OLD FRIEND HAD LETTER FROM DOWNED PILOT

From the: The Orlando Sentinel archive

OLD FRIEND HAD LETTER FROM DOWNED PILOT

Published: Saturday, January 19, 1991 Section: A SECTION Page: A5
By Bill Buchalter of The Sentinel Staff

When John Webb first heard the news Thursday that an American pilot had been shot down
in the Persian Gulf war, he had an uneasy feeling.

''The odds were awfully long,'' the University of Florida track coach kept telling himself, that the pilot could be his longtime friend Michael Scott Speicher.

But as Webb heard more bits of news, the feeling grew worse.

''It kept narrowing down,'' Webb said, ''so I finally called the family and got the bad news.''

Webb grew up with Speicher, the war's first U.S. combat casualty. They graduated together from Forest High School in Jacksonville and were roommates at Florida State University. Speicher was best man at Webb's wedding.

On Friday, Webb read from a letter from Speicher: ''Merry Christmas from the Red Sea. We're just floating around waiting for the fireworks.''

Speicher first attended Pfeiffer College in Misenheimer, N.C., on a partial swimming scholarship, said Larry Durrett, who recruited him. (It was incorrectly reported Friday that Speicher was captain of the FSU swim team.) ''He was a genuinely nice kid,'' said Durrett, now the Pfeiffer registrar.

Speicher transferred to FSU, where he graduated in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in management.

Webb described his friend as a ''big-time FSU fan'' who would rib him about the outcome of the FSU-University of Florida football game.

''Getting this news crushed me,'' Webb said.