Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1923-06-13
ALL WHO EVER ATTENDED THE
MILITARY ACADEMY ASKED
TO BE THERE IN JUNE.
TRACING THE UNDERGRADUATES
Finding Their Addresses Was Not an
Easy rask-Many Hundreds of For
mer Cadets Are Expected at the
School.
BY EDWARD 3. CLARK

SSaAculuS the country Tor the addresses
or living men who at one time at
tended Uncle Sans school. The
search is being conducted just as
thoroughly for men who attended the
school but did not graduate as it is
for graduates.
The Intention Is to hold early in
June reunion at the school on the
Hudson of as many men as possible
who one time saw service as cadets.
1t Is comparatively easy to locate the
living graduates, but it is not such an
easy task to find the men who spent
one, two, or three years at the school,
for most of them gave up their army
connection after leaving and the names
of many have not appeared in the rec
ord since they first were printed in
the Cadet Register.
1t is expected that many hundreds
Of West Pointers, graduates and nom
graduates, will appear at the school in
June, there to spend few days Sleep
ing In cadet quarters and eating at the
cadet mess, and living over again the
days of their cadetship.
Virtually every West Point class
which has members living today has
formed an organization including in
its membership the men who entered
with the class as well as the men
who graduated with it. This COM
radeship of graduates and nongradu-
ates of the same classes has made for
| tho ooad Of tho aoodopov for +bo non
graduates, finding that their class
mates who did graduate and the
school which they attended still feel
for them the affections of the old days,
have learned that the institution
which nurtured them for a while still
holds them in remembrance and de-
mandS their faith and affection.
How the Men Were Traced.
The means of tracing men who at
one time were cadets have proved most
effective, and it was simple system
| at that. A list was made of former
| cadets whose addresses definitely were
known, and to each of them was sent
list of men whose addresses were
unknown. In many cases it was not
| known whether the men who were
sought were living or dead. Each per-
son who received a list was asked to
supply the address of as many Of the
men whose names appeared thereon as
was possible. The result is that today
there is virtually q complete directory
Of the men who once attended West
Point and who now are in civil life.
| The writer of this received a list of
the names of the men who entered
the Military academy as a part of the
class which graduated in 1883. This
class entered the academy in the spring
of 1879. On the list received were the
names Of 20 men whose addresses were
not known, and in some few cases
! it was not known whether those
names were of men living or dead.
It was possible for the writer to
supply the information concerning six
men of whose whereabouts there was
/ ignorance. If anything like this aver
| age of returns was maintained it read
fly can be seen how easily and quickly
! the authorities of the academy found
out where the wanderers are.
Old Ties Still Strong.
Old army men are wondering wheth-
er the ties which today bind the
members of the individual classes at
/ West Point together are as strong as
they were in the days when the classes
were small. The class of 1884, for
instance, had a graduate membership
of only 81 cadets. Three years ago
In one class more than 200 cadets re-
ceived diplomas and their commissions
as second lieutenants on graduation
! day. The ties of the old days are
strong, and nearly every class has
it's organization, the members of which
meet every five years in reunion at the
old school.
On May % of this year Gen. Horatio
G. Gibson, United States army, retired,
man of good health and of clear
mind, will gather his friends about
him to help him celebrate his ninety
sixth birthday. OF General Gibson
much mas been written before, but in
connection with the class reunions at
West Point of this year it might be
said that If the general finds the
physical strength to take him to the
academy he will be the only living
member of his class to be present
He is the oldest living graduate OF
Uncle Sans Military academy.
Ri. Rev. Herbert Shipman, suffragan
bishop of the Protestant Episcopal
J diocese, New York city, was for a
| good many years the chaplain at the
Omitted States Military academy He
wrote the cadets song called "The
| Corps" It Is sung by the cadets almost
as frequently as Benny Havens,"
which is the almost century-old Tilt of
the academy.
Government Needs More Buildings