Associate Magazine FBINAA Q2-2023

Continued from "The Historian's Spotlight", on page 23

trol Cars". It was a pretty good paper and subsequently published in a couple of law enforcement magazines. My second paper, which was a topic known only by and kept "secret" among four or five of us who lived at the Stafford or Stratford Hotel. "The 65th Ses sion's Top Ten." We would see pretty girls in DOJ's cafeteria as we stopped for our daily breakfast. "Let's pick the top ten, then num ber one and present her with a special invite to attend our gradua tion". We advised our counselors of the "paper." SA Ross shook his head. "What if Mr. Hoover finds out about it?" SA Irwin also shook his head, but it was in approval. We were not able to ID all of those selected but with a little inside help did ID No. 1. I presented her with an envelope one morning at breakfast. It contained the invite but I don't know if she attended our graduation. I have to believe that Mr. Hoover, surprisingly, did not hear about my second paper. SA's Ross and Irwin were not reassigned to Alaska. I joined the Connecticut Chapter soon after returning from the Academy. I served as President for two terms and then Secretary/ Treasurer for eighteen or so years, submitting Chapter Chat during that period of time. I was fortunate to make many trips back to Quantico for President/Secretary/Treasurer meetings. I always enjoyed being in the presence of Tom Colombell and Billy Gibson. In 2017, I attended the Chapter's Executive Board's Planning Meeting as the Chapter's oldest member and the lowest Session graduate. I continue to stay in contact with a fellow classmate, Dave Bentley.” I checked the Graduate and Member Directory and deter mined that all of the recorded members of the 65th Session are either designated as Inactive (meaning they have not paid their dues) or Deceased (self-explanatory) with the exception of Pat and his sessionmate Dave Bentley from Little Rock, Arkansas. I

Enjoying one of the secrets to his longevity: Black Russian.

contacted Dave about their long-term friendship and he admit ted to being a spry 92 years old. He reported to me, “Because of ’life itself‘ I lost contact with all my class members. About 10 years ago I reconnected with Pat Carroll. In our frequent conver sations, we manage to solve the problems of the world.” Dave has also had an impressive and active life since graduating from the NA. Before retiring in 1977 and going into the Evangelistic Ministry, he rose to the rank of Assistant Chief of Police in Little Rock and the Police Chief in Camden, Ark. He is the founder and president of David Bentley and the Believers Ministry. In that capacity he and his wife traveled to North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. In 1970, he started a Police Prayer Breakfast and intends to re-start the program in the near future. When I spoke with Pat in order to prepare his story, he was a bit frustrated about his increasing lack of mobility and especially the restrictions he had to live under during COVID. He has not been able to attend chapter events in several years although he does make sure to stay in touch with the Secretary/Treasurer. He still maintains contact with close friends who are NA graduates or retirees from Fairfield Police Department. He stated that “The NA, Reserves, and PD have been my life.” He also reported, “I still have four notebooks which measure 11 inches high when stacked on one another as well as the old gray Royal typewriter I used back then to type page after page of notes. How lucky can one be?” One sad note, he had reported in the 2017 profile was that he had lost his class ring which he loved dearly. As a gesture of their reciprocal love for him, his chapter purchased a replace ment ring for him that he still wears proudly. On April 20, 2023, when he turned the century mark, he had been retired for 45 years, and attended the NA 62 years ago. I also have it on good authority that his community will once again rally to honor his birthday with a convergence of lights and sirens from the police, fire and EMS of the area. Pat Carroll is someone I am honored to have highlighted for my final Historian Profile.

Patrick Carroll on the range during NA Session 65.

CT Chapter Secretary Don Anderson looks on as CT Chapter President Vincent DeMaio presides over the ceremony honoring Captain Pat’s service to his chapter and his community.

continued on page 37

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