Virginia Military Institute - Bomb Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

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established a reputation as good hosts for the Corps when it wished to celebrate. The Third Class year was also a year of important development for the Class. There has been in the Class since our Rat Year a strong element of dissenters, who would have put the Class in a position of constant conflict with the Institute whenever Cadet privileges were threatened, and a smaller element that strenuously opposed a strict enforcement of the Rat Line and Class privileges; but the majority of the Class has always chosen to follow the more moderate leadership given by the Class President. The presence of this minor- ity, however, has not impaired the unity of the class. At times it has certainly strengthened the class policies by forcing matters to be deliberated before being voted on or enacted. Our Third Class year was the last year in which early morning resurrections were held. These affairs gave the class behind us the right to say that they had experienced a tough Rat Line — a statement most classes at the ' MI like to make, and also provided op- portunity for unifying our own class. The third class year, always a tough year, ended with the optimistic prospects of approaching Ring Figure,, and the very fine feeling of having passed the half-way mark. At the Institute considerable emphasis is given to the way a thing is done — the sharpness of sabre manual at guard mount, the shine on a buckle, or the dignity that a class is able to give to its Ring Figure. Setting out on an independent course from the very first by choosing a light colored stone, the Class of 1962 held a ring ceremony that will certainly be an historic one. The ring was dedi- cated to the late General of the Army George C. [Marshall. Mrs. larshall was present at the figure where she re- ceived a ring. The heightened dignity of the occasion was obvious in its every phase, including the Ring Figure magazine in which the usual motley collection of jokes was replaced by the articles on General Marshall, the Class, and the Figure. The event also provided oppor- tunity for the Class to demonstrate its Brother Rat Spirit in an unique way. Johnny Cooke, who had been ])revented from re-entering in the fall because of an in- jury, received his ring in civilian dress along with his uniformed classmates. Later in the year we participated in a Corps project that didn ' t cjuite come off with the same finesse that had marked the Ring Figure. This was the step-off staged just before Easter furlough. Even though this step-off New Cadets Ricketts and Moss are shown receiving instructions from Captain Barnes of the Physics Department Cadets Lloyd and Anthony take a well-deserved lircak dnriiif; tlie leading of the Field Training Exercises

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The leaders of the Class of 1!)6 ' 2 pose with tlic i(t(irinn symbol of order, typifying the order witli whieh they have led their Class lor four year.-. Class Officers Our Rat Year was not much better than any Rat Year, except that the football team was good, and, then Christine Carere, heavily guarded by state policemen, paid us a visit and honored the Class by kissing one of our Brother Rats and getting us out of the Rat Line for a few hours. Most of us will agree that we dyked the best first class that was in the Barracks while we were Rats, and dyking the Class of 1959 gave us our only contact with the ghost that is known reverently as the Old ( ' ori)s. e were the last Rats to endure the fantastic ritual of initia- tion into class status at a last supjicr. The elements of steak sauce, peanut butter, mustard, and succotash permeated the fourth stoop with their fragrance as we nursed the wounds which, in s]Mte of our lionorable run through the gauntlet, we had received in the rear. In football, basketball, cross-country, track, swimming, and wrestling our Brother Rats were frequently steaUng the laurels from the varsity men and excited supporters of the Big Red with optimism for the three years to follow. At Finals « e demanded of our newly elected class officers a Rat picnic that would sufficiently honor the occasion. Cave Springs still provides testimony that the Class of 196€ was heart! from on that fine afternoon. The Rat Picnic set the tone for our Third Class year. As our historian has recorded in the 1960 Bomb, we were out for profit, but intended to make our fortune in the most pleasant way possible. From Goshen to Steves Tlle. in the Pine Room and the loose Lodge the Class of 6-2

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i ,. First Class President., John D. Anthony, accepts the sabre symbolic of victory following the Keydets win over VPI in the annual Turkey Day game A courageous, well-dressed First Classman braves the flames to place a libation on the funeral pjTe of straight pants did not come up to the class of mythological Old Corps step-ofFs, it will no doubt provide subject matter for con- versations at future class reunions, and with time may even be expanded to Old Corps proportions. It was after spring furlough that the major event of out last semester as Seconds occm ' red. The Class took on itself the tedious business of accepting a pledge. Two hundred and thirty-seven of us, the whole Class, agreed not to drink any alcoholic beverages anywhere until the completion of finals. The pledge was kejit; and, conse- cjuently, two of our Brother Rats where able lo enjoy the privilege of living on the first stoop the next year. Finals was unusually cjuiet for the Second Class in June of 1961, but most members of the Class felt that the sacrifice had been worthwhile. Certainly the two Brother Rats for whom the pledge was taken have a deep apitreciation of the meaning of Class spirit. The spring hike in 1961 canie early, and tlie weather was actually cold. A new responsibility was placed on the Second Class as Cadre for the hike while the Firsts were away on their trip. The Second Class provided cadre officers for the companies at the general military science camp, and Second Classmen formed the instructional com- mittees. The Class was congratulated by members of the [Military Science Department and the Commandant for a splentlid job. This on-the-job training provided valuable experience for suuuner camp, where the Class again dis- tinguished itself by establishing the finest record of any Sll class that had attended ROTC summer camp in many years. The fall of 1961 will be remembered chiefly for that wet Thanksgiving Day when our Brother Rats led the Big Red in a thorough defeat of the ' Hoakies. The two Thanksgiving victories over Tech won during our cadetships were impressive ones indeed. The festivities for that weekend had started with a revival of the Mono- gram Minstrel here at MI, which you know and I know was a smash hit. It is 196 ' -2. There will be time in future years for reevaluations of cadetship and the merits and demerits of foiu- years lived in the barracks. Xow. perhaps, only two things may and shoidd be said. The Class of 196 ' 2 was an outstanding class during its cadetship. The Class of 196-2 was a class of Brother Rats.