The Colorado statesman., 1923-06-09
BIG WEST POINT
REUNION PLANNED
ALL WHO EVER ATTENDED THE
MILITARY ACADEMY ASKED
TO BE THERE IN JUNE.
TRACING THE UNDERGRADUATES
Finding Their Addresses Was Not an
Easy Task-Many Hundreds of For
mer Cadets Are Expected at the
School.
BY EDWARD q. CLARK

w Observation-Disclosures OF tne
Military academy at West Point are
searching the country for the addresses
of 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 a 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 1t 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
Il is expected that many hundreds
of West Pointers, graduates and non
graduates, will appear at the school in
June, there to spend a 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
the good of the academy, for the 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 atfection.
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
a list of men whose addresses We're
unknown. In many cases it was not
known whether the men who were
sought were living or dead. Each per-
son who received 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 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 1888. 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
1t was not known whether those
names were CT men living or dead.
1t 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
ily 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
its 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,
a 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 has been written before, but in
with the class reunions at
West Point of this year 1t 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.
Rt. Rev. Herbert Shipman, suffragan
bishop of the Protestant Episcopal
diocese, New York city, was for a
good many years the chaplain at the
United States Military academy. He
u,rote the cadets song called "The
Corps" 1t is sung by the cadets almost
as frequently as Benny Havens,"
which is the almost century-old lilt of
the academy.
Government Needs More Buildings
The government has so many en-
- L, IL. IL. nf Wash In n.tnn that |