Alumni and Friends of VMI:
Seen in the Electronic Turnouts: I ran across
this in the Electronic Turnouts. While not about a VMI grad, I'm
sure it could apply to scores of Institute grads. Thanks to Dick
Knight '70 for this posting.
Fri Nov 19 17:50:40 1999
I spent all day yesterday in Shelbyville, Tennessee and at a
little country church between Shelbyville and Tullahoma, on U.S.
41 (Alt). BG Austin C. Shofner, USMC (Ret'd), died on Sunday, and
he and I (through his 4 sons) had gotten to be friends over the
years.
Gen. Shofner played tackle on Tennessee's great teams in the
mid-30's (under Gen. Neyland, USMA Aug. '17) and, because of his
high academic standing, was commissioned in the Regular Marine
Corps in 1937 at the age of 21.
In late 1941, Gen. Shofner--then a captain--was stationed in the
Philippines and took part in the gallant defense of Corregidor,
where he was taken prisoner. He survived the Bataan Death March
and was imprisoned in the Davao Penal Colony on Mindanao for 11
months, until leading a breakout with 11 other men.
Gen. Shofner and his small party evaded the Japanese for 35 days
until they finally made their way into friendly lines (Filipino
partisans). Although the men who escaped with Gen. Shofner were
sent back to the states, Gen. Shofner remained in the Philippines
to fight with the guerillas. In due course, he recovered from the
starvation and beatings inflicted on him by the Japanese, asked
for a command, and was given a battalion, which he lead onto the
rocky shores of Peleliu. He was badly wounded.
Recovering from his wounds, Gen. Shofner asked for command, and
was given another battalion, which he lead during the assault on
Okinawa. At the War's end, he was 28 years-old.
In the meantime and unknown to him, Life Magazine made Gen.
Shofner the subject of a cover story in 1943 or 1944. It was his
escape from Davao and the Intelligence Report he filed that
prompted the United States to elevate the Pacific Theater to
co-equal status with Europe: Both would be #1 priorities. [To be
con'd]
Fri Nov 19 18:06:16 1999
Gen. Shofner [con'd from above] Gen. Shofner retired from the
Marine Corps in 1959. He moved back to Shelbyville and into is
ancestral home.
At the time of Gen. Shofner's death five days ago, he was
Tennessee's most decorated veteran: Navy Cross, two Silver Stars,
and so on. And yet, while he was fiercely proud of the Corps and
would let you know in an instant that he was a Marine, one would
never have taken him for the hero that he was: He was modest to a
fault.
As we left the funeral home yesterday morning for the 10-mile
drive to the Shofner Lutheran Church, which his forbears founded
200 years ago, Highway #41 (the "Gen. Austin Shofner, USMC,
Highway") was lined with spectators of every type, each
showing his or her respect. An elderly black gentleman caught my
eye: Dressed in overalls, he stood by the side of the road, at
rigid attention, with a hand over his heart. During the long
funeral procession, the oncoming traffic was pulled to the side
of the road, not moving, out of respect for the old warrior.
When the service began, an active duty BG in the USMC announced
from the pulpit that the Commandant had ordered every U.S. flag
at every Marine station, world-wide, lowered to half-mast at 11
A.M. Central Time. Following burial in the graveyard next to the
church (and near all his ancestors, going back to the
Revolution), a bugler played Taps. When he finished, on another
hill, about a half-mile away, a bugler played Reveille. "O,
Death, where is thy victory?" Dick Knight '70
********************
VMI Basketball: The Keydets are 2 - 0 after an
85 - 38 win this afternoon over Warren Wilson. First big test
will be tomorrow against UVa. Tipoff is 7:00 PM.
Wednesday, November 17, 1999
Big center adds 'inside presence'
VMI pins hopes on post Mann
The Keydets open the season at midnight
Thursday against NAIA Southern Virginia.
By MARK BERMAN
THE ROANOKE TIMES
LEXINGTON -- VMI is counting on a big man to make a big
difference to its basketball team this season.
Eric Mann, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound center who was redshirted last
season because of knee surgery, should give the Keydets the
inside force they lacked last season.
"Our big-man game will be as good as it has been since I've
been here, and that's been a missing ingredient," said VMI
coach Bart Bellairs, entering his sixth season at the school.
"[Mann] gives us a shot-blocker and a legitimate inside
presence."
Mann, a fourth-year junior, played two games last year before
undergoing season-ending knee surgery in early December. He
averaged 6.4 points and 7.3 rebounds and blocked 47 shots as the
starting center two seasons ago.
VMI was last in the Southern Conference in rebounding margin last
season, when it was outrebounded by almost nine rebounds per
game. The Keydets went 12-15 overall and tied for third in the
Southern Conference's six-team North Division with a 9-7 league
mark. They lost in the first round of the league tournament.
The Keydets will open the season Thursday night with a Midnight
Madness game against Southern Virginia, an NAIA school from Buena
Vista. Fans will be admitted to Cameron Hall at 11 p.m. Thursday,
with the game tipping off at 12:01 a.m. Friday.
The return of Mann will allow 6-7 Nick Richardson (9.1 ppg, 5.1
rpg) to shift from center to power forward, with 6-3 Aaron Demory
(9.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg) moving from power forward to small forward.
Adam Trombley, a 6-9 freshman from Fork Union Military Academy,
will see action off the bench.
The frontcourt players won't be starved for attention.
"In both our exhibition games, we did a lot better job than
we have in the past of getting the basketball inside. In order to
really be a presence, you've got to have a little bit more of
that or else you've got to be shooting the ball extremely
hot," Bellairs said.
Mann said: "I think we'll be real good in the post. I'm just
looking forward to playing again."
VMI was picked to finish last in its division in the Southern
Conference's preseason media poll. League coaches picked VMI
fifth in their poll.
The Keydets lost two starters -- All-Southern Conference guard
Jason Bell (league-best 18.9 ppg) and forward Matt Matheny (9.6
ppg). Backup center Zach Batte has transferred to a junior
college.
Andre Quarles (8.9 ppg) returns at point guard. The new starting
off-guard is Richard Bruce (4.9 ppg).
The Keydets expect a more balanced attack this year.
Bell "was the go-to guy for us last year, but we don't
really need a go-to guy that's going to put up 19 points a game.
We have a lot of guys that can put up 10 or more points,"
Quarles said.
VMI's nonleague schedule has some intriguing games. The Keydets
will visit Notre Dame on Dec. 18 and Florida on Dec. 28, and will
meet four of their intrastate rivals -- road games with Virginia
(Sunday) and Virginia Commonwealth (Dec. 21) and home games with
Virginia Tech (Dec. 6) and Old Dominion (Dec. 8). The highlight
for the players figures to be a trip to Honolulu for Hawaii's
Thanksgiving-weekend tournament.
Southern Virginia isn't the only easy mark on VMI's schedule. The
Keydets will play host to Bellairs' alma mater, NAIA-member
Warren Wilson College of Asheville, N.C., on Saturday. Another
NAIA team, Bluefield, visits on Dec.1. Division III Ferrum drops
by the following day.
SCHEDULE
Southern Virginia, 12:01 a.m. late Thursday/early Friday; Warren
Wilson, 1 p.m. Saturday; at Virginia, 7 p.m. Sunday; Oral Roberts
in Hawaii tournament, midnight Nov. 26; Hawaii or William &
Mary, Nov. 28; Bluefield, 7 p.m. Dec. 1; Ferrum, 7 p.m. Dec. 2;
Va. Tech 7 p.m. Dec. 6; Old Dominion, 7 p.m. Dec. 8; at Notre
Dame, 2 p.m. Dec. 18; at VCU, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 21; at Florida, noon
Dec. 28; at UNC-Greensboro, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 4; College of
Charleston, 1 p.m. Jan. 8; at Chattanooga, 7 p.m. Jan. 10;
Citadel, 4 p.m. Jan. 15; at Appalachian State, 7 p.m. Jan. 17; at
Davidson, 7 p.m. Jan. 22; UNC-Greensboro, 7 p.m. Jan. 24; East
Tenn. State, 1 p.m. Jan. 29; at Ga. Southern, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31;
Western Carolina, 1 p.m. Feb. 5; at Wofford, 7 p.m. Feb. 7; at
ETSU, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12; App. State, 7 p.m. Feb. 14; at Western
Carolina, 7 p.m. Feb. 19; Davidson, 7 p.m. Feb. 21; Furman, 1
p.m. Feb. 26; Southern Conference tournament in Greenville, S.C.,
March 2-5.
********************
Thursday, November 18, 1999
IN THE REGION
Keydets sign sweet recruit in basketball
THE ROANOKE TIMES
STAFF REPORTS
VMI hopes its latest basketball recruit has a shot as sweet as
his hometown's biggest export.
Radee Skipworth of Hershey (Pa.) High School said he has signed
with VMI. Skipworth, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound forward, averaged 17
points and eight rebounds last season.
Skipworth said he also received scholarship offers from La Salle,
Drexel and Rider, but chose VMI because he liked its
"structured environment."
Skipworth is VMI's second recruit of the fall signing period,
joining forward Jason Conley of Millersburg (Ky.) Military
Academy.
********************
VMI Firefighters:
Friday, November 19, 1999
Fire breaks VMI cadets out of barracks
School's firefighting detail gives helping hand
in controlling this week's local forest fire.
By MATT CHITTUM
THE ROANOKE TIMES
For $6.65 an hour and a chance to flee the barracks for a while,
you can get some Virginia Military Institute cadets to do about
anything -- even suck smoke on the line of a 1,000-acre forest
fire.
Eighteen VMI cadets, all members of the school's volunteer
firefighting detail, were among those who patrolled the fire line
during the windy Tuesday night when the Fort Lewis Mountain
forest fire escaped the clutches of firefighters and raged out of
control again.
"We caught a pretty wild night," said Paul Staton, the
cadet in charge of the detail.
The cadets' job from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday was to
patrol the firebreak and keep the fire from crossing it by
stamping out sparks and shoveling dirt on spot fires.
High winds blew cinders across the break all night, Staton said.
"It's a little dangerous," he said. "You have to
know what you're doing pretty much."
First-timers have to rely on all they learned in videotapes and
during two days of training by the Virginia Department of
Forestry that focuses on containing a fire with a rake, a shovel
and an axe.
"It's hard to fit firefighting into everybody's schedule up
here," Staton said, but the detail responds quickly when
needed by the forestry department. The members become temporary
state employees.
The full-time firefighters seem to appreciate the help.
"They tell us that they're glad that we're there,"
Staton said. "We picked up the night shift the other night
and they were pretty happy about that."
Staton, a 21-year-old senior majoring in civil engineering, got
his start on the detail when his older brother recruited him as a
sophomore. He helped on a fire on Afton Mountain that year and
was hooked.
"It gets the adrenaline running," he said. "You
get a good respect for fire."
The detail has been around at VMI since at least 1950, according
to VMI spokesman Mike Strickler. He wasn't sure of the group's
origin, but said its mission is in line with the
"citizen-soldier" concept VMI tries to instill in its
cadets.
"We prepare the kids to be active participants in their
communities and to help others," he said.
As an outdoorsman, Staton also likes the idea of protecting the
woods.
"It makes me feel good," he said. "I feel like I'm
giving back to the forest."
That's it for this week. A Happy Thanksgiving to all. We truly
have much for which to be thankful.
Yours in the Spirit,
RB Lane '75
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