United States Military Academy West Point - Howitzer Yearbook (West Point, NY)

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K V 6 u' Rip. ,jf . .J E' p'F.'T'2-C ' if--:Fi.1::?:i. ' . 1-' qt--:::w 5 .7 fi E'i ':i? -E. ' f ..' 4-' 3 ' H -3 ggi: l jj . l ti M -2 . . . , .c .: 1 '3 -3953: . shakes down into everlasting smash all the bric-a-brac and pottery of the conceits and prejudices and false ideals that he may have erected in the front parlour of his soul. It is a iine thing, this shock to conventions and false standards, not merely as a destructive concussion, but because it is a shock of readjustmentg because it is a reconstituting of pernicious junk into material for new moulds of characterg because it is a getting rid of useless rubbish that impedes the development of manhood. But if the Corps engulfs personality at the beginning, at the end it restores to the individual his identity transformed, invigorated and ennobled, and stamped with the ineffaceable mould of its high ideals and standards. It is a sort of a transmigration of soul, during which the West-Pointer has become temporarily incarnate in this body of the Corps, and, having served his probation, issues purified and exalted into a new sphere of activity. The Corps is also a growing organism. lt is being slowly moulded and developed towards a standard of perfection by the influences that control its activities. It must follow the law of life and evolve the world, or else decay. Each sciously contributes by his high general growth, or else by his furthermore, this inter-relation is with him a responsibility of rela- he never can renounce. His after either for shame or for honor, in The degeneration of its graduate humiliation and extinction this Corps has its life. How is it possi- from a probation of four years in certihcate of proficiency in honor, from a selected staff of fejlogv- and measured him day by day by established and history . of the Academy, the honor the Country infoliate in his defense-how is Vit one moment be forgetful with the evolution of the rest of member in his transit uncon- purpose some mite towards this shortcoming, some hindrance. And, lifelong. Every graduate carries tionship towards the Corps which deeds react upon its well-being, a way that is intimate and vital. members would bring down in great institution from which the ble, then, that a man emerging such an environment, possessing a in duty, in intelligence, in manhood graduates who have scrutinized the standards which experience has justiiiedg with the honor of the Army, the honor of his own and connded to possible that he can for of a responsibility of such

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EST T POI , HERE is but one lVest Point, one United States Military Academy, one United States Corps of Cadets on earthg and when that is said it means much more than an obvious statement of identity. ' faithful graduate a realization that carries a thrill, a vivid memory dear to It means to every his heart: a pride that uplifts his soul: a compelling iniiuence that moulds his standards and controls his will, a brotherhood of obligation, of service, of lofty ideals and of simple rectitude. It means, in their incomparable beauty of changing seasons, the Hudson Highlands that have echoed the reveille and retreat gun of Conti- nental or Cadet for nigh a century and a half: the emerald Plain that has felt thie sacred feet of Wasliiilgton and where, since then, have trodden the heroes of a hundred desperate fields-Grant, Lee, Sherman, Jackson and all the tribe of ,battle who learned their trade up-on its velvet surface: the battlemented buildings: the weary grind: the joyous girl of the many-twinkling feetn: our Profs and Times, our f'fesses and skins, our hopes and fears, and with all and above all- The Corps and The Corps and The Corps! The Corps is a living organism with a conscious personality. It has its own thies. Its character is as personal and quite as susceptible of development. beliefs, ideals, prejudices and antipa- emotional as that of an individual, and The Corps consciousness is not merely theaggregation of four or five hun- dred individual apprehensions, but is the resultant of their separate forces of conviction and sentiment plus a 'A certain genius which has beenlthe growth of its ,century of life, and , 7' which imposes its quality upon the new members of its corporate body. Fi' Wlien the Plebe, rank with the odor of exceeding freshness, becomes a M molecular constituent of the ever renewing body of the Corps he feels the shock of new birth, a loss of identity and a complete surrender of , will. He has entered a new world and, in respect to his point of view, Q has to be born again and to recon- struct his standard of values, He finds that many things he has hitherto esteemed important are here regarded I ' as insignificant, and, among them, him- self. He learns at once the exceeding l mi beauty Of hUmi1itY and Se1'ViCC, and the true megniiqg Of denqocracyl He is 1'H8.ClC CO1'1SClOL1S of the dignity of his own body and of the fact that man is l HU efeef biped fitted with 3 Set df intended for physical machinery ceives, probably for the nrst time, skilled and constant use. He per- the power of collective and concerted action under the f .gg I lwff- CO111T1'01 of 21 Su- preme willg and, in- L J- M fi cidentally, t I1 e bearing of subordi- -',!' jg P- fm nation in the gen- eral economy of ' ',f- 'i,tt 'efig iiffvm A V i the' universe. It is a hard and dis- locating jolt that T3

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N j' A . , df tu -A.wfx15,C, l'1E- - -M1 if y ,,f wq3.J.j, , - V .,. 1 s g -. 1 ' ,,.-,iii -..un... A .- ' -- magnitude, or recreant to a knighthood so noble and a trust so supreme? Including the Class of Nineteen Hundred and Ten, 4,936 men have graduated-from West Point in 108 yearsg or an average of a little less than 45 per year. Of these 552, or over II per cent., have become general officers either in the armies of the United States or of the Confederacy, 246 have been killed in action and nearly one-half have entered civil life. There are about 2,550 graduate-s now living, of whom the oldest two are General Samuel T. French of the class of 1843 and General Simon Bolivar Buckner of the class of 1844, both general officers of the Confederate Armyf The Association of Graduates, organized in 1870, numbers 1,336 at present writing, and publishes an annual report containing the necrology for the year together with a record of the meetings and officers of the Association, as well as an occasional bulletinp It possesses in Cullum Memorial Hall a splendid home, costing with its equipment about S275,000.00, the gift of an alumnus, in which are memorialized the distinguished sons of the Academy who have died, and in which the living members of the Association can tind lodging upon the occasion of their visits to West Point. In connection with the Hall, General Cullum left a fund for art works, and another for the ister-a work altogether unique pleteness as a biographical rec- cational institution. All gradu- and unite in making it a power terests of the Academy. This Point a very minute fraction of people dispersed over an im have a fairly clear understand- ord of this great institution, and ception of its genius and value. well-being and development that regards should be universal. Our ter this if they would individual- occasion to combat mis- and to exert personal in- Alina Mater in all matters Let her graduates bear brance, also, when they the purchase of memorials and perpetuation of the Cullum Reg- in its character, scope and com- ord of the personnel of anedu- ates should join this association for the advancement of the in- is a very large land, and West it. Of our ninety millions of mense area, but a few thousands ing of the organization and rec- many have a prejudiced miscon- It is highly important toiour a true understanding in these graduates could do much to fos- ly and by co-operation take representation and error Huence in behalf of their' concerning .her welfare, her in generous remem- are scattered abroad upon