-Caveat Lector- http://www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/generals.htm ----- Generals from the West Point Class of 1915 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Class the Stars Fell on Out of the 164 members of the Class of 1915, 59 became generals. Its nearest competitor was the Class of 1917, which produced 43 generals. 5 Stars General of the Army D. D. Eisenhower O.N. Bradley 4 Stars General J. Van Fleet J. McNarney 3 Stars Lieutenant General J. Leonard G. Stratmeyer H. Aurand S. Irwin T. Larkin J. Swing H. Harmon 2 Stars Major General W. Covell J. Bragdon G. Richards D. Weart W. Thompkins D. Davidson J. Lester A. Waldron H. Sayler C. Rider P. Mueler L. Hobbs E. Lyon V. Evans R. Woodruff J. Wogan T. Hearn H. Miller T. Hanley, Jr. L. Walton P. Cousins V. Prichard L. Watson A. White 1 Star Brigadier General L. Miller J. Conklin M. Young H. Beukema E. Zundel C. Howard C. Busbee P. Menoher C. Bank H. Peabody E. Naden R. Strong C. Tenney E. Wallington W. Hess, Jr. M. Davis B. Ferris R. Howell J. Robinson V. Taylor A. Gilkeson N. Randolph F. Boye J. Keliher (use back button to return to previous page) or Reference Desk ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Dwight D. Eisenhower Library Homepage URL: http://www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/contents.htm [EMAIL PROTECTED] ===== CLASS THE STARS FELL UPON West Point's Class of 1915 is affectionately known as the "Class the Stars Fell Upon." There were 164 graduates that year at West Point and an incredible 61 (or 37.2%) went on to attain the rank of general officer. Thirteen cadets in the Class of 1915 earned a varsity "A" in football and of those, nine went on to become general officers (69.2%). Some of the country's most influential leaders of the 20th century were contained in the class, names like Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, James Van Fleet, Vernon Prichard, Leland Hobbs, Walter Hess, Thomas Larkin, Hubert Harmon and Roscoe Woodruff. All earned at least one varsity letter on West Point's gridiron. ===== Biography: Dwight David Eisenhower October 14, 1890 - March 28, 1969 On December 12, 1941, just five days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Brigadier General Dwight D. Eisenhower received the phone call that would alter the course of his life forever. At the time, Eisenhower was at the top of his professional form; competent in his work and remarkably self-confident in his demeanor. Since returning from the Philippines in late 1939, he had completed a series of stateside assignments that fulfilled his deep-seated desire to work directly with troops. In June of 1941, he had been transferred here, to Ft. Sam Houston, where it had all begun some 26 years before. On the other end of the line was the voice of Colonel Walter Bedell Smith, secretary of the General Staff, insisting that "The Chief," General George C. Marshall, wanted him in Washington-immediately. With apprehension and dread at the prospect of returning to a staff job and sitting out the war, Eisenhower instructed his aide to pack a small duffel, assuring Mamie he wouldn't be gone long. When Eisenhower arrived at the Army Chief of Staff's office in Washington, D.C., Marshall took him aside and delivered a 20-minute briefing on the status of the United States military situation in the Pacific. When he had finished, General Marshall had just one question: "What should be our general line of action?" Eisenhower, momentarily taken aback, asked for a few hours and a desk; sat down and typed "Steps to Be Taken;" and began to think it through. Dwight David Eisenhower, was the third of seven sons born to David and Ida Stover Eisenhower; the only one born outside of Dickinson County, Kansas. After a failed business venture in Hope, Kansas, the Eisenhowers moved to Denison, Texas, where David found a job cleaning train locomotives. In a tiny house, a few feet from the railroad tracks, "David Dwight" Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890. When Dwight was about eighteen months old, David moved his family back to Abilene because his brother-in-law, Chris Musser, had offered him a job at the Belle Springs Creamery. David Jacob Eisenhower had homesteaded with his parents in Dickinson County, Kansas, in 1878. Members of a prosperous religious group from the Susquehanna Valley of Pennsylvania, they came to Kansas to buy rich and affordable farmland. A sect of the Mennonites, they called themselves the "Plain People." In Dickinson County, the group was more commonly known as the "River Brethren." Ida Stover and David Eisenhower met, as students, at Lane University in LeCompton, Kansas, where they married. In 1898, six years after returning from Texas, the Eisenhowers and six sons--Paul had died of diphtheria in 1896 at the age of three--moved into the house on Southeast Fourth Street that would become the legendary Eisenhower boyhood home. Life at the turn of the century in small-town Abilene was filled with lessons to be learned and an abundance of adventure for an energetic, fun-loving, and handsome young man named Dwight Eisenhower. The part of Abilene that lay to the south of the Union Pacific tracks had been a wicked cowtown just a generation before, and young Dwight was enthralled with old-timers' stories of its "Wild West" days. Throughout his life, Dwight E. Eisenhower never lost his fascination with the history of the American West. At a time when a high school education was considered a luxury for most, all the Eisenhower boys graduated, and, at their parents' urging, dared to dream of even a college education. Dwight had been working for two years at the Belle Springs Creamery after his high school graduation in 1909--helping support brother Edgar though college at the University of Michigan--when his friend, Swede Hazlett, encouraged him to consider applying for an appointment to the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Eisenhower passed entrance exams for both Annapolis and West Point, but was past the age of admission for the Naval Academy. Kansas Senator Joseph Bristow recommended him for an appointment to West Point in 1911, which he received. The West Point years were formative ones for Eisenhower. He learned to endure the pressures and indignities of the Plebe year; and, in turn, discovered his own acute distaste for the hazing he was expected to inflict upon others in his Yearling year. On the football field, Eisenhower experienced the exultation of stardom and crushing disappointment when a series of knee injuries brought his glory days to an abrupt and painful end. In bitter reaction, Dwight Eisenhower smoked too much, studied too little, and accumulated an impressive list of demerits. Despite this setback, Eisenhower emerged as a natural leader, serving as junior varsity football coach and yell leader. And, even though he did not apply himself academically at West Point, Eisenhower still managed to graduate in the upper half of his class in 1915, the one that would be later known as the class "The Stars Fell On." Following graduation, newly commissioned second lieutenant Eisenhower's first post assignment was Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. On a beautiful October day in 1915, Eisenhower was on duty, assigned to walk the post and inspect the guard. Fellow soldier and new friend, Gee Gerow, recognized Eisenhower from across the street and beckoned him to join the casual lawn party where the Douds of Denver were among the guests. Although he had recently "sworn off women"--once he had met eighteen-year-old Miss Mamie Geneva Doud, he pursued her with singular determination. Nine months later, July 1, 1916, they were married in the Doud home, and set out on a ten-day honeymoon in Colorado and on to Kansas to visit Dwight's parents and brother Milton at Kansas State College. Those first years took Eisenhower to military posts in Texas, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and, then, back again to Georgia and Maryland. In some respects, these were happy years; in others, difficult. He and Mamie became the proud parents of Doud Dwight "Icky," in 1917, and then felt their world fall apart when he died, suddenly, of scarlet fever at age three. Eisenhower had initially balked at being assigned to coach the post's football team; however, he thoroughly enjoyed his role as teacher. Too, he felt great satisfaction training World War I recruits for effective overseas duty. Yet, he was very impatient for his own chance to ship out for France. Eisenhower applied, reapplied, and lobbied his superiors for an assignment to combat duty--even to the point of reprimand--and was resentful at having missed out on "his" war. For two months in the summer of 1919, Eisenhower volunteered to participate as a Tank Corps observer in the War Department's First Transcontinental Motor Convoy. It was often a frustrating journey: a train of trucks moving little more than six miles an hour across the country, broken down or mired in mud on a daily basis. From 1922 to 1924, Eisenhower served as executive officer to General Fox Conner, a highly respected Army officer, in the Panama Canal Zone. Conner assumed the role of mentor to the younger Eisenhower, a decision that proved to be instrumental in the advancement of his career. Under Conner's tutelage, Eisenhower immersed himself in seminal works of history, military science, and philosophy. It was Conner who explained the inevitability of the coming world war to Eisenhower. With Conner's assistance, Eisenhower was accepted into the Command and General Staff School at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, the army's elite graduate school. In 1926, he graduated first in a class of 245 of the Army's finest young officers. Eisenhower had established a reputation for himself among officers of the small, peacetime, United States Army. While in Fort Benning in 1927, Eisenhower was selected by General John "Black Jack" Pershing to write for the American Battle Monuments Commission in Washington and Paris. It was in this period that Eisenhower was introduced to the geography, cultures, and people of Europe; knowledge that would prove invaluable little more than a decade later. His tour completed in 1929, Eisenhower reported to the War Department. One of his assignments was to develop a plan to mobilize manpower and matériel for the Army should there be another war. It was from this position, that he was transferred to serve as chief military aide--largely to write speeches, reports and policy papers--under Douglas MacArthur, U.S. Army Chief of Staff in 1933. In 1935, Eisenhower accompanied MacArthur to the Philippines as assistant military advisor, and there he remained--less than enthusiastic--until late in 1939. His primary mission, to build a viable Filipino Army, was to prove both frustrating and elusive. As the end of his assignment approached, Europe was, once again, at war. Despite MacArthur's pressure to remain in the Philippines and President Quezon's handsome offer of a blank contract for his services, Eisenhower was never tempted. He was not going to miss this war. Stateside, in early 1940, Eisenhower was briefly stationed at Ft. Ord, California, then, received a more permanent assignment to Ft. Lewis, Washington. For the next two years, through late 1941, Eisenhower's assignments gave him many opportunities to exercise his natural leadership talents. All the experience and skills he had honed over twenty-five years served him very well; it was a happy time for Eisenhower. In June 1941, Colonel Eisenhower was transferred to Ft. Sam Houston. Here he served as Chief of Staff for the Third Army, under General Walter Krueger. Eisenhower received national attention for his bold leadership in the Louisiana Maneuvers in August and September of 1941 when the Third Army decisively routed the Second Army. Only a few months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower was promoted to brigadier general. As a result of that December 12 summons to Washington, Eisenhower was transferred to the War Plans Division in Washington, DC, where Marshall tested his abilities with an amazing array of responsibilities in rapid succession. The Army Chief of Staff was impressed with Eisenhower's thinking, organizational, and people skills; in turn, Eisenhower was promoted to Major General by March of 1942. Eisenhower's prediction to Mamie-that he would not be gone long, had been ironic at best. In May 1942, Eisenhower arrived in England on a special mission to build cooperation among the Allies as Commanding General, European Theater, and so began his meteoric rise in rank and fame. By November, he was named Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces, North Africa, and carried out Operation Torch. In 1943, Eisenhower had his second test as Commander of the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy. Thereafter, the time had come to plan the gargantuan land, sea, and air forces that would become more commonly known as D-Day: the Allied Invasion of the continent. In December 1943, Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Forces, and the planning of Operation Overlord began in earnest. June 6, 1944, D-day, was the beginning of the end for the war in Europe. Eisenhower was promoted to the rank of General of the Army (5 stars) in December of that year. When Germany surrendered in May 1945, Eisenhower was appointed Military Governor, US Occupied Zone. By then, Dwight D. Eisenhower was an international celebrity; he had earned the respect, admiration, and affection of people around the world. Allied victory in Europe culminated in joyous exhaustion. Eisenhower quickly became the centerpiece of speeches, grand parades, and throngs of admirers as grateful nations throughout Europe honored him. In June of 1945, Eisenhower returned to a hometown hero's welcome in Abilene, where her citizens honored him as they had no other. Five months later, November 1945, Eisenhower was selected as Chief of Staff, US Army. Nearly three years later, he was inaugurated as President of Columbia University, where he remained until the end of 1950, never far from the decision making on post-war national security policy. In December of 1950, on leave from Columbia University, Eisenhower was appointed the first Supreme Allied Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Here he labored with Allied nations to build an organization around the idea of "concerted, collective, unified action." Eisenhower took a nearly impossible task, and turned his vision for Europe and the United States into a reality. Throughout this time, the "Draft Eisenhower" presidential grassroots effort took shape and swelled to a crescendo that he could no longer ignore. In preparation for what was to come, Eisenhower retired from active service, resigned his commission, and headed home to Abilene, to formally announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Dwight David Eisenhower was elected the 34th President* of the United States on November 4, 1952. Four years later, he was reelected to a second term by an even wider margin. "Peace and Prosperity" became the watchwords of the Eisenhower years. Ending the war in Korea was only the first of many foreign policy challenges Eisenhower faced throughout his presidency. Other Cold War crises erupted in Lebanon, Suez, Berlin, Hungary, the Taiwan Straits, and Cuba. When confronted with possible US military intervention in Vietnam after the defeat of the French colonials, Eisenhower declined to involve the United States. Throughout his presidency, he worked hard to contain communism and, at the same time, was vigorous in his efforts to forge improved relations with the Soviet Union. When an American U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down over Soviet territory, his hopes for détente, during his watch, were dashed. Although criticized by some historians for a lack of leadership on racial issues, President Eisenhower supported and signed the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts, and ordered federal troops to Little Rock to enforce the desegregation of Central High School. Likewise, his decision to work behind the scenes to defeat Senator Joseph McCarthy, rather than confront his excesses directly, engendered the criticism of many. Eisenhower argued that to lower himself to the same level as McCarthy might confer upon the Senator a significance that would only enhance McCarthy's credibility. Americans enjoyed a strong, expanding economy under Eisenhower, demonstrated by solid economic growth, little inflation, and low unemployment. Balancing the budget was an Eisenhower priority tempered with a sincere concern for the common good. Eisenhower expanded social security, increased the minimum wage, and established the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). During the Eisenhower years, the Interstate Highway System and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) were created, and space exploration began. Near the end of his presidency, in 1959, Alaska and Hawaii became the 49th and 50th states of the Union. On January 17, 1961, President Eisenhower bid farewell to the nation in a speech that is best remembered for his characterization of the "Military-Industrial Complex," and his warning of dire consequences to our personal freedoms and self-government should its power go unchecked. January 20, 1961, Dwight D. Eisenhower left office for a much-anticipated retirement. For half a century, he had striven to live the West Point motto: Duty, Honor, and Country, to the very best of his ability. The enormous pressures and heavy responsibilities of the last twenty years, particularly, had exacted a toll on his health. As he left public life, the American people held him in the highest regard,* and felt great affection for both him and Mamie. Gettysburg Farm is located not far from the very place his grandfather had left more than eighty years before on a pioneer's journey that took the Eisenhowers to Kansas. Now, Dwight and Mamie--private citizens--returned there, looking forward to spending time together. With John's family living close by, the retirement years promised to be all they had dreamed. The days passed with a variety of leisure activities; golf and painting, highest on the list. Eisenhower derived great satisfaction from raising livestock, gardening, and generally puttering around the farm. Afternoons were often spent with Mamie on the glassed-in porch, reading, painting, playing cards, and watching their favorite television programs. Guests to Gettysburg were often treated to a meal cooked by none other than the former President himself. The Eisenhowers indulged in travel, and each winter found them, surrounded by friends and family, at their Palm Desert, California, home. Eisenhower wrote his memoirs, and carried on a voluminous correspondence with old friends and associates. Frequently, Presidents Kennedy and Johnson sought his counsel, and approval, in his new role as Elder Statesman. Looking back over the extraordinary experiences of his life, Eisenhower enjoyed most reminiscing about his boyhood in Abilene and his West Point years. The last year of Eisenhower's life was spent at Walter Reed Army Hospital as his health rapidly declined. Thirteen years earlier, he had suffered a near-fatal heart attack, and now a weakening heart was slowly ending his life. Mamie remained by his side, living in a small room just off the presidential suite. On March 28, 1969, Dwight D. Eisenhower uttered his last words, "I want to go; God take me." His heart gave up its struggle and he died peacefully. Following a state funeral in Washington, DC, Eisenhower was honored with a full military funeral in his beloved Abilene on April 2. Just as he had planned it, Dwight David Eisenhower was buried in a modest chapel, on the grounds of the Eisenhower Center, where he joined Doud Dwight, the son he and Mamie had lost nearly fifty years before. Dwight D. Eisenhower had returned home to stay. *C-Span's recent "Historian's Survey of Presidential Leadership" places Eisenhower in the top ten, and ranks him fifth in the category of "Moral Authority," bested only by Washington, Lincoln, and the two Roosevelts. **A 1968 Gallup poll listed Dwight D. Eisenhower as the most admired American that year. ===== http://www.usma.edu/bicentennial/history/history_impact.asp "The Impact of an Institution" Story by CPT Bruce Warren Ollstein As we enter the 21st Century and approach West Point's bicentennial celebration in the year 2002, a Plebe examines his own place in the Long Gray Line and the impact of West Point on the historic growth and development of our nation. The thick steel door, standing twice my height, slammed shut with an eerie finality. Everything seems to have an inflated, even ominous importance when one is a plebe at West Point. Standing just outside Cullum Hall on this windy night, I relished a rare moment of solitude. At the United States Military Academy, one spends virtually every minute of every day in the company of others. Studying, sleeping, marching, showering, running, eating, training, testing, sweating -- you are never alone. A plebe's schedule, in particular, mandates group activity. No fourth classman can make it alone, because many tasks, even one as mundane as delivering upperclass laundry bundles, require the help of one's classmates. Architecturally, West Point is the kind of legacy that any architect might have dreamed of leaving behind. The warrior's ego carved into thick, unmoving granite. As my eyes took it all in, I began to understand why so many had felt compelled to voice an opinion on what West Point should represent, or unleash some accolade for her spirituality, tactical significance, beauty or institutional excellence. General Patton, Class of 1909, called West Point "a holy place." George Washington, during the revolution, deemed West Point "the key to the continent." Charles Dickens said of the Academy, "It could not stand on more appropriate ground, and any ground more beautiful can hardly be. The course of education is severe, but well devised and manly…" And President Andrew Jackson stated categorically that West Point was "the best school in the world." Unknown to most Americans, West Point is the oldest regularly garrisoned military post in the United States -- continuously occupied since January 20, 1778. In 1802, only two years before Napoleon became Emperor of France, Congress established the United States Military Academy at West Point. Annapolis, the Naval Academy, would not appear until 1845; the Air Force Academy not until 1954. What most Americans do know, however, is that Benedict Arnold -- the most infamous traitor in American history -- tried to sell the plans of West Point to the British for 20,000 pounds sterling and a commission in the British Army. I stared at The Plain as I continued my solitary walk. On this very parade ground Baron Von Steuben had drilled American Forces in preparation for the Seizure of Stony Point. Just hours ago, I had marched in a parade on the same field. Marching is a big part of West Point's public persona, but academics are the top priority. West Point is the nation's first engineering school. It was the only engineering school in the United States for nearly 20 years. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was not founded until 1824 and graduated its first class of civil engineers, four men, in 1835. many of Rensselaer's textbooks originated at West Point. It was not until 1847 that engineering programs were established at Harvard (the Lawrence Scientific School) and Yale ( the Sheffield Scientific School), and when they were, both were established and run by West Pointers. I glanced back at Doubleday Field, named after the West Pointer sometimes credited with inventing the sport of baseball. He also had fired the first return shot from Fort Sumter in 1861 and fought at Gettysburg. Just one more of so many graduates serving as role models for those of us in newly issued gray. Lieutenant General Dave Palmer, former Superintendent, was fond of the phrase, "Much of the history we teach is made by those we taught." But it was President Theodore Roosevelt who pulled no punches at the Academy's centennial celebration when he said, "This institution has completed its first hundred years of life. During that century, no other institution in the land has contributed so many names as West Point has to the honor roll of the Nation's greatest citizens." President Roosevelt would witness only a small part of the legacy that was West Point. Academy officers would achieve prominence for many years to come. One feels somewhat strange being associated with this group. It has a way of creating enormous, possibly unrealistic, expectations. I went back in memory, trying to take measure of all the leaders who had left foot prints on the path I now walked. It wasn't difficult; as plebes we are required to memorize the legacies of many of those who preceded us. The military leaders were the first to come to mind. In the Civil War there were 60 significant battles. Fifty-five of them were commanded on both sides by West Pointers; the remaining five had a "grad" commanding one of the sides. The Union forces utilized Grant, Sherman, Meade and Sheridan, to name a few. The South claimed Robert E. Lee, "Stonewall" Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart, and Braxton Bragg among their many. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, was West Point Class of 1828. During World War I, 34 of the 38 corps and division commanders in France between 1917 and 1918 were West Pointers. General Pershing, Class of 1886, commanded the American Expeditionary Forces. World War II dubbed West Point's class of 1915 the "Class the Stars Fell On." Fifty-nine out of 164 graduates would reach brigadier general or higher. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley, both from that class, would achieve five-star rank. James Van Fleet would later become Commanding General of the Eighth U.S. Army in Korea. Of the five men ever to hold the rank of five-star general -- Arnold, Bradley, Eisenhower, MacArthur, and Marshall -- four had been West Pointers (Marshall was V.M.I). MacArthur went on to become the most decorated soldier in American history. His 59 decorations, 16 oak leaf clusters, and 18 campaign stars included America's highest award, the Medal of Honor. The Long Gray Line's other World War contributors included Patton, Clark, Stilwell, and Wainwright. And I was reminded of Leslie Groves who commanded the Manhattan Project. Half of the division commanders in WWII were West Pointers, including Gavin '29 and Ridgway '17 with the 82d Airborne an McAuliffe '18 with the 101st at Bastogne. West Point is so quickly associated in the mind with the uniformed military that most forget its impact on civilian America. Putting aside the ascendancy of Grant and Ike to the Presidency, West Point has left few trails unexplored. Over 100 West Pointers have been members of U.S. Olympic teams, and three have won the Heisman trophy: Glenn Davis, Felix "Doc" Blanchard, and Pete Dawkins. Seventy-Four have been awarded Rhodes scholarships, making West Point the fourth ranking source of Rhodes scholars in the nation, even though graduates were not allowed to compete until 1925. West Point's contributions in space exploration are often overlooked. Six of the first 130 astronauts were graduates. This group included Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins, Apollo 11 pilots who were part of the first manned landing on the moon. Aldrin was the second man to walk on the moon. Frank Borman commanded a spacecraft during the first rendezvous in space, and Ed White, who would later die in a launch fire at Cape Kennedy, had been the first man to walk in space. West Point has produced 15 astronauts up to this point and always had an intimate relationship with aviation. It all started back in 1908, when the first man killed in an airplane was West Pointer Thomas Selfridge, Class of '03. He had been riding with Orville Wright, who survived the crash. During World War II, West Point was the Air Force Academy -- the Army Air Force Academy. The Academy's zest for exploration was not limited to the air. West Pointers led the way in westward expansion of the United States. James Allen, Class of 1829, discovered the sources of the Mississippi River, and Captain Bonneville, Class of 1815, explored the Yellowstone River and the salt flats that bear his name. West Point engineers have played a no less important role in America's development than her explorers. From flood control projects to hydroelectric plants, from highways to waterways, USMA was there. Goethals, Class of 1880, ran the building of the Panama Canal. Green, Class of 1923, designed New York City's water supply system. Casey, Class of 1852, helped build the Library of Congress. Meigs, Class of 1836, built the wings and dome of the Capital in Washington, D.C. and Humphreys and Abbot, both "grads," designed the locks and hydraulics on the Mississippi River. More recently, Major General William E. Potter, Class of 1928, was the engineer in charge of building Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and James B. Endler, Class of 1953, was the engineer who coordinated the building of the Epcot Center. Ironically, two of the most famous West Pointers never obtained their degrees -- Edgar Allen Poe and James Abbot McNeill Whistler. Poe, arguably the greatest American lyric poet, was a cadet from 1830-1831. At Superintendent Thayer's prompting, Poe sold subscriptions to his fellow cadets to help finance the publishing of his third book of poetry. He dedicated the book to the Untied States Corps of Cadets. Poe later was expelled for "gross neglect of duty." Whistler, the famous American artist, whose father was Class of '18 and inventor of the locomotive whistle, enjoyed only his engineering drawing class. Required to draw a bridge, he drew three boys relaxing on it. Reprimanded, he drew the boys on the river bank. After a final admonishment, he drew three tiny gravestones on the grass near the bridge. He was dismissed for conduct and Chemistry after three years. At West Point, no one disobeys orders with impunity. I approach Battle Monument, the largest shaft of polished, turned granite in the Western Hemisphere -- dedicated to the soldiers of the Regular Army killed in the Civil War. Inscribed on various sections of the monument are 2,230 names, representing only a minuscule portion of the total war dead. Death is all around you at West Point. Cullum Memorial Hall, where I had spent most of the evening, was a building dedicated to death and sacrifice. The names of deceased West Pointers line the interior walls of that unique building. There is little room left for memorialization. Every inch of hallway, every wall from top to bottom, every staircase, even some of the bathrooms, were covered with portraits and brass plaques honoring the dead. The main ballroom displayed the names of bloody battles from the War of 1812 to the Spanish American War, with emphasis on the Civil War -- Chancellorsville, Antietam, Shiloh, Vicksburg. I glanced at the trophy cannon, positioned all over Trophy Point, and then forward to the statue of MacArthur by the barracks. History is everything. It makes up most of the Plebe poop, and it defines the Academy's image of itself. I silently recited the last verse of the Corps, a song that all plebes were required to commit to memory: "The long gray line of us stretches Through the years of a century told, And the last man feels to his marrow The grip of the far off hold. Grip hands with us now, though we see not, Grip hands with us, strengthen our hears -- As the long line stiffens and straightens With the thrill that your presence imparts. Grip hands -- though it be from the shadows -- While we swear, as you did of yore, Of living, or dying, to honor The Corps, and the Corps, and the Corps!" As I turned toward the barracks entrance, I sensed the feeling of intense pride that all West Pointers know at one moment in time. But I had only to encounter one upperclassman before the day-to-day regimen reminded me once again of my plebeian status in our nation's honor roll. As each new class enters the United States Military Academy, this renowned leader development institution will continue to affect the progress of our nation in the 21st Century. The depth and breadth of the West Point experience provides our nation with U.S. Army officers - leaders of character who are inspired to careers as commissioned officers and lifetime service to the nation. The challenging life of an Army officer is rewarded with the satisfaction of honorably serving out country. ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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