Harvard Supply Corps School graduate inducted as newest distinguished alumni - From the Schoolhouse

Navy Supply Corps Newsletter, July-August, 2003

Henry F. Trione was honored and inducted as the 27th Navy Supply Corps School Distinguished Alumnus at the Navy Supply Corps School on April 11. A Fortuna, Calif., native, Trione accepted the award from NSCS Executive Officer, CDR Dave Brumfield, and the 37th Chief of Supply Corps, retired RADM James Miller.

CDR Brumfield, RADM Miller, and NSCS Distinguished Alumnus retired CAPT Jackson Schultz hosted the events throughout the week including a ceremony dinner at Quarters B, an overview of the base and facilities, a tour of the city and The University of Georgia campus, and a luncheon sponsored by the Northeast Georgia Supply Corps Association (NEGSCA) after the ceremony.

Trione's recognition was unique because he received the award on a campus he never actually attended. Indeed, after receiving his bachelor's degree from the University of California in Berkeley, he was one of the graduating officers of the Basic Qualification Course in 1941 when the Navy Supply Corps School resided at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

Graduation for Trione's Harvard class was held one day after Japan launched its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. He was sent immediately to Motor Torpedo Base 5 in Adak, Alaska, where he served as supply officer for 36 PT boats. The boats were part of U.S. Pacific forces established along the Aleutian Islands chain to curtail the advancing Japanese Empire.

He was later sent to Naval Air Station Alameda before ultimately leaving the Navy at the end of the war. Although not a career officer, Trione still describes leaving the Navy as "an agonizing decision." His Naval achievements and heritage did have an effect on his eldest son Victor, a 1971 graduate of the BQC and former Supply Corps officer as well.

During the ceremony remarks, RADM Miller called Trione "the epitome of the American entrepreneur," while CDR Brumfield referred to him as "a true renaissance man."

Trione's post-Navy career has been a storied lifetime of incredible accomplishments. Starting out in the sales and banking business, he went on to purchase and operate land and vineyards in California's Santa Rosa Valley, eventually creating his own "world class" wines after founding Geyser Peak Winery.

He is the founder of Empire College and School of Law in Santa Rosa, an institution with more than 550 students in its business school and 150 in the law school.

An avid outdoorsman and horse rider, he even represented the United States on amateur polo teams in Morocco, Rome, Argentina, and Spain. "He's done everything and been everywhere ... and he's done it all exceptionally well," remarked Brumfield.

Trione currently serves as Director, U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation in Washington D.C., continuing his dedication and commitment to the men and women of the sea service. As a prominent member of the Navy Memorial Foundation Board of Directors, he led the effort to place a replica of the Lone Sailor statue at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco as a tribute to Sailors, past and present.

Over the years, he has supported several Navy ships crews and their families by hosting them on his winery grounds for picnics and he makes a point to say his door is always open for Sailors visiting the bay area of California.

Along with his efforts at the Navy Memorial Foundation, Trione is also Chairman of the Executive Committee for Empire College and School of Law and Chairman of the Burbank Music Foundation Council. He has served as a member of the Wells Fargo Bank Board of Directors and is a past president of the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce. He is a trustee of the Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and University of California Foundation, a Chairman Emeritus of the California State Park Foundation and co-founder of the Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center in Santa Rosa.

Trione has been recognized both nationally and internationally for his numerous achievements, including the Alex De Toqueville Award for outstanding community leadership, "Best Wines," and the Lone Sailor Award for his support to the Navy community.

The Navy Supply Corps School Distinguished Alumni Program was created by the Navy Supply Corps Association in 1989 and became a function of the Navy Supply Corps Foundation when it merged with the association in 1995. The objective of the program is to recognize a select group of former Supply Corps officers who have distinguished themselves both on active duty and in their follow-on careers in the private and public sectors. (For a complete list of Distinguished Alumni or for more information on the Navy Supply Corps Foundation see www.usnscf.com)