page_title: The class the stars fell on
section_title: About the class
hierarchical_section_title: The class the stars fell on / About the class
caption_attribution_description: English: Eisenhower Playing Football at West Point; Part of the 1912 West Point football team. Cadet Eisenhower 3rd from left; Cadet Omar Bradley 2nd from right
context_page_description: The class the stars fell on is an expression used to describe the Class of 1915 at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. In the United States Army, the insignia reserved for generals is one or more stars. Of the 164 graduates that year, 59 attained the rank of general, more than any other class in the history of the Academy, hence the expression. Two reached the rank of five-star General of the Army. There were also two four-star generals, seven three-star lieutenant generals, 24 two-star major generals, and 24 one-star brigadier generals. Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of the five-star generals, went on to become the 34th President of the United States. The other, Omar Bradley, became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Harry S. Truman and Eisenhower.
  The term "the class the stars fell on" had previously been applied to the class of 1886, which produced a large number of general officers for World War I. Of this class, which included John J. Pershing, Charles T. Menoher, and Mason Patrick, 25 out of 77 became generals.
context_section_description: Some 287 cadets entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1911, the largest plebe (entering or most junior) class up to that date. That year, the United States Congress changed the rules regarding appointment to the Academy. Previously, Congressmen had been allowed to make one appointment every four years. This was now increased to one every three years. Fourteen more cadets received appointments to the class, which they joined six weeks late, in August 1911, thereby missing out on the infamous period of hazing known as Beast Barracks. They were known as the "Augustines" after the month on which they joined. Among their number was Omar Bradley. Only 164 cadets graduated and were commissioned as second lieutenants on 12 June 1915, but that was still the largest graduating class up to that time, and the US Army had only 105 positions available for them.
  The class First Captain (the cadet brigade commander) was Roscoe B. Woodruff. The top 19 graduates all went into the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Ranking first in the class was William E. R. Covell, who edged out Edwin R. Kimble by the narrowest of margins. Covell went on to become a general during World War II. Kimble served during World War I as a major in France, where he died on 9 April 1918 of sepsis after a surgical operation. The youngest graduating member of the class was Clyde R. Eisenschmidt, who was born on 30 July 1894. He retired as a lieutenant colonel on 30 June 1940.
  The oldest member of the class was Robert B. Lorch, who was born on 18 December 1888. After serving in France as a major during World War I, he was honorably discharged from the Army on 8 December 1922. Recalled during World War II, he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1950. In a class with many superb athletes, Thomas B. Larkin won the physical fitness contest and was designated "strong man" of the Corps. The lowest ranking member of the class, known as the class "goat", was Charles C. Herrick. After service in France as a major, he was honorably discharged on 15 December 1922, and became an investment banker. Recalled to active duty during World War II, he reached the rank of colonel. Also among the class was Luis R. Esteves, the first Puerto Rican to attend West Point, and the first to graduate. He was the first member of the class to be made a general.
  Sixteen members of the class were sons of West Point graduates. Three were both sons and grandsons of graduates. Alexander P. Cronkhite was the son of Major General Adelbert Cronkhite, from the class of 1882, and the grandson of Brigadier General Alexander C. M. Pennington, Jr., of the class of 1860. Ranked 7th in the class, Cronkhite died in a mysterious shooting accident on 25 October 1918. John F. Conklin was the son of Colonel John Conklin of the class of 1884. His maternal grandfather was Major General William H. French of the class of 1837. Oscar Straub was the son of Colonel Oscar I. Straub of the class of 1887, and the grandson of Brigadier General E. Van A. Andruss, from the class of 1864. In addition, John R. Mendenhall's father John Ross Mendenhall had attended the Academy but dropped out in 1881 without graduating, and his grandfather, Colonel John Mendenhall, was a graduate of the class of 1851.  Pearson Menoher was the son of Major General Charles T. Menoher, who was a member of the class of 1886, and served as the first chief of the United States Army Air Service.
  Of the others:
  Douglas H. Gillette was the son of Major Cassius E. Gillette from the class of 1884;
  Stafford LeRoy Irwin was the son of Major General George LeRoy Irwin from the class of 1889;
  Sydney Graves was the son of Irwin's classmate William S. Graves;
  Vernon Evans was the son of Lieutenant Colonel William Pierce Evans from the class of 1878;
  John E. Rossell was the son of Colonel William T. Rossell of the class of 1879;
  Donald A. Davison was the son of Lorenzo P. Davison of the class of 1885;
  Henry McE. Pendleton, was the son of Rossell's classmate Colonel Edwin P. Pendleton;
  Blackburn Hall, was the son of William P
caption: The 1912 West Point football team. Dwight Eisenhower is third from left; Louis Merillat is eighth from the left, in the A sweater; Omar Bradley is on the far right.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "ca. 1915 --- Dwight D. Eisenhower (third from left) and Omar Bradley (extreme right) are shown in the line-up with part of the West Point Military Academy Football Team. Eisenhower and Bradley, who became General of the Army in 1950, both graduated from West Point in 1915. --- Image by \u00a9 Bettmann/Corbis", "Image Copyright": "\u00a9 Copyright 2013 Corbis"}