Virginia Military Institute - Bomb Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

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!PP mam • Diversity Molds The Man All throughout ones cadetship a cadet is exposed to many new experiences. Most of these experiences are positive and have a lasting effect for the rest of ones life. As with anything though one is bound to experience some bad times. VMI is no different and with this in mind one is ready to look into how cadets live and what they are exposed to in their daily existences. The Cadet Life section shows various experiences that cadets live through during the academic year. From the New Market Day ceremonies to intramurals to confinement all these events help mold the VMI man into what he is; The Citizen Soldier. Cadets usually complain about many things that happen around VMI. This is their right. One cannot expect men to live in such a closed environment and not find fault with many things around them. But, for the most part cadets are content to live with and enforce the system that is in place. The cadet in his daily routine goes through more in one day than most normal college students go through in an entire week. That is what the VMI challenge is all about. : I In the following section the daily experi- ences of the cadet are laid out for all to see. Also included are the not so usual , ' experiences that VMI opens to the cadets. I ■ -. . • ' ' ■ Some of the daily experiences are confine- ' ' ' ' ' -| ,. -: ment, Rat Training, Intramurals, forma- ■ .y tions, parades, classes and homework. ' ' « j »y .; , These daily experiences serve to develop in ; ' ' • ,??■- - ' . the cadet a certain sense of responsibility .»ft. « r and sense of duty. All of this serves to help train the future military leaders and the future civilian leaders that our great na- tion so desperately needs. However, there are a full range of new experiences that broaden the horizons of the cadet. These serve to give the cadet an open mind to new ideas and thought. I Each day in the life of a cadet is never the same, cadets are always exposed to . new things. M

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Remembering New Market In the almost one hundred and fifty year existence of the Virginia Military Institute there is one event which stands out as a supreme example of the ideal of the Citi- zen Soldier, the Corps ' of Cadets partici- pation in the Battle at New Market. The Corps, called up for service by Confeder- ate Maj. Gen. John C. Brekinridge to help stop a Union thrust into the Shenandoah valley in May of 1864, became the only military college in the history of the Unit- ed States to fight, as a unit, in a decisive battle. Marching from Lexington to the New Market area, the Corps was held in reserve during the battle until the center of the Confederate line began to crumble in the face of massive artillery and small arms fire from the Union troops. Then, in a desperate attempt to hold the Yankees as- sault in check, Brekinridge reluctantly gave the order for the Cadets to move up and join the fight. The date was 15 May, 1864. An observer behind the beleaguered Confederate lines spoke for all — It made our hearts leap, he stated later, to see the Cadets from the V.M.I, move for- ward in the charge upon the enemy ' s bat- tery. Their step was as steady as the tread of veteran soldiers. They never faltered, but went into the ' harvest of death ' as though they had been accus- tomed to such bloody work. Filling the de- pleted Confederate line and assaulting up Bushong Hill, the four Cadet companies. A, B, C, and D, forced the withdrawal of the Union troops in the area and seized one of their cannon. But the price was high. Fol- lowing the Corps ' action, five Cadets lay dead, five more were mortally wounded, and 47 others had received their red badges of courage. The Battle of New Market was a great victory for the Confederacy, but of little consequence in the outcome of the Civil War. However, it was an important mile- stone for the Virginia Military Institute, Her Corps of Cadets, and the ideal of the Citizen Soldier. The courage and determi- nation exemplified by the cadets of New Market has been, and always will be the ultimate st andard for the V.M.I. Man . That is why every May 15th is a very sol- emn, proud day for cadets and alumni alike. New Market Day is remembered at the Institute by a very special parade. In this parade the corps centers itself on the stat- ue of Virginia Mourning Her Dead , which was sculpted by Moses Ezekiel. As the roll is taken there are ten extra names included. They are the names of the ten cadets who died as a result of New Mar- ket. The corps honors the ten dead cadets with a 21 gun rifle salute and a wreath laying ceremon conducted by the Com- mandant and the Regimental Command- er. After the wreath laying taps is played. Echo Taps, sounded across post this is the most moving aspect of the entire ceremo- ny. The corps then marches down Letcher Avenue and the Commandant accepts the review in front of Virginia Mourning Her Dead and the six graves located behind the statue. New Market Day is the most important day in the history of the Institute. This day is unique to VMI, no other school in the United States can claim an honor such as this. The growth of myths and tales could never cloud the bril- lance of what the Corps of Cadets did so. They fought like I men. They held a criti- 3 cal post in a wavering ; line and stood their f ground, to be in the forefront in the final charge. They did not win the battle, but it could not have been won as it was without them. Even their enemies were im- pressed. VMI built a reputation of excel- lence, that was earned through the blood and sacrifice of the corps at New Market. ' A streak of fire and smoke flashed across the field ' when the boys pulled their triggers. The firing party salutes the fallen New Market cadets with a twenty- one gun rifle salute. The firing party consists of vol- unteers from the corps.