Then it occurred to me that perhaps he was referring to the 80's television
show and likening the four of us to the characters on the show. They had a
Van - I have a Van. George Peppard played Col. John "Hannibal" Smith,
leader of the crew - that would have to be Dale. He is a former marine
that still carries his military training. Hannibal was a master of
disguise. Last week while canoeing on the Allegheny River and exploring
the Islands of the Allegheny River Islands Wilderness Dale wore his camo
cloths. He was only a disembodied voice to Tony and I unless he put on
his fluorescent orange life jacket. Tony Kelly would play the role of
B. A. Baracus, made famous on the show by Mr. T. He even tried out a
few lines of "I Pity the Fool!" Definitely Tony is a Vanilla T. Carl
Harting would be Lt. Templeton 'Face' Peck, smooth talker, Lothario,
scrounger played on the show by Dirk Benedict. If you know Carl you can
see the resemblance. I would be Capt. H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock. Of
all of the people in the group, I am the one most likely to be described
as slightly off kilter. 

Besides the role was played by Dwight Schultz,
one of my favorite actors. On Star Trek: The Next Generation his guest
appearance as Lt. Reginald Barclay was one of my favorite episodes and
characters of the entire Star Trek series and led to a recurring role on
that series and on Voyager as well. So The next time of the rare
occasions we all happen to be together at the same time, we will get an
official Western PA A-Team Photo in front of the Van. I am not sure
how Anthony will feel about the Mohawk though....    

Ed Frank