The 65th Reunion of the USMA Class of 1950
The 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!!!
A number rode up from the Washington DC area in a couple of buses. Some folks, like Chuck Graham and Mary Pharr Love, flew in from the south to ride up with us. I brought my daughter, who had been born at WP and left at age one and had never been back!
Our bus, after a short lunch stop, arrived in mid-afternoon – and the party was on! To keep with our general slow-down, the uniform for the day and evening was casual. We spent a wonderful time greeting old friends and renewing ties with other friends not seen in years at the welcoming reception!
Monday morning, after a buffet breakfast at the hotel, we traveled by bus on to WP. Our first appointment was our Memorial Service for those who had gone before us. For the first time we were in the Old Cadet Chapel, in the WP Cemetery, so time was left to visit graves of old friends. Our service was wonderful and included the reading of the names of those lost since our last reunion. The setting was historic but sometimes even a bit unnerving, like looking up to see a wall plaque dedicated to General George Washington.
We then went on to the Eisenhower Hall Ball Room for lunch. Well done, plenty of space, short lines, and with our younger guests outside on the balcony, taking photos up the river. Then it was time for a performance by the HellCats! We may best remember them as the Revile Music or a few bugle calls. This time they were on a large stage and there were a lot of them! And they were good!! They played a lot of old military music and a lot we had heard from them before. But all with tremendous skill and color! We thoroughly enjoyed it! This was followed by an address by the Superintendent. It was full of good stuff but seemed a bit long since we had so much still ahead of us. Then a bus ride back to the hotel for our class meeting.
Our class rules require us to hold an election every five years to address things that involve the whole class. Bill DeGraf opened the meeting with a wonderful review, comparing the history and records of the Class of 1915 and the Class of 1950. I think we looked better than they did! Then we had an election for class officers. We reelected the current crew (Bill DeGraf – Chairman, Win Skelton – Vice-Chair and Bursar, and Laurie Eek – Recorder).
A very pleasant surprise was a motion from the floor, which nominated Classmate John Vanston for election to the post of Class Poet Laureate. His election was immediate and solidly backed by the class! By now you should have read his latest on the Class Web Site, the “Class of 1950 Story”.
Then came another special treat. We were introduced to our current “Chair”, Dr. William Pulleyblank, Professor of Operations Research. And he introduced us to six of the cadets he had been teaching. We would get to know them better as they were our guests at the Battalion parties that night. He then went on to tell us what he was then teaching in his classes on Operations Research. His presentation was awesome and probably not too well understood by us old-timers. Academics have changed a great deal since 1946-1950!
Then it was suppertime and our Battalion Parties. These replaced the old company parties because of our reduction in numbers. This was well set up by the Hotel, with adjoining rooms and good food! And the young cadet visiting us in 1st Bn, 1st Regt seating, was graduating that week and going right into Army Operations Research. Wow!
But the best was still to come. The son of Dick Newton, A-1 Company, is Dick Newton III (LTG-Ret) and he is trying to organize our kids and grandkids to carry on the spirit and projects of the class. He met with a large group of our kids after supper and is in contact with many others. He has them on an email group and they are all interested. Any support we can give him will also be appreciated. We are all very eager to see what comes out of it!
The next day, after breakfast at the hotel, we headed again to WP. This was parade day and we were all in our old graduate uniforms, blue blazers, grey trousers, and straw hats with black bands saying “1950”. The first thing was the Alumni Exercises, starting with the alumni march to Thayer Monument. We met at Bartlett Hall, some of us with canes, some of us with new “Class of 1950” canes. And a few watched from the bleachers. The exercise at the Monument went very smoothly, and we were much closer to the head of the column and could see and hear it all! Then it was off to the grass in front of the bleachers to see the Corps pass in review!
It was still unusual to see half the Corps fill the plain as well as we did with the full Corps just a few years ago. But the Corps expanded, the ladies joined us, and they marched on. And we found the fairer sex marching at the head of companies, battalions, and regiments. It was wonderful to see them all march by, the future leaders of our Army.
Then it was off to Washington Hall for lunch. There was a cadet at each table to bring us up to date. But we and our ladies had to play coffee corporal. Food was good, the scenery wonderful, and the place was seating over four thousand!
Then it was back to the hotel for some and a bus sightseeing tour of WP for others. My daughter brought back what seemed at least a hundred pics from the tour. Then it was time for the reception and dinner at the hotel. We were a bit slower this time, the band had been replaced by a music system with 50-70 music on it, and we had a ball. And of course, at some point they said stop, we want a picture. And cameras appeared from nowhere! It was a good party!!!
But the next morning it was back to the real world and time to break camp! After a little later breakfast than we had been having, and long farewells to folks we might not see again it was time to go home.
Our two buses loaded up and headed for DC. But never forget that this class never does anything without a big bang. So cruising down the New Jersey Turnpike at just over the speed limit there was a huge “bang” and the lead bus blew a tire. But we all found seats on the second bus and in due time we were back at Ft Myer.
So we ended what was probably the last big gathering of the class. But it was wonderful, and a lot of our offspring had another new view of why we enjoy being the West Point Class of 1950. See you there in 2020!