Class of ’68 Honors Their Fallen Brothers

On October 20, 2016, the Class of 1968 held a memorial event at the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center in Columbus, GA to honor 20 classmates who were killed in Vietnam. The museum was recently named the “best free museum in America” in USA Today’s 2016 Readers’ Choice Poll.  On the grounds of the museum is a ¾-scale replica of the actual Vietnam Wall and an entrance plaza with educational granite panels detailing the war. Visitors can lay individual granite pavers at the base of three of the panels for those whose names are etched on the adjacent wall. More than 160 classmates and family members from the Class of 1968 came for a three-day commemoration, culminating in the solemn dedication of 20 pavers. During roll call, a widow, sibling, or classmate of the fallen placed a red rose on his paver. BG (R) Dan Kaufman ’68, former USMA Dean, gave the keynote address at the ceremony. A dinner followed, during which LTG (R) Larry Jordan ’68, WPAOG Board Chairman, made remarks about these 20 classmates who have joined the ghostly assemblage of the Long Gray Line.