USMA CLASS OF 1958

USMA Class of 1958 History Project Plan

April 4, 2007

I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

The purpose of this project plan is to set forth the various activities that comprise the Class History Project, and provide general guidance and coordinating details necessary to successfully execute the project.

While the primary reason for establishing a class history project is to produce a special book to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of our graduation, the scope of the project will also encompass several related and supporting activities. Specifically, the project will consist of three major tasks, each of which will be described in detail in sections that follow. Those tasks are:

· Fiftieth Reunion Yearbook

The 50^th reunion yearbook is intended to include a comprehensive compilation of information on each classmate, capturing the highlights of our careers from graduation to the present, including photographs, “war stories” and anecdotes, demographics and statistics about us as a class, and remembrances from special friends of the class.

· Fiftieth Reunion DVD(s)

As a special presentation for the fiftieth reunion, a class group is preparing a DVD that will highlight our class history, from cadet days through the present. The plan is that this DVD will be packaged with the 50^th reunion yearbook in a special pocket in the back of the book. There may also be a second DVD (or CD) included with the book containing overflow material from the book, possibly the class database, and other miscellaneous items. A determination will be made, probably in early 2008, as to the amount of content that can be provided and the feasibility of including it with the book.

· Oral History

While the written words and pictures of the yearbook will document an outstanding profile of the Class of ’58, an ambitious adjunct of the project will be the collection of “oral histories”, either in the form of audio cassette tapes or video tapes, with the objective of expanding the amount of information collected from each classmate. Given the rich diversity of military, political, and civil careers that we have pursued, there is a wealth of knowledge and insights that can be captured in this format. Depending on the number of classmates who actually complete an oral history, excerpts of these histories may be included with the yearbook in the form of a multimedia (CD-ROM or DVD-ROM) insert (see “DVD discussion above).

· Class Archives

All of the material collected for the yearbook as well as the oral histories will be retained to constitute the archives of the class. In addition, photographs, letters and other materials collected by our class scribes over the years will become part of the archives. Finally, all classmates will be invited to contribute any photographs, videos, memorabilia, memoirs or other papers that they believe may be of interest to others to become part of the archives. The intent is that these materials will be organized and catalogued to be available for classmates and their families to review, and to be a treasure-trove of material for those in the class (or other researchers or historians) who may be interested in writing articles or books using this material.

Originally written some seven and a half years in advance of our fiftieth reunion, this plan is being updated a little more than a year in advance of the May 2008 reunion date. At this point in time, it is essential that we concentrate on the 50th reunion yearbook, with other portions of the project being of secondary importance.

As of now, it still makes sense to talk of a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM to distribute with our reunion book. After the actual yearbook begins to appear well in hand, we can consider what content to include on a DVD. If necessary, it can be distributed after the actual reunion in May.

Finally, we have harnessed technology along the way to make it easier for our classmates to provide the desired information and materials, and to facilitate access to the materials collected. Our web site is the primary means of collecting information for the yearbook, with the added advantage that this information can also be available for searching following the yearbook production. We have been finding that more than a few classmates have had difficulties with the on-line system. In anticipation of that, the mailing that took place around our 45^th reunion included an outline of the material requested from each classmate for the yearbook. A number of classmates have used that outline to manually submit material and mail it in, and more can be expected to follow that route in the final months ahead. We will need to include in our process the ability for a volunteer in the project staff to enter this manually submitted information into the web database so that we will have all of the information in one source to facilitate the production of the yearbook pages.

I. FIFTIETH REUNION YEARBOOK

The Fiftieth Reunion Yearbook is the primary deliverable for the Class History Project. It will be a hard-cover book of substantial size, very similar to a Howitzer, primarily black & white, but with the inclusion of some color pages depending on affordability. Target cost for the book is currently in the $90.00 per copy range.

Where other reunion yearbooks have been intended primarily for the enjoyment and reference use of classmates and spouses, the expectation is that the Fiftieth Reunion Yearbook will be handed down to our children and other descendants of our classmates. While the class will certainly go on having five-year reunions as long as there are sufficient numbers to participate, the fiftieth reunion marks a (“the”?) major milestone for us as a class. It is fitting, therefore, that this yearbook assemble as much information as possible about each classmate, and about us as a class, to document for posterity our place in the Long Gray Line.

The planned outline for the yearbook is presented below, along with an explanation of the content envisioned for each section:

Planned Fiftieth Reunion Yearbook Outline

Preface

1. Introduction: “A Brief History of the World and the Class of 1958”

Based on the good work of several classmates with history and authoring backgrounds, this section of the book will be a significant section, capturing the highlights of the history of the Class of 1958, from our cadet days through our military careers and the wars we fought in, and on into civil life. Current page estimate is 25-30, including pictures.

2: Pass in Review: Our Golden Roll Call

This section, the primary section of the book, is composed of individual profiles of each member of the class. It will follow the format developed by Frank Waskowicz, including things like summary career information, family data, photographs, and most important, a free-form narrative written by each classmate with content of their choosing. Photographs will include their graduation Howitzer photo and a career photo, both in black and white. Family photos are planned to be included in a separate section to be printed in color. A half-page per classmate has been allocated.

The highest priority of the history project will be to have 100% of our classmates contribute to this section and be represented therein. A fall-back plan has been developed (Register information supplemented by earlier reunion book data) to ensure that classmates are represented to the best extent possible in the event that they do not personally contribute material. In addition, deceased classmates are being provided for, starting with having their spouses/survivors contribute material, as well as using obituary published in Assembly/Taps where available.

Current page estimate: 300 pages, black & white. In addition, 50-100 color pages are planned devoted to family photos.

3. Sex, Lies and Videotape: “War Stories”, Anecdotes and Special Memories

There are literally hundreds of really great stories that our classmates tell about themselves, their roommates, or other classmates. Many of these have already been solicited and collected via e-mail, but countless other stories are out there. They put a human face on our class and capture happenings and insights into us, individually and collectively, that deserve to be recorded and shared with others. Some are actual war stories from Viet Nam and other places. Others are ”war stories” or anecdotes of a different kind, some outrageously funny, some simply nostalgic, and others that bring out our finest qualities.

A major effort will continue aimed at capturing these stories for this reunion yearbook. They will be edited and organized into three primary categories:

A. Cadet Days

B. Service Careers

C. Civil Life

Current page estimate: 16 pages

4. STARS, STRIPES & STATS: A DEMOGRAPHIC LOOK AT THE CLASS OF 1958

Many of us remember that at a few of our reunions in the past, our glorious scribe regaled us with a host of statistics that profiled our class. This section is planned to provide such a profile of our military service, our careers in civil life, and a host of data from trivia to triumph that will amuse and amaze us and our followers. There are countless kinds of data that can be included, from books written, degrees earned, inventions, corporate leadership positions, public offices held, etc.. Raw data is being collected from our classmates, along with the information for other sections of the book, with the expectation that it will processed and organized into a very interesting section of the yearbook.

Current page estimate: 5 pages.

Index

An index by subject and classmate names could be very useful and not difficult to prepare using available word processing tools. (We shall see….)

Appendices/Inserts

DVD(s) and/or CD(s) as described above.

II. ORAL (AUDIO/VIDEO) HISTORIES

This is a very ambitious objective for the history project, but one of enormous potential value. Oral histories have, for some years, provided a vehicle to capture information and insights from individuals who have much to contribute to their families, to their organizations, their cultures and society at large. The historical recollections of the USMA Class of 1958 certainly fit into many of these categories.

The 2003 mailing included an Oral/Video History Guide document sent to each classmate along with the data collection solicitation. The key element of this guide was a suggested outline for an “interviewer” to use to prompt the classmate through a series of questions designed to elicit information of interest. The Guide suggested that the classmate and the interviewer review the questions perhaps a couple of days in advance of doing the live interview to allow time to consider possible responses. The classmate would then sit down with a cassette recorder (audio only) or a video camera (audio/video) and engage in a dialogue with the interviewer following the proposed outline, but allowing for originality in including any topics the classmate chooses. The resulting tape (or copy thereof), appropriately labeled (perhaps with pre-printed labels furnished by the project) would then be sent back to the history project where it would be reviewed, potential excerpts for the yearbook multi-media disk noted, and ultimately included in the class archives.

The “Interviewer” envisioned could be the spouse, children or other appropriate individual. A LOT of thought will have to go into the interviewer’s guide, but some of the obvious types of questions would include: “How did you happen to go to West Point?” “What was the funniest thing that happened to you as a cadet?” “Describe your academic experience at West Point.” “What branch of service did you choose, why did you select it, and did you have any role models at the Academy who influenced your choice?” “Did your service career meet your expectations?” “Tell us about your experience in [Viet Nam] [Dominion Republic] [etc].” “Did you ever run into a classmate in an unexpected place or situation?” “How did your transition into civil life go?” “What are you most proud of in either your military or civilian career?” “What are the biggest ‘lessons learned’ that you would like to pass on to those that follow behind you?” Etc…… The idea is to create a lengthy list of questions from which the classmate and interviewer can select the ones they like the best to yield something on the order of a one-hour tape.

These tapes could have enormous value as a resource for anyone wanting to learn more about West Pointers, the Class of ’58, the military etc.. More important, these tapes will allow the families of our classmates to learn more about us for generations to come, including those who never knew us personally. It should not be hard to convince our classmates that the preparation of these personal histories will be a very worthwhile effort.

As of this update, March 2007, a very small number of these histories have been submitted. This may be a “bridge too far”, and this portion of the project must certainly be subordinated to the yearbook. Nevertheless, classmates will be encouraged to complete an oral history AFTER they have completed their yearbook submissions. Those that do so will be rewarded by their families who will certainly appreciate having them in the years to come.

III. CLASS ARCHIVES (& CLASS HISTORY WEBSITE)

The key to the success of this part of the class history project will be the establishment of an appropriate cataloguing scheme, and the creation of a database of material included in the archives. Some initial thoughts would be that the cataloguing scheme should include codes that reflect the various kinds of media (photographs, documents, books, articles, audio tapes, video tapes, CD’s, records, floppy disks, etc), item description, the date of the item, and searchable descriptive keywords, to include classmate names. To the maximum extent possible, these items should be made available in digital form through scanning, and be viewable via a class history website which will be an integral part of the archives.

Once again, it is recognized that what is envisioned will require a major effort to implement. The payoff, however, will be enormous! Other than collecting material as we go, work on this part of the project will only get underway after the yearbook is completed and the reunion is behind us. The actual accomplishment of cataloguing will depend on volunteers who will assist.

IV. CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS

The “big picture” flow of the activities required to implement the 50^th Reunion Yearbook is depicted below:

A breakout of the project team responsibilities is shown in a table attached to this plan:

V. SCHEDULE

This section sets forth current major milestones for the class history project.

Date Event Notes

1/15/01 Initial Plan Distributed

5/1/01 Key Committee Assignments

11/1/01 History Project Website Active

11/15/02 Solicitation Package Designed Combined inputs for Yearbook,

Oral History, Archives

1/15/03 Initial Class-wide Solicitation (I) Mailed

2/1/04 Follow-On Solicitations (II) Class Newsletters

4/9/07 Final Solicitation (III) Inputs from All

5/30/07 Deadline for Submissions

5,7,9,11/07 Team Conference Calls Where are we?

6/1/07 Solicit Advertisers

9/15/07 Initiate Sales/Ordering Process (AOG to handle orders, shipping etc.)

9/30/07 (Optional) “Late Rank” Cutoff Decide on this in July?

10/07-1/08 Final Edit & Proofing

2/1/08 Yearbook Copy to Printer Plus A/V disk(s) for production

5/26/08 Distribute Yearbook At Reunion (plus mailed copies)

7/08(?) Distribute Supplement Optional supplement with 50^th

Reunion pictures

VI: ORGANIZATION & RESPONSIBILITIES

The organization of the history project is as shown below. A brief description of the responsibilities of these positions follows:

Organization Chart

Chairman: Responsible for the totality of the project, and to provide resources and assistance to each of the subprojects where requested.

Yearbook: Responsible for the overall design and implementation of the 50^th Reunion Yearbook in conjunction with the section editors. Enlist the support of volunteers as necessary. Develop a detailed schedule of milestones required to produce the final book in time for the 50^th reunion.

Publisher: Contract publisher of the final book. Jostens has been selected.

Layout & Production: Responsible for the overall design and layout of the 50^th reunion yearbook; serves as art director and chief guru for all design and layout of the book. Prepares final pages for publisher.

Editor—Introduction, Class History, SLV: Responsible for collecting information and inputs and writing the “Brief History of the World and the Class of 1958” historical overview. Edits the “war stories” section of the book.

Editor-- Pass in Review: Collaborates with Layout & Production to finalize individual classmate entries for the yearbook. Edit submitted materials and prepare supporting text in final form.

SSS/Class Profile: Responsible for the implementation of this section of the yearbook based on classmate submissions in the database. Edit submitted materials and prepare supporting text in final form for submission to layout and production..

Oral History: Responsible for the planning and implementation of the Oral (Audio/Video) History subproject. Enlist the support of volunteers as necessary. Develop an Oral/Video History Guide document to be sent to each classmate along with the data collection solicitation.

USMA ’58 Archives: Responsible for the planning and implementation of the class archives. Enlist the support of volunteers as necessary. Develop an appropriate cataloging scheme and a searchable database to catalog items in the archives. Arrange for the storage of the physical items, to include a suitable ultimate repository for the archives that will endure beyond the lifetime of the class.

Administrator: Oversees the web-based data collection system and process. Cajoles, jawbones and otherwise intimidates classmates into submitting requested materials. Distributes materials or copies to the various editors for editing and layout into yearbook or other products. Tracks progress of project tasks to keep activities on schedule.

Advertising & Logistics: Solicits and arranges for advertising with the objective of reducing the per copy cost of the book. Arranges for the order-taking (sales) and distribution (shipping & handling) of the completed books, to include the ancillary DVD/CD pieces.

The above brief statements of responsibility are a suggested starting point for each of the positions. It is expected that these will be refined and modified, as appropriate, to allow the incumbent volunteers freedom to put their own stamps on their projects.

VII: ADVERTISING & LOGISTICS:

Advertising: To reduce the overall cost of the book and the price to classmates and others, we plan to solicit tasteful advertising for the 50^th reunion yearbook. Following the lead of other classes who have successfully done this, we will make appeals to those classmates who still have significant ties in the corporate world to work their personal networks to obtain advertising commitments. If we adopt the ’57 rates they will be (based on a 500 book run):

Black and white: $300 for a Full Page

$200 for a 1/2 Page

$100 for a 1/4 Page

Color: $500 for a Full Page

$300 for a 1/2 Page

$175 for a 1/4 Page

Each company in ’57 paid for a $300 full-page black and white “memorial add” to their deceased classmates. We will offer these to our classmates and see what the response is.

Logistics: (1) Production/Cost/Pricing: Jostens has been selected to be the publisher of the book. Cost determination will be a work in progress until we firm up page counts, number of color pages, and estimated quantities of books. We also need to consider the production cost and suppliers for the DVD(s) to be included. Pricing is similarly a work in progress and will be determined by the cost per book, cost per DVD, whether to bundle the two into a single price or make them ala carte items, advertising income, and any other offsets or contributions we may obtain.

(2) Distribution: The tentative plan is to discuss with the AOG their taking on the ordering, shipping & handling task for the books/DVD(s), depending on what they would charge. They have systems in place to handle these functions (Alumni Support and the Gift Shop). If the cost is too high, we will need to solicit volunteers help in the DC area to do this. Books delivered at the reunion will not occur a shipping and handling charge, but we will give the purchaser the option. It is anticipated that some classmates may want more than one copy depending on children and grandchildren. We also need to take into account a separate mailing of a reunion picture supplement if we decide to have one after the reunion.