Engineer Memoirs _____________________________________________________________________
remember Hollingsworth, who was then a lieutenant colonel, standing in front of us saying
he knew what to do about the Soviet Union. What he'd do was just get some tanks, put the
class of '56 in those tanks, and roar off toward Russia, and they could probably take care of
anything. So, he got a hoorah out of the class because he was that kind of a person.
I remember a couple of years before, we were at Camp Buckner in summer training, sitting in
the bleachers. We were receiving artillery instruction from one of the artillery cadre, a
captain. The instructor was telling us, "Now, when those tanks come around, we're just
going to bring in artillery and ring it in on those tanks." Hollingsworth then just stepped
around the side of the bleachers and gave a wary eye at the instructor for preaching this kind
of stuff, which obviously was heresy to him. Everybody really took from that that you went
with Hollingsworth.
We had some crusty veterans who had fought in World War II and Korea and airborne types,
like Colonel Julian Ewell, who still maxed the physical training test. The kinds like Colonel
[William J.] McCaffrey, deputy commandant, and later Generals Mike Davison,
Hollingsworth, Haig, Haldane, [Thomas M.] Rienzi, and all of those caliber of folks really
instilled a lot of things into us.
I'd just say one more thing about our class, that I meant to say before, that consistently
through the years we've been a group that has stayed on. From the first window that we could
get out--three years was our obligation--and every year up to 20, if you look at the retention
rates for classes, we were always above the curve. So, someone did something right in
instilling in us that sense of duty, to keep us aboard and serving through all those years; we
all enjoyed it so much that we stayed on. With that combination of things, a large number
have stayed throughout in the service and been around to continue that kind of cohesiveness
and bonding that started us all.
Q:
This goes back a little bit earlier, but were you prepared for the academic rigor of West
Point? How was it academically?
A:
I was prepared, but my transition was difficult. To explain that, Beast Barracks is difficult as
you make the changeover. By the end of that seven-, eight-week period of Beast Barracks,
you're really getting under control. Then you go back into academics, and it's like starting all
over again. There are about five or six plebes for every firstclassman in Beast Barracks, and
all of a sudden, when you start the academic year, the rest of the upper class comes back.
There are now about three upperclassmen for every plebe. There are plebe duties, and those
duties are rigorous and time consuming.
Then there is the new cadet chain of command, some of whom want to exercise that
command and that control. The first class is taking you through, and they've gotten used to
running plebes around. Now you also have the second class, some of whom are squad leaders
and cadet corporals for the first time, exercising their obligations as they see them. Then you
have the new yearlings, who just before were plebes and some of whom take it very easy and
some of whom are very tough to begin with. So, it's almost overwhelming to the plebe, and
meeting the requirements of academics and the fourth-class system together is very difficult.
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