Virginia Military Institute - Bomb Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

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Military men . . . should say but few words and speak them to the point. The time may be near when your State will need your services, but it has not come yet. If that time comes, then draw your swords and throw away the scab- bards. Stonewall Jackson

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The Citizen Soldier homas Jonathan Jackson first came to the Virginia Military institute on 1 3 August, 1851. He was to remain at the Institute for just a few months shy often years. At the . suggestion of Colonel Francis Smith, the Board of Visitors appointed Jackson Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and instructor in Artillery tactics. Colonel Francis Smith had served with Jackson during the Mexican-American war and knew of his brilliant record of heroism. This prompted him to suggest Jackson ' s appoint- ment to the staff of the Institute. Upon arriving in Lexington Jackson found the community to be very pleasant. It was quite a change from the isolation of Fort Meade, Florida. He soon became involved in the community as well as the church. As a community service he would teach sunday school to negro slave children. He also became involved with the Democratic Party of Virginia. At the institute, Jackson soon earned the reputation of being a mediocre Professor yet he was admired and respected by the cadets. His lectures were well rehearsed but he never deviated from the structure of his books. His classes were monotonous a nd he would never explain the material after going over it once. Major Jackson had his first chance to com- mand the cadets as a military unit at the trial of John Brown in Charles Town, Virgini, (now West Virginia). Sixty-four cadets were selected to as- sist in ensuring that no abolitionist rescue operation would take place during the trial and execution. Jack- son commanded twenty-one cadets with two artillery pieces. The trial went without incident. In 1861, as the secessionist debate raged in Lex- ington Courthouse. The incident provoked a response from the union- ists in Lexington, emotions fiared, and the cadets responded by march- ing on the town. Major Jackson ar- rived and managed to calm the out- raged cadets. The time may be near when your state will need your ser- vices, Jackson thundered, but it has not come yet. If that time comes, then draw your swords and throw away your scabbards. The cadets cheered wildly. This left a mark on the cadets that would remain with them for the rest of their lives. By April of 1861 it became obvious that war was inevitable. Colonel Smith offered Governor Letcher the ser- vices of the officers and cadets of this institution for any duty to which the necessities of the State may call us. We have a company of 250 well armed and well disciplined men. Within days the Corps, under the command of Major Jackson, was on its way to Richmond to train troops. Jackson soon made it clear that he desired a command of his own. Jackson received the command he desired and he was very successful in all his campaigns. He died of pneumonia on May 10, 1863 after being shot in the arm by his own troops. Regardless of his untimely death at the age of thirty-seven, General Stonewall Jackson proved himself to represent the ideal citizen-soldier. He first proved himself during the charge of Chapultepec and later as a professor at the Virginia Military Institute. He was killed during the peak of his life as a General in the Confederate Army. He was a peace-loving man yet when duty called he emerged as a gallant warrior. He will always be remembered by the corps for his statement that each cadet reads when entering through the arch named after him: You may be whatever you resolve to be. y )

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etting A Standard eorgeCatlett Marshall was born on December 31, 1880 in Uniontown, Pennsyl- ■ vania. He early on wanted to be a soldier and spent his boyhood near areas associated with George Washington ' s early military career. A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute in 1901, he learned military skills and of the exploits of Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. While at V.M.I, he proved not to be a typical cadet. Du ing his rat year he was forced to squat over a bayonet and he slipped and injured himself. While at the hospital recovering from his injury he was asked who the first classmen who did that to him were. He refused to give any names and was exempted from the ratline by the first class for his stoicism. During his third class year he was busted from the rank of corporal for inefficiency. He rose to the rank of cadet captain his first class year. After graduating he was commissioned, served twice in the Philippines, and was on General Pershing ' s staff during World War I. Between the wars he served in China and as assistant commandant of the Infantry School at Fort Benning where he trained many future World War II commanders including Bradley, Stilwell, and Clark. In 1938, at the begin- ning of World War 11, he was called to Washington and served as Chief of Staff. In September 1939 he was appointed head of the army. Prime Minister Chur- chill called him the architect of victory. His record of public ser- vice to his country, in addition to his Army service is legendary: Ambassador to China, 1945- 1945; a Secretary of State who faced down the Soviets in Greece and in the first Berlin airlift crisis, initiated the Marshall Plan and laid the groundwork for NATO, 1947-1949, President of the American Red Cross, 1949-1950; the only military officer ever named Secretary of Defense, dur- ing the first year of the Korean War, 1950-1951; and, again, the only career military officer ever to receive the Nobel Prize for Peace. When George C. Marshall died in 1959, there were those who wondered how one man could have done so much for his coun- try. There is no record of service to match it. Though what George Marshall did is overwhelming, how he did it is even more star- tling. He never dissembled; he never toadied to anyone. He was honest and forthright. He was sometimes wrong, and when that happened, he took full responsibility. As a result, he not only had the full confidence of his political leaders but the trust of Congress. He was a national hero who knew, better than most, all of our people, having lived and worked with them in their own sections of our land. He was given respect by leaders abroad accorded few Americans past or since. In sum he was the American public servant of the twentieth century. George C. Marshall served the United States as both a military commander and a civilian leader. He was introduced into the order of the Cincinnati and recieved numerous civilian and military awards. These awards included the Distinguished ' Service Medal with 1st Oak Leaf Cluster and the Nobel Peace Prize for 1953. A quote from James Bryant Conant, a former president of Harvard University, best sums up the accomplishments of General George C. Marshall. An American to whom freedom owes an enduring debt of gratitude, a soldier and statesman whose ability and character brook only one comparison in the history of the nation. (Information provided by the Marshall Foundation.)