New Mexico Military Institute - Bronco Yearbook (Roswell, NM)

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l l li fPage 24l the vacant rooms in barracks, their blinds drawn, doors locked, their stoops not quite so dustless as the adjoining quarters. NVith The Bronco staff decimated, a cry went up from the First Class appeal- ing for help: it was late in coming, and that accounts, perhaps, for the fact that a new precedent was established with this issue: it was not available for signing at the end of school, and all apologies are made herewith for that contratemps. The overnight bivouac was the most strenuous military endea- vor of the year. There were skirmishes and clashes by night, and rumor insists that two cadet platoons were entirely lost for a time. Be that as it may, it was a tired Corps of Cadets which returned from its labors, and many a story was told of tall evasion and maneuver. A rifle was missing next morning, some compasses mis- placed temporarily, but at last everything was accounted for, and new blisters might burn, but were hidden by stout shoes. The Final Ball committee, with Gerrity at its head, struggled

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This is not a chronological record, so letls go back to January for a moment. There was no snow in January, and although there were cold days and nights, the drill schedule was conducted With- out much fear of Weather's interference. It was in January that information came to the school which sounded like, and was, Insti- tute achievement from afar: of the Class of '43, twenty-three fin- ished their officer's course at Fort Benning, Georgia, together: Alexander, Allmand, Anderson, Barker, Curto, De Nlontrond, Ewing, Gellert, Glasebrook, Hayden, Hinckley, Hindi, Lieurance, Nlenasco, lVIinton, Ramsay, Roderick, Russell, Snowden, Spencer, Terrill, vanFradenburg and W'ard. During the holidays, Chandler and Paul Hinckley left school, preparatory to entering West Point, Sanders, Tom lVIcClure, Tipton, Arnot, and Swanner, Went into the Navy, Sullivan, Eng- land, Boatman, Young, Chancellor, Johnson and Lace entered the Army. Others departed, singly or in pairs, and one began to notice LPage 231

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mightily to produce a worthy dance without cellophane, crepe paper, or new board: not even a double-A priority would have pro- duced them. The Gym was decorated at last with flags and shields bearing regimental insignia, and in the Natatorium-the hardest of all places to mask effectively-there was a huge Institute shoul- der patch, glowing yellow and orange and soft black under ultra- violet lights, which reflected in the water and cast the spell of a full moon on the spectators. His Excellency, the Governor of New Nlexico, attended with a party which included Nlajor General Allen. lylajor John E. Smith labored mightily over the Final Ball, as did the entire cadet committee. Commencement, altogether, was a busy and brilliant occasion, its significance dimmed by only one irretrievable absence, the loss of Cadet Nlajor Roy F. Wlard. The fact of his death must remain a part of this yearls history, as his memory will remain with all who knew him. fPage 251