This page was originally started with the posting of a picture of Ranger Class 4-66 in the Florida phase. Since the original posting additional pictures have come to life along with some "Ranger" stories.  This information is organized by Ranger Class number.

O.K., the first Ranger Class with members of the West Point Class of 1965 cannot be outdone by later classes.  This is Ranger Class 2-65 which set the standard with the following:

• Graduating more Rangers on 14 Oct 65 than the number that started on 12 Aug 65 (this might have occurred in later classes as well).
• The infamous and spontaneous cudgel stick free-for-all, followed by an organized free-for-all in the hand-to-hand combat pit.  Who remembers who was crowned the king in the pit?
• The morale-boosting jingles of "Hummm, hummm,...", "I'm a Ranger, I'm a Ranger,...", and "Hi ho, Hi, ho,..." (I believe credit can be given to Alex Alexander for these).
• The rescue by Barrie Zais of a rabbit from the boiling pot during the Fort Benning phase, transporting same inside his shirt to the Dahlonega phase, and sneaking lettuce and carrots out of the mess hall to the rabbit's hide-a-way.  The cadre found the rabbit while we were out on the long, phase-ending patrol.  Then at a dinner formation, the cadre read the Orders of the Day and presented the rabbit with a Ranger Tab (noting that we had three more weeks to go) and made him the camp mascot since Barrie would not be able to take him to the swamps of Florida.
• THEN took on the Airborne School.

Ranger Class 3-66 has two pictures available, one from the Benning phase and one from the Florida phase.  Unfortunately the quality of the Florida phase picture is very poor and does not lend itself to reliably identifying faces to provide a good comparison to Class 4-66.  The Benning picture is of good quality so we will use it to identify classmates from back then.

Click on the Benning picture to see a larger version (there is also a larger version of the Florida version) and identify yourself and classmates by row number and heads from the left or right.

One of our classmates (who wishes to remain anonomous) came across the attached pic taken during the Florida phase of Ranger School Class 4-66 (from early October 1965 thru early December 1965).  He thought it would be good to share with the class.  This version has been reduced in size so this page will appear quickly.  If you want to see the full sized picture just click on the small one.  You can zoom in and see individual faces of our classmates in the stands listening to the Instructor.  The scene is preparing for a river crossing in late November 1965. There are probably 100 or more of our classmates in the picture.

I would be interested if any of you are willing to identify yourself in the picture. Just send me the row and number of heads from the left. I will start populating the picture with names to share with the rest of the class. Of course, if you are one of the sleepers I can understand you not wanting to ID yourself.

Does this bring back memories?

There is folk lore surrounding Ranger Class 4-66 and a member of the Tactical/Instructor staff, one 1LT Murphy.  "Murf the Surf," as he was fondly referred to by 4-66, was a US Army Lieutenant with prior service as a submariner--for which he wore a prominent badge and about which he shot off his mouth a lot.  During that first week of barracks garrison 20-hr PE days in ranger school at Benning.  He assigned the half-wild big-ass big-horned unruly long haired bad smelling goat to the platoon or individual or squad which displeased him the previous day.  What a pain.  He also had a bad case for WP graduates, and especially for ex-football players.  His goat died mysteriously from knife wounds (3) a day after we passed out of his clutches into the mountain phase.  I think the stories about the ranger candidates eating the goat are apocryphal.

"Well, he absolutely HATED college graduates, and especially West Pointers who made up 90 % or more of the class.  It came to a head one day at the Mountain Camp when Murph got chewed out because some of our rangers had left their heating stoves on.  He called half of the company out into the company street and very vulgarly chewed them out, parting with a threat that he would take on "anyone" who wanted to test him.  [Name redacted to protect the guilty] marched up to his hooch at the top of the hill and wound his clock.  In the aftermath, no charges were filed, but relationships with the Tac improved considerably and he was no longer a factor in our company."

"The stupidity that the lieutenant showed when he said he would take on anyone after the mountain patrol that wanted to meet him in his hooch was a mistake since he really was beaten severely by ranger candidate #1, in addition to having his hooch destroyed.  His look at me as ranger #2 through the half opened door with blood streaming down his face gave me the white flag of defeat sign.  Slamming the door on me before we could "discuss" our differences was a good move, while I wondered about the military justice articles of punching out a superior officer."

Please share your Ranger stories by sending them to Chuck Nichols at cnichols6@verizon.net.