie, NM was a gift from a believer to the ministry and the location became ideal because it was nearer to CO, KS, IN and OH than CA. I think including John's military obligations made the establishment of LEAD in NM a feasible choice.
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socks
Lots. Northfork, CA. outside of Fresno. Think he's still there.
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vermontlaw
Your memories are correct. John started Total Fitness Institute and ran it from his ranch in North Fork, CA (although we also went camping in the mountains.) It was designed to be akin to Outward Bound. I went through the training in 1976, and found most of it to be a very positive experience (although frankly, I did not enjoy listening to the PFAL class AGAIN even if it was in the great outdoors.) I believe that John and VPW did not agree on some things and VPW refused to send the Corp there, and I think that John was depending on that money. Not that John was perfect either. (One of the program assistants was a womanizer and John wanted to fire him at one point when he found out because a member of the Corp complained about what this guy did to her Corp sister. John's wife, Mary, interceded and the guy stayed a while longer -- which I can tell you from personal experience, was unfortunate. On the other hand, when you put together a bunch of young men and young women, things are going to happen. What is important is how you deal with the situation.) But, overall, it was a good program and it is unfortunate that it did not continue.
John also ran some Bible Land Tours in which I also participated and found them to be a great experience.
Diane
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Jim
I find it pretty remarkable how many "golden boys" of TWI fell out of favor and sort of slid into the background. Walter, Del Duncan, David A, John S, and others at the top, and any number of promising corps grads that found themselves stuck working Food Services at the ROA.
Anyway, a web search seems to show that John S. sells security equipment and occasionally does an AM radio show. It's a strange world.
Does anybody have more information on why Lead got the corps training and TFI didn't?
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vermontlaw
Jim,
There was some discussion a short time ago (within the last few months) regarding John's relationship with VPW. I think it might be in the LEAD accident thread.
I hope John is doing well. I tried goggling a few months ago and didn't turn up anything so I'm glad you let us know what he is doing. I would think that he is retired now from the military.
Diane
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vermontlaw
Jim,
I just found an article that John wrote recently for the Fresno newspapers (and there is some information about John at the bottom.) The link is http://www.fresnobee.com/283/story/489468.html. If that doesn't work, I found it googling John T. Somerville.
Some of the views surprised me -- some did not.
Diane
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hiway29
I'll make a point of staying off the George W. Bush Highway.
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DontWorryBeHappy
hi all!.........the biggest "surprise" to me, vermontlaw, regarding john's short "editorial" in the fresno bee ,was that, he is listed as being a "staff member" of john hagee ministries!.........i lived in san antonio, tx, for 3 years, and that was sufficiently long enough for me to acquire a severe distaste for all things pertaining to john hagee and his "ministries"..........he is rabidly pro-israel...........maybe he has john s. do tours of israel for him?.........john really does great tours and, is very well connected over in israel............nevertheless, if john is a staff member for hagee, then i'm as disappointed in john s. as he is in george dubya!...........
but, i will always respect john s., because he was always forthright and honest with me, and he stood up for what he believed...........right or wrong...........and, he never let vic bully him into submission, no matter how hard vic tried to "tame" him and "put him in his place".......resorting even to attempting to "prophesy" john's son luke into the 3rd presidency of twi, as well as bringing whatever familial pressure to bear upon john and mary, imho...........it's sad to me, that such great ability and talent is now given to john hagee minitries..........although the venue and "christian professionalism" is far bigger than anything vic had to offer, not to mention the oblivion that rosie and the twi of today might have to offer!..............too bad, 'cuz john s. is a really good guy, imho!............................................peace.
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vermontlaw
I don't know if John still does the Bible Lands tours -- I went way back in the early 1980's. If he still is I am certain that they are good. Even when I went he knew about places and people who were off the beaten path. And I respect how he stood up to VPW.
But I have to admit that I find his support for John Hagee Ministries extremely distasteful. I am very supportive of Israel and find it infuriating how the Middle East situation is portrayed in the media. But John Hagee is off the wall.
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So_Cal1
I attended a number of events at North Fork in 1972-75 when John was starting Total Fitness Institute. As I remember, John was the first national coordinator of the College Outreach program which later became the College WOW Ambassador program. We had a few 'weekends in the Word' when after he purchased the property and moved in with his family. We camped out around the home in the beginning weekends and hiked out to other locations as John became familiar with the area. We also helped cleanup the land, chop firewood and other outdoor tasks. There were a few occasions where John would call believers a few days prior and invite them for a weekend fellowship. We would drive to North Fork after school on Friday and be their Friday night for dinner where John, Mary and the family would greet us. One memorable session was in the Winter during a long weekend. We backpacked on nordic skis into Sequoia National Park and camped in the redwood glens for two nights on about 10 feet of snow pack. It was a quite a humbling experience to be among the giant Sequoias on a clear winter night and sharing around a campfire. We woke up one morning with fresh powder covering our tents from a brief snow storm. John would teach from the Bible, explain the constellations under the bright stars, teach Old Testament history, or share some of his Vietnam experiences. Overall, TFI sessions were enjoyable, adventuresome, challenging and invigorating learning experiences. I recall there were separate TFI sessions for the 1st thru 5th Corps during those years. They hitchhiked or took bus transportation from OH to CA for their sessions. I recalled receiving a phone call from a fellow Californian at HDQ to pickup two 5th Corps sisters who just arrived at a Berkeley IHOP at 6am on their way to North Fork. The had never been to the area so a friend and I gave them an 18-hour accelerated tour of the SF Bay Area from the Berkeley, to the City, to Mt Tam-Muir Woods, Mill Valley and Sausalito before placing them on a bus to Fresno. Another College WOW was a MBA student and his thesis was developing a marketing program for TFI addressed to business corporations and churches as a leadership motivational vehicle based on the Bible. I think that was John's concept for TFI. At the time, he was still in the reserves and traveled to D.C. He rarely talked about this current military service but it seemed to involve consulting or strategic planning regarding the Middle East which was getting a lot of attention during the 70s. Regarding the LEAD vs. TFI angle. I remember Dr mentioned acquiring a location in CA, but I think the property in Tinnie, NM was a gift from a believer to the ministry and the location became ideal because it was nearer to CO, KS, IN and OH than CA. I think including John's military obligations made the establishment of LEAD in NM a feasible choice.
That is my 2 cents.
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