Georgetown University - Ye Domesday Booke Yearbook (Georgetown, DC)

Page 88 text:

Wm Uesertit ©fficers ' Craining Corps THE termination of hostilities and the return to normalcy have brought manifold changes to the organization of the Georgetown R.O.T.C. Organized in 1 791 to defend an embattled republic, it has pro- gressed through the years, rendering distin- guished service to the United States. During the War of 1812. in answer to the personal call of General Winder, Georgetown ' s sons laid aside their studies to take up arms against the British in the Battle of Bladensburg. In the Ci il War, Georgetown created the famous Blue and Gra - emblem which signified the union of the North and the South. The Fight- ing 69th was reviewed by President Lincoln on the grounds of Georgetown in 18b I. During the Mexican War the first soldier to scale the walls of the castle, Chapultepec, was a Georgetown student. In World War I o ' er a thousand men from Georgetown an- swered the call to ser -ice, while fifty-three lost their lives in that struggle. At present the service flag hanging in Dahlgren Chapel car- ries a gold star with the number 171 ; a tribute to the students killed in action in World War II. The history of Georgetown students serving under the colors of the United States gives significance to the new organization that has appeared this ear. The past is a pattern for the future and the R.O.T.C. has its primary object, as it had in the past, in laying the foundation of intelligent citizenship within the student and giving him the military train- ing that will benefit him and his nation. The New Reserve Officers Officer Training Course is a four-year program divided into a two-year basic course, and two-year advanced course. The elementary course includes mili- tarv subjects, among which are Military

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Wi z JSand THE war had left its mark on the Georgetown Uni ersit - Band. In- struments and uniforms, unused since 1942, had almost succumbed to rust and moth. October, however, brought foot- ball games with all the trimmings, and first steps for the resurrection of the band were taken b - Mr. Troy, S.J. One by one, mem- bers of the pre-war Georgetown band, vet- erans with experience in army bands, returned. The capable serxices of Mr. Herbert V. Hoyer, WOJG, .Assistant Director of the U. S. Army Band, were secured as director. The Band made its appearance at the Ford- ham game on the night of October 1 1 . ThcN accompanied the team to Philadelphia and on the trip to Boston. Fifty wildly shouting and loudly pla ing musicians at Bra ' es ' [- ield formed almost half of Georgetown ' s entire cheering section. Those torchlight parades through old Georgetown, breakfast at eight in Boston ' s South Station, the Star-Spangled Banner in the dark at Uline ' s Arena, playing Sons of Georgetown while passing the reviewing stand in Washington ' s Holy Name Parade, serenading Philadelphia for an hour and a half from the Wayne Junction platform — tlese were the recollections which make Band n .embership worthwhile.

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Organization, Hygiene. First Aid. and E olu- tion of Warfare. Also prescribed b - the course are regular sessions of close and extended drill. As Junior and Senior members of the ad- ' anced R.O.T.C.. cadets choose either Tactics and Techniques of the Infantr - or those of the Air Corps. Members of these groups will re- turn to the campus ne.xt fall as veterans of a six weeks summer course at Fort Meade. There, future Infantry Officers will take prac- tical training in maneuvers, while future Air Corps men will take fifteen hours of familiar- ization and indoctrination flights. Through arrangement with the Signal Corps the Cadets have seen during the past semester some of the finest Army motion pictures, many of which were real action pictures taken during World War II. This has been part of the regular course of instruction. The primary object of the advanced course, as pursued five hours a week, is to produce a pool of professionally trained reser e officers ready for any national emergency. Its mem- bers have the option of the air or the ground course which lead respect i eK ' to commis- sions as second lieutenants in the Infantry or the Air Corps. The R.O.T.C., transformed from a war- time unit of less than one hundred men, now comprises over one hundred and ninety cadets. This year, they welcomed Colonel John C. Whitcomb as Commander of the new George- town Infantry and .Air Units. Col. Whit- comb was assisted by Lt. Col. R. G. Cicco- lella, Lt. Col. Leo E. Fielder, Major R. J. Cleghorn and Captain E. L. Roughton and Captain J. W. Klerk. Under the able direction of Colonel Whit- comb and his staff of assistants, composed of veteran officers and non-commissioned officers of World War II, the R.O.T.C. program pro- gressed smoothly and efficiently. Throughout the entire year cooperation was splendid, mo- rale was high, discipline exemplary, and all enjoyed a spirit of camaraderie. .All seemed to sense the necessit - of preparedness in the uncertain aftermath of the late world crisis. 85