Category: WP-ORG

We have reached our fund drive goal of $50,252.00. Please STOP SENDING MONEY for FD-53.

Thank you for your continued support!

Thanks for all of the financial support thus far! We currently stand at 87.7% complete. Please get us across the finish line with this final push. As a special “Thank You” for your contribution, I have come up with a fun poem about West Point.

Donate by credit card, PayPal or check: https://www.west-point.org/donate/
Fund Drive 53 Budget: https://www.west-point.org/budget/
Donation report for Fund Drive 53: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/report/

Thanks for your support,

Cameron Price
USMA 1996
For Freedom We Risk

The Cadet’s Crucible (By Cameron Price & Chat GPT)

On hallowed ground, where heroes rise,
A beacon shining in the skies,
West Point, the cradle of the brave,
Where hearts unite and spirits pave.

Upon the Hudson’s mighty shore,
A bond that’s forged forevermore,
In battles fought, in wisdom learned,
The corps of cadets’ trust is earned.

Together, shoulder-to-shoulder they stand,
Defending freedom’s cherished land,
Their courage, honor, and their grace,
A testament to this sacred place.

From storied past to futures bright,
These leaders rise, both day and night,
With every challenge they embrace,
A bond that time cannot erase.

For West Point’s sons and daughters true,
The Long Gray Line, a bond that grew,
In reverence for the ones who’ve gone,
The corps, the corps, the corps lives on.

This poem was created in conjunction with Chat GPT. Chat GPT can do all sorts of cool stuff, and it has an incredibly easy to use interface. You should check it out if you haven’t already 🙂

Every six months, those of us who see to the day-to-day workings of WP-ORG write a fund drive message, requesting funding for the next six months. We take turns explaining how WP-ORG operates, what we do, and how we serve the West Point community. It’s my turn at the wheel. https://www.west-point.org/donate/

As I sit here, I find myself contemplating what I have done, personally, to serve the West Point community. I frequently train new moderators, help you with your email addresses, I assist parent clubs and societies with learning how to create WordPress sites, answer your questions, and, if I can’t, I find a resource who can. Those are the things I do most days. That’s my job. But there is another side that is more than a job, it’s a passion. What I do every single day, is convert the personal web pages of deceased graduates to eulogy pages. If the family or class requests, I add photos and memorials to the main page of the deceased. We don’t charge a fee for adding anything to a memorial page. We have eulogies going back to the late 1990’s! http://defender.west-point.org/service/taps.mhtml

I read every single eulogy written within the WP-ORG system. I do that, so that nothing untoward ends up on the eulogy pages for our graduates, and to correct formatting errors that may occur. Reading each of the eulogies gives me insight to the people we create these pages for. It’s an honor to read them every day. Recently, we have one class son in the class of 1949, who has taken it upon himself to write a memorial entry for every class member in his father’s class. He has nearly completed his task. I have read them every day for months.

Of course some of the people I read about stick with me. When I visit West Point, I always go to the cemetery, where I visit many of the graduates I have come to know through how they’re remembered by their class, friends, and family, and often because I actually spoke on the phone with some graduates frequently before their death. When I have occasion to visit the cemetery, my visits grow longer each time as I reflect at their place of rest. There are some I miss terribly, and knew personally.

This year, however, I remembered one of “my” graduates in the most unexpected way. I took a vacation, which, if you know me, does not happen often. Typically I still do my WP-ORG work from wherever I am. This time, my husband and I celebrated our 50th anniversary in Israel. This was a meaningful trip for us, and I went nearly off the radar for the duration of the trip, and concentrated on being in the moment with my husband in a very spiritual place. Imagine my shock, when our tour guide stopped on a boardwalk in Tel Aviv, on our walk to Joffa, and said that this is where he always stopped, so that we could pay respect to the memory of a young man named Taylor Force. My worlds suddenly collided. Taylor Force (West Point class of 2009) was killed in a terrorist attack on March 8, 2016, during a trip as a Vanderbilt University graduate student, to learn about startup companies overseas. As our guide spoke of Taylor, I immediately pulled up his eulogy page, knowing exactly where to find it, and was able to show our group his photo, which brought a great deal of meaning to this impromptu moment. So, during that trip, I was able to remember Taylor, and pray for his family, friends, and classmates, with an entire group that was in no way affiliated with West Point. What an honor it was to have that meaningful moment that reminded me of why I do the work I do.
https://www.west-point.org/users/usma2009/65378/

If you did not know, the Taylor Force Act was passed by Congress, and signed into law in 2018. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1164

I hope this message gives you some insight into the personal way WP-ORG operates.

We require very little to keep our services running. Every six months, our users provide us with a report card on how we’re doing. I hope you find as much value in it as we value each of you.

Link to All Forms of Donation: https://www.west-point.org/donate/
Credit Card Donation Link: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/
Donation Report: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/report/
F53 Budget: https://www.west-point.org/budget/

—
Dian Welle
WP-ORG, Inc.
www.west-point.org

WP-ORG Members:

Today marks the launch of our 53rd semi-annual fund drive (FD53) with a goal of $50,252 to fund the operation of West-Point.ORG (WP-ORG) for the next six months. You are receiving this message since you are on at least one email list hosted by WP-ORG. Our services are free to all users, supported by donations via a voluntary fund drive every six months.

You may donate online at https://www.west-point.org/donate/ and choose the form you’d like to use – debit/credit card, PayPal, check, or stock donations. We strive to be transparent with our budget needs. For the next six months, we anticipate needing $50,252 – see https://www.west-point.org/budget/ for details.

We’re in our 27th year of this PBS-style fundraising approach and know that these “votes of confidence” with your donations twice each year keep us actively listening to your ideas and needs. If we provide value to the grads, parents, cadets, and friends of West Point by helping to keep them connected through classes, societies, clubs, and other organizations, then we will generate enough goodwill and donations to keep it going…and that has worked wonderfully for over 27 years! Personally, it has certainly been a privilege to be a part of WP-ORG for 27 years and I have gained so much from connecting with other grads across the many decades of the Long Gray Line. With your support, we will continue to do so.

We consider it a privilege to help this community stay connected and sincerely appreciate your support!

•     Link to All Forms of Donation: https://www.west-point.org/donate/
•     Credit Card Donation Link: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/
•     Donation Report: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/report/
•     F53 Budget: https://www.west-point.org/budget/
  

Sincerely,
Warren Hearnes ’89
for WP-ORG Advisors