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

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X 1 JA FOREWORD IT has been the purpose underlying this volume to portray to our readers something of the spirit that has lent to the profession of arms its dignity and prestige, enhanced as it is by hundreds of years of the noblest traditions and enriched by the contributions of the most noted characters of all history .... We of the Academy, who have just completed four years here in the midst of trying circumstances, when conditions were unsettled and innovations the thing of the moment, are apt to have a clouded vision of what the Service means and to cherish but slight ambitions for its future .... You of the outer world, undisturbed by any present thoughts of danger, and for- getful for the time of the great obligations you owe to a well- established military safeguard, may be prone to close your eyes to the value of that Service .... If the theme that has actuated the authors of this present volume has caught the fancy of either of us to the extent that our Service may be better under- stood, and so fostered, then our efforts will not have been in vain. I x ■ ■mmmMm i|I1| i:im;ii;! llHliihiiili;!: iiliiliilll