Crow

Rogers/Fuller Field (photo courtesy of Bob Richards)

My name is Dannie Mirovich but when I attended Hargrave my last name was Vukmirovich and perhaps known by my fellow cadets as Crow. I so miss the aviation program as I earned my pilots license, and the horses as I miss to this day riding my mare Jeannie.

I will always remember the look on Mr. Hale's face when I showed up at the skeet range with my Browning semi automatic 12 gauge shotgun 30" full choke. He said the barrel was too long and I would be lucky to hit any birds. My first round I hit 22. Oh how I like my 26" now!

Having grown in Lynchburg, VA. I had spent 7 years as a batboy and clubhouse manager for the Minnesota twins and the Chicago White Sox working out with players now in the hall of fame. When arriving at Hargrave in the fall of 1973 a lot of cadets had already made there way onto teams from previous years which left me holding the bag, so to speak, especially since basketball season started before baseball. Needless to say Coach Fuller found very little playing time for me as a basketball player.

I will never forget the start of baseball season when the pitchers and catchers gathered in the old gym to start working out as the rain prevented us from going outside. Coach Fuller and Col. Rogers were both standing above us all on the indoor track when I let go of my side arm fastball that made this echoing popping noise as it hit in "Skip" a PG catcher's mitt. They both leaned over to see who made that pitch. I looked up at Coach Fuller and said, "Hey Coach how are my playing odds next year on the basketball team.

While my playing odds never improved on the basketball courts it was an honor to play both on the B baseball team and on the PG squad my junior and senior year. I will never forget sitting in the mess hall the night of the sports awards with my fellow team mates who had loads of talent as well from our short stop Tim Beam who had the best foot speed and balance of any high school player I have ever seen. Jim Wilkinson a left handed pitcher and first basemen as a sophomore I just knew in time he would land in a Division 1 school as a top player.

When Coach Fuller called my name out as the MVP, I thought to myself, how can this happen! As my fellow cadet Chip James won the MVP award for golf, I said to myself, " Thank goodness he can't hit a baseball ".

Needless to say, over the years the relationship between Coach Fuller, Col. Rogers and I grew stronger and very special. I never knew how the experience at Hargrave would affect the rest of my life as time and mainly distance separated me from my fellow cadets and the academy. To date I have been very fortunate to have been a guest motivational speaker to numerous fortune 500 companies, recieved endorsements from numerous professional baseball players and executives in the American and National League.

As father of 3 girls Rebecca 12, Lacy 11, and Danielle 7 who are all playing every sport and seem to have more talent than I did at that age. But it's the goal-setting and discipline that I have passed onto them from my days at Hargrave that is contributing to their sports, as well as educational success.

However, the true test came August 29, 2005 when Hurricane Katrina ran us out of our home in the New Orleans area. For the past 9 months we have been separated from their mother and all there friends living with my 80-year old mother in Lynchburg, VA in a three bedroom trailer not knowing if or when our lives would ever return to what it once was.

Through it all, we have survived thanks to a lot of prayers and help from our family and friends. As soon as school is over and my 11 and 12 year-old girls softball team has finished there season we are moving to Mt. Pleasant, NC which is located about 12 miles north of Concord, NC.

Dannie Mirovich (Vukmirovich)
danraym@cox.net
Class of '75