USMA Class of 1968 - Class Gift Update

August 15, 2007

I think we would all agree that our Alma Mater thrives on tradition and values.  From 1964 until 1968, we lived many of those traditions and values, and many of them shaped our adult lives.  One that I always thought was most worthwhile involved classmates supporting classmates.  That carried over into the Army creed of never leaving a fallen comrade behind.
 
Another West Point tradition is the presentation of class gifts to the Academy.  I’ve always looked on this, from the Academy’s viewpoint, as a visible sign of the Long Gray Line- each class leaving its mark for all to see.  As a member of our class gift finance committee and our memorialization committee, though, I’ve come to see this as an opportunity to reaffirm that value of never leaving a fallen comrade behind.
 
On the battlefields of Viet Nam, we lost twenty-one of our classmates.  I personally knew some better than others- friends like Ken Cummings and Pete Connor who I can still see in my mind’s eye today, and Greg Camp gave us a beautiful tribute to all twenty-one that you can view by clicking on

http://virtualwp.org/WMF/InMemoriamCL68/In_Memoriam_CL_68_350.asx

. 
 
Yes, our class gift, the Rotunda of the new library, will be a great addition to West Point, but it will be a gift to our class as well.  It will be us carrying our classmates home from battle and, by memorializing them in our Rotunda, making sure that their sacrifice will never be forgotten.
 
We all know how good it feels to complete a mission successfully.  Well, we’re on a mission that we need to complete by next summer.  And, this is one time that our Academy has made it easy.  To make your tax deductible contribution , just click on our Class web site,

http://www.west-point.org/class/usma1968/

, and click again on "Class Gift Fund Form" and select what’s most convenient for you – an old fashioned check, an electronic bank transfer or a monthly credit card deduction.  While you’re on the web site, you can also see who’s earned our class coins - see the attached list or click on "Class Gift & Fund Reps & Status" to get the latest.
 
So, friends, classmates and comrades-in-arms, we need to pull together.  We still need about $475,000 within the next 10 months so that, when we return for our 40th Reunion next year and, as a class, visit our Rotunda, we can grip hands, though it be from the shadows, with our fallen classmates and say, "We’ll never forget you.  Be thou at peace."

No Task Too Great!

Joe Fowler