The class the stars fell on
The other, Omar Bradley, became the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, under Presidents Harry S. Truman and Eisenhower.
[2] The term had previously been applied to the class of 1886, which produced a large number of general officers for World War I.
[8][9] Fourteen more cadets received appointments to the class, which they joined six weeks late, in August 1911, thereby missing out on the infamous period of hazing known as Beast Barracks.
Kimble served during World War I as a major in France, where he died on 9 April 1918 of sepsis after a surgical operation.
[17] In a class with many superb athletes, Thomas B. Larkin won the physical fitness contest and was designated "strong man" of the Corps.
[32] Hubert Harmon was ejected when it was discovered that he had two brothers at West Point, as it was felt that the taxpayers would not be getting their money's worth educating three sons of the same family.
[30] Due to its origins as an engineering school, the West Point curriculum emphasized mathematics and other technical subjects of relevance to that specialty rather than education in military topics.
A widespread belief that those who had served overseas would receive preferential treatment, including faster promotion, was not borne out by subsequent events.
This "hump" constituted a major personnel problem that was solved only by the Army's rapid expansion after 1940 in response to World War II.
[39] Much of the success of the class is attributable to being fortunate enough to be just ahead of the hump, but not too old to assume positions of great responsibility during World War II.
They had free life insurance, and an adequate salary, which could be stretched because Army commissaries and post exchanges sold many everyday goods tax-free.
A secure and steady job was highly prized during the Great Depression years from 1929 to 1939, and resignations were rare.
[50] Brigadier General Lesley J. McNair conducted a survey of graduates in 1939 that found that most felt that there was too much emphasis on obsolete skills like equitation.
While most considered the map exercises the most valuable part of the curriculum, some noted that students spent time discovering for themselves things that they could have been told.
Ineffective courses were led by instructors who sometimes lacked knowledge of their fields and usually failed in didactics and pedagogics ...
It seems in general not to have been a good idea to challenge the instructors at Leavenworth in any way if an officer student wanted to leave the school with a respectable grade.
"[52] While the education system undoubtedly failed in some key areas, it did create a body of competent division and corps commanders.
[55][56] A worse fate befell Major General Henry J. F. Miller, who leaked details of the invasion date at a dinner party in April 1944.
[57] Eisenhower wrote a letter to him explaining that, "I know of nothing that causes me more real distress than to be faced with the necessity of sitting as a judge in cases involving military offences by officers of character and good record, particularly when they are old and warm friends.
[59] Apart from those who became generals, the best known member of the class is Louis A. Merrilat, who played college football with the Army Black Knights alongside Bradley and Eisenhower, and was selected as a first-team All-American in both 1913 and 1914.
He became a soldier of fortune, training Iran's Persian Guard, working with the Chinese Army in the 1930s, and serving in the French Foreign Legion.
Commissioned in the cavalry, he later transferred to the Quartermaster Corps, with which he served in the European Theater during World War II and during the 1948 Berlin airlift.
He became the oldest living graduate of West Point in October 1990, and the last surviving member of the class of 1915 on the death of Van Fleet.
