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Happy Birthday, VMI!
By Lt Col P
Today is the 167th anniversary of the founding of the Virginia Military Institute. From the Institute's current catalogue comes this passage:
Before its formation as an institution of higher education in 1839, VMI’s site was occupied by an arsenal, one of three in the State of Virginia.
The arsenal guard of some 20 soldiers, although living a strict military life while on duty, lacked self discipline, and their leisure-time activities upset the decorum of Lexington. In 1834, several of Lexington’s leading citizens, including attorney John Thomas Lewis Preston, proposed that the arsenal be transformed into a military college so the cadets could pursue educational courses while protecting the stand of arms.
The plan led to legislation establishing the Virginia Military Institute. It was Preston, generally credited for conceiving the idea of VMI, and later one of the original members of the faculty, who gave the new institution its name: “Virginia—a State institution, neither sectional nor denominational. Military—its characteristic feature. Institute —something different from either college or university. The three elements thus indicated are the basis of a triangular pyramid, of which the sides will preserve their mutual relation to whatever height the structure may rise.”
On November 11, 1839, 23 young Virginians were mustered into the service of the State and, in a falling snow the first cadet sentry, John B. Strange, relieved the old arsenal guard. To this day cadets perform guard duty and serve the State as a military corps, as the first Corps of Cadets did.
To all my brothers in the Corps of Cadets, young and old, in barracks and overseas, I wish you success in boardrooms and on battlefields, long life and prosperity.
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Comments
As a child, I grew up with tales of the Institute from my grandfather ('26) and the honor code from my dad ('54).
As an adult doing family tree research, I ran across a letter written by my great, great, grandmother begging the Superintendent to reinstate her son (would have been class of 1865) after he'd managed to get himself expelled to join the Confederacy.
Happy Birthday, VMI.
Happy Birthday indeed. Too bad we didn't get a win against the citadel for our efforts. Hopefully we can end the season with a win though.
At least the Founders' Day Parade wasn't too bad. Ah,the joys of coatee and full dyke with arms.
Superb! (I wrote something else and then I read below that I aint supposed ter. So I deleted it.)
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Thank you and happy birthday to you too, sir.
And though I would hate to ruin a happy occasion, I also would like to remember our brothers who died on the field with honor in our current war.
The two that I knew were SGT Ryan Doltz '00 and Capt. Jamie Edge '96. Ryan was a happy-go-lucky kid who always had a big, goofy smile on his face... but he stayed strong and graduated VMI, even if a little late (just like me).
Jamie was a poster-boy Marine. He looked and acted the role perfectly. My memory of him was his playing the role of the VMI Spirit at our pep rallies... clad in black robe and wielding a broadsword, he would zipline from fourth stoop into the Old Courtyard where a mascot from that week's opposing team stood and mocked the Corps. Then, Jamie would "slay" the mascot to the wild cheers of all the cadets.
They were both good men and true warriors. They are both sorely missed.