Oldest Graduate remarks, West Point Founders Day Dinner
Ft Leavenworth, KS. 1 April 2016.
Col Hersch Chapman, Infantry (ret). Class of 1950.
Fellow Graduates, I bring greetings from the Class of 1950
70 Years ago, we walked up the hill from the train station to the Plain to take on Beast Barracks. We graduated 6 June 1950. 500 of us were commissioned in the Army and we went on a 60 day leave.
Read MoreOne more area where '50 had an impact. From Dave Hughes:
My pioneering history with technology never ends. I am being interviewed for a 1 hour PBS program on Hedy Lamarr - whose stunning beauty I am sure many classmates remember - as a serious Inventor - and not just as a 40's pretty face.
Read MoreI have perhaps an item of slight interest.
March 4th will be the Founder's Day gathering for the Pikes Peak Chapter of the West Point Society. It will be well attended. Over 100. I think I will see if I can make to be the oldest living grad present. Only a '43 and '44 grad are ahead of me.
Read MoreHere I sit with piles of snow all around. It is the aftermath of more than two days of snowing here in the DC area. We got about 15 inches, but my son Scot in WV had over 40. That should test the straw bale house he and his wife built.
Meanwhile it is time to get some of the Class news out, now that the 65th Reunion is in the history books. Here are a few items that you may have missed.
Read MoreHere is Dave's recently published letter to the editor in the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph.
"A lengthy article in the New York Times - by former Gazette reporter Dave Philipps - detailed the objections being raised by some parents and doctors over the requirement that all plebes at all three military academies engage in boxing other cadets as part of their training.
Read MoreThe Class of 1950 has always done things in a big way, like building a golf course by hand or funding a visiting Professor in academics, a “big bang” sort of group. We knew our numbers for the reunion would be lower than in the past. We expected about 60 classmates and about 13 widows but where did this crowd come from? Many of us had brought kids or grandkids – it was going to be a wonderful party!!!
Read MoreOne of the important events at our 65th Reunion, most of us could not attend. It took place at the Hotel Thayer just as we were signing in at the Hilton. It was the dedication of a room at the Thayer in honor of Eddie. The details are below.
Read MoreAt the Class Meeting for the 65th Reunion I wanted to show how well the class has done over the years.
Here is a list of some of the accomplishments of the Class of 1950:
Rhodes Scholar - 1
West Point Professors - 3
Superintendent, USAFA - 1
Here's another great poem from John Vanston, this time about our reunion.
Every five years our Class gathers,
To celebrate days of yore;
To meet with friends and classmates
And remember what went before.
Read MoreFormer Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos became the latest West Point alumnus to be honored with a room dedicated to his name at the Thayer Hotel in West Point, N.Y. on May 17th, 2015. Ramos said, “Here is an honor, not just for me, but for our country, because not everybody is given this honor, and we are not last here in the US Military Academy Class of 1950”
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