"35 Years" - Sunday May 16 to Wednesday May 19, 2004

I have signed a contract with Columbus Monument Company on Andrews Road here in Columbus to build the monument. (They have constructed several monuments that are standing on Sacrifice Hill across from the Ft Benning Infantry Museum.) Our monument will be black granite (polished on all surfaces), 4 feet tall, and 24" width by 12" depth with a bronze plaque (20" by 10") on the top which will be on a 45 degree angle. We would like to conduct our Memorial Ceremony at 16:30 Hours on Monday May 17, 2004 at the location of the monument. We would like the monument to be placed in the front of the Battalion area where it can be within the view of the American Flag and can be seen from Riordon Street. We are proposing a 1 Hour Ceremony to be ended with the sounding of Retreat. COL Robert B. Nett (Ret), COL Jack Herron (Ret) our Battalion CO at the time, and COL Thomas Grady (Ret) our CO at the time will be there and participate in the ceremony. We have commitments from approximately 30 class members (and their wives) that will be attending.

COL Robert B. Nett (Retired) is a Medal of Honor recipient and is a member of the OCS Hall of Fame. Ft Benning has a building named in his honor:  Nett Hall, Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame Annex, building 2768.

I was fortunate enough to be granted permission to have the monument placed at my 1st choice of locations (shown above.) Our old 52nd Company barracks are now a part of the Airborne School. OCS now consists of only 1 Battalion (4 Companies) of OCS Candidates. OCS is now known as: 3rd Battalion (OCS) 11th Infantry Regiment with Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta Companies. The current Battalion Headquarters building is located about 3 buildings down Riordon Street from our old barracks and right in front of "Wigle" Hall (the OCS Hall of Fame.) LTC Booth (the current OCS Battalion Commander) has been very supportive in our efforts to honor the memory of our fallen classmates. MAJ Gehler (the current OCS Battalion Executive Officer shown in the photograph above) explained to me that all Battalion runs, marches, and parades "must" depart and return down the sidewalk that passes under the "OCS Arch" that you see in the photograph. Therefore, our dedicated monument will be seen by every OCS Candidate almost every day.

This page was last updated on 03/30/04 04:32 AM.