VMI Cadet. December 11, 1950

              S k U l W l C a b e t THE VIRGINIA MIUVARIT INSTITUTE LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA DECEMBER 11, 1950
Glee Club Entertains
NAM At N.Y. Banquet,
Makes TV Appearance
Stormy Journey,
Is Encountered
On Trip North
Virginia Military Institute's famed
Glee Club returned early Monday
morning from its concert appear-ance
in New York as the guests of
the National Association of Manu-facturers.
The group sang at the
Association's annual banquet at the
Gotham City's famed Waldorf-
Astoria. There was a coast-to-coast
broadcast of the concert and re-cording
was made to be used by
the Voice of America around the
World.
Highlighting the meeting, held
last Friday night, was an address
by the Institute's most honored
alumnus, General George C. Mar-shall,
former Secretary of State and
present Secretary of Defense.
The group left Lexington Thurs-day
afternoon, arriving in the small
hours of Friday morning. Since no
other appearance was made by the
Club as a unit on the all expense
paid trip. Members were free to
visit in the city all day Saturday.
The trip up to New York and
the trip back here were both made
under anything but favorable con-ditions.
The busses carrying the
Glee Club were forced to proceed
with caution on the way up as a
result of a heavy rain, which ex-isted
all along the route. On the
return trip a three hour delay was
envoked as a -result of the sudden
snow.
This year's tour is possibly the
greatest single accomplishment of
the nationally known group dur-ing
its seventeen year history and
may be considered as one of the
results of its successful New York
concert trip of last year when the
club serenaded cadets of the United
States Military Academy at West
Point, and recorded an album of
songs for RCA Victor.
Credit for arrangements for the
appearance goes to Col. J. H. C.
Mann of the Civil Engineering De-partment,
who initiated negotiations
between the NAM and Col. H. N.
Dillard, director of the Glee Club.
The Glee Club is now beginning
practices for its annual Christmas
carol concert to be held Tuesday
night, 19 December. Since a second
shipment of albums have been re-ceived,
the popular recordings of
Glee Club selections are now avail-able
in Room 241.
H. W. French
Is Awarded
Silver Star
50-B Brother Rat
Displays Heroism
In Korean War
Word has been received at the
Institute of the awarding of the
Silver Star for gallantry in action
to Second Lieutenant Harry W.
French, Infantry, United States
Army, Virginia Military Institute
Class of 1950-B.
The order awarding the medal
describes the incident as follows:
"Lieutenant French led his pla-toon
into the Seiryori Sector of
Seoul, destroyed two North Korean
tanks as it secured its flrst ob-jective
and was moving towards its
second objective when it encount-ered
very heavy small arms, anti-tank
and machine gun flre from an
enemy position defending an arms
dump. Two men were hit by the
enemy flre which was so intense
that Lieutenant French was forced
to withdraw his platoon to a cov-ered
position. Without regard for
his personal safety Lieutenant
French led the 3d Squad of his
platoon back into the enemy posi-tion
to evacuate the wounded. Up-on
arrival at the location of the
men who had been wounded, enemy
fire again raked the squad killing
one man. It was then determined
that the first two men had been
(Continued On Page 6)
Chemist Executive
Address ACS On
Industrial Jobs
Mr. Lawrence H. Pownall, Chief
Plant Chemist of the Roanoke
plant of the American Viscose Cor-poration
spoke to the VMI Chap-ter
of the American Chemical So-ciety
Thursday evening, December
5, in Maury Brooke Hall. Mr.
Pownall, a Harvard graduate of the
Class of 1925 spoke on "Industrial
Opportunities."
Starting with a summary of the
types of jobs now open in the
field of chemistry, he covered the
requirements needed to fill the$e
positions. As a more specific ex-ample,
he described the organiza-tional
set-up of his own company,
and discussed the methods of hir-ing
and training employees.
Following Mr. Pownall's address
refreshments were served, after
which the meeting adjourned.
Help Yourself to Laughter
And Help the T. B. Fund
Come to the Christmas
Concert
Captain May
Added to VMI
Tactical Staff
Colonel O. B. Bucher, Professor
of Military Science and Tactics,
has announced the assignment by
the President and the Secretary of
Defense, of Captain Donald L. May,
Armor, U.S. Army Reserve, to duty
as Assistant Professor of Military
Science and Tactics in the Armor
Section of the ROTC unit at the
Institute.
Captain May will thus fill the
vacancy created in the Armor Sec-tion
of the ROTC with the assign-ment
of Lt. Col. R. L. Irby to duty
in Japan early this fall. Since that
time, Lt. Col. Stuart L. Weinerth
has carried the burden of Armor
Instruction in all classes.
Captain May, whose present home
is in Chevy Chase, Md., is a VMI
graduate of the class of 1940. It is
anticipated that Captain May will
arrive in Lexington shortly after
Christmas and will assume his new
duties on or about 4 January, 1951.
Timmins949
Casuality of
Korean War
Killed Nov. 19
In Wonsan Area;
With UN Forces
Lieutenant John W. (Jack) Tim-mins,
VMI '49, was killed in ac-tion
in the Wonsan Area of Korea,
19 November. Details of his death
are not yet known. Colonel O. B.
Bucher, Commandant of Cadets, in
announcing this fact to the Corps
last Monday said, "This man had
one of the most promising army
careers of anyone I have ever
known."
Born ln Dallas, Texas, Timmins
graduated in the upper fifth of his
class from Highland Park High
School in May, 1943. He entered
VMI the same month and com-pleted
three terms of the Pre-
Medical course before resigning to
enter the armed forces a year
later.
•As a soldier with the 30th divi-sion,
he attained the rank of T-Sgt.,
and saw service in the Euro-pean
theater. Following his dis-charge
he attended the University
of Texas, and reentered VMI 4 Sep-tember
1947.
During his last two years at VMI,
Timmins took part in many extra-curricular
activities, and was a
consistent honor student. He wrote
for the VMI Cadet and served as
Vice-President and President of
the International Relations Club.
In the Corps he held the ranks of
sergeant, second lieutenant, and
finally Captain, S-3. He was listed
in the 1949 " Who's Who in Ameri-can
Colleges, and served as an in-structor
in Infantry ROTC. On
June 14 1949 he was graduated
with first stand in Liberal Arts,
and as a Distinguished Military
Student in Infantry.
Until early this fall Timmins had
served as an instructor at the In-fantry
School, Fort Benning, Geor-gia.
He wfent to Korea with the
Third Infantry Division, although
not required to do so, s a y i n 6 that
his place was in combat. He was
assigned to the staff of General
Davis Meade, but insisted on en-tering
the front line fighting.
In his letters to the Institute,
prior to returning, Timmins stress-ed
his desire to learn as much
about the army as he could, and
(Continued On Page 6)
Commander's Concert Thursday
To Feature Christmas Music;
Local Talent To Furnish Surprise
VMI Alumnus
Named To Be
Press Secretary
J. H. Short, Jr. '25
Will Fill Vacancy
On Truman's Staff
Joseph H. Short, Jr., VMI '25, has
been appointed Press Secretary to
President Truman, filling the vacan-cy
caused by the sudden death of
Charles G Ross last Tuesday Short,
at present the Washington Corre-spondent
of the Baltimore Morning
Sun, will take over his new duties
18 December
Born in Vicksburg, Miss, in 1904,
Short graduated fdom Vicksburg
High School, and attended the
1 Marion Institute before coming to
' VMI in 1921 During his flrst class
! year he edited the VMI Cadet
| After graduation he worked for a
1 short time as a real estate agent,
and then as areporter on the Jack-i
son, Miss., Daily News.
He later worked with the Vicks-j
burg Post and Herald and the
| New Orleans Times Pacayune.
From 1929 until 1941 he was a
member of the Associated Press
Staff, first in Richmond and then
in Washington. Following his resig-nation
from the AP, Short served as
Washington Correspondent for the
Chicago Sun, and then joined the
Baltimore Sun in 1943.
In 1944 he accompanied President
Truman on his vice-presidential
campaign. He was elected Presi-dent
of the National Press Asso-ciation
in 1948. Short now lives in
Alxeandria, Va., with his wife, the
former Beth Campbell, and their
three children.
NOTICE
The Hop Committee of the Vir-ginia
Military Institute wishes to
announce to the entire Corps that
the Honor Court deadline for the
payment of all debts is the 17th
of December.
For the payment of tickets, con-tact
Cadet Ambrose, H., in Room
211. He wil gladly accept your
money.
Cadets handling all flower debts
are Clawson, J. W., and Brown, J.
C., both of whom reside in Room
237.
It is requested by the Hop Com-mittee
that all cadets budget their
funds in order to pay by 17 DE-CEMBER.
Help Fight TB
Buy
Christmas Seals
Presbyterian
Yuletide Fete
17 December
VMI faculty, faculty wives, staff
members and cadets are taking a
prominent part in the program of
Christmas music at the Presbyter-ian
church Sunday, Dec. 17 at 4
p.,m. They are Col. F. H. Barks-dale,
who will be the tenor solo-ist,
and Miss Anne Cooke, Mrs. F.
P. Fuller, Miss Julia Lewis Smith,
Mrs. R. F. Steward, Capt. Tom
Gentry and Mr. Maurice Kasten
who are singing in the chorus.
Undaunted by the rigors of the
New York trip, Col. Dillard is re-hearsing
thirty members of the
Glee Club to take part in this pro-gram.
They will sing an arrange-ment
of the famous Martin Luther
hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our
God," which represents the as-sault
of the devil on the forces of
good, the latter, of course, being
the members of the Glee Club.
The organ part, representing the
devil, makes several attacks on the
keydets, but they hold their own
and emerge triumphant in the end.
Soloists from out of town who
are being brought here especially
for this occasion are Helen Wood,
whose recent appearances include
leading roles in Pagliacci at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music and
Traviata at Carnegie Hall; Winifred
Cushing, who has toured the Unit-ed
States and Europe with the
Westminster Choir; Virginia Hov-er,
product of the Eastman and
Juilliard Conservatories and now
voice teacher at Hollins; Caleb
Cushing, director of music at Cen-tenary
Methodist Church, Lynch-burg;
Gordon Page, director of the
Mary Baldwin and Washington
and Lee glee clubs; and Robert
Moore, one of the most talented
young organists in the east.
The Choir of the Trinity Metho-dist
Church will present a service
of Christmas music, at 11:00 a.m.,
Sunday, December 17 at the Church.
The program will consist of many
of the most familiar and best loved
Christmas anthems, carols and
hymns, introduced by readings from
the Scriptures relating to the
prophecy of the Messiah, the birth
of Jesus and the adoration of the
Christ. The soloists of the morning
will be Mrs. W. M. Chandler sing-ing,
"O Holy Night" and Mr. Thomas
Burchett, singing "Gesu Bambino"
and the "Appalachian Carol." Rev.
Harvey M. Ashby, pastor of the
Church, will read the scriptural
messages. The public is cordially
invited.
Cadets participating in the service
are Gene Andrews, Joseph Mc-
Donald, and Karl Noerr.
Helen Wood, soprano, who will be one
Presbyterian Church Sunday, December 17th
at the
Allen T. Gwathmey
U. Va. Professor
Will Address IRC
Professor Allen T. Gwathmey of
the University of Virginia will ad-dress
the VMI International Rela-
I tions Club at 7:50 on the evening
of the fourteenth of December in
| Room 166 of the New Barracks.
The subject of Professor Gwath-mey's
talk will concern his recent
trip to Europe, for the purpose of
presenting a paper at the meeting
of the French Metallurgical Society,
visiting educational institutions in
France, Switzerland, and Great
Britain.
Professor Gwathmey, a VMI grad-
| uate, will further discuss the atti-tudes
of the Europeans toward the
Marshall Plan.
Two Vocal Groups
Also Present Acts
For TB Seal Fund
Thursday evening the VMI Com-manders
in cooperation with this
paper are presenting, for the Corps,
a concert of Christmas music in
J. M. Hall. The concert is for the
benefit of the Christmas Seal Fund
and there will be no admission
charge. This is the first time in two
years that the Commanders have
given a concert prior to Christmas
furlough, and all of the music will
be in the dance band trend.
Local Talent Featured
Other than the regular members
of the Commanders, the names of
those persons featured in the con-cert
are being kept secret. A
number of Christmas carols will be
sung by cadets whose talents have
remained 'hidden' until this time.
Members of the Corps will be fea-tured
on such selections as: "We
Three Kings," "Joy To The World,"
"Silent Night," and "O Little Town '
of Bethlehem." The regular dance
band vocalists, Cadet Bruce Wells
and Miss Sherri Saunders, will
each present a famous Christmas
ballad. A number of other surprise
entertainers will present songs and
acts on the Christmas theme, and a
combo from the Commanders will
play a current favorite, Winter
Ballad.
Entire Orchestra to Play
The Commanders will, themselves
feature a number of current hits,
and their arrangement of "Jingle
Bells" will feature bassmen Pete
Ames on vocal. Throughout the pre-
Christmas season, the dance band's
arrangement of this ditty has been
a terrific success at all of its en-gagements.
The entire dance band
will be featured on its arrangement
o "Santa Claus is Coming to Town,"
and two combination vocal groups,
one from VMI and one from a
neighboring girls' school, will offer
popular Christmas requests to the
Corps.
Public Invited
The sponsors of this concert
have invited the public, including
all neighboring colleges, to attend
this program of Christmas music,
and quite obviously it will add a
great deal to the pre-Christmas
Furlough festivities here at school.
This concert will mark the begin-ning
of an annual tradition to have
the Commanders give the Corps at
least two concerts per year. This
year the dance band is better than
any Commander group since before
the war years, and it was declared
by those attending a tremendous
success at the Homecoming Dances.
The purpose of having entertainers
whom the Corps has not heard be-fore
has two basic principles be-hind
it. One, every cadet in bar-racks
has talents which never may
be exploited. This concert will re-veal
the "hidden talents" of some
very popular figures in the Corps.
Two, the shock to the audience of
seeing some of the selected per-formers
will create an air of light-heartedness
which will continue
throughout the concert,
Concert Mainly for Corps
However, even though the public
and neighboring schools have been
invited, this Christmas program is
designed primarily for the enter-tainment
of the Corps, and it ia
performed mainly by members of
the Corps. The concert will begin
at 7:30 and will last approxlmataly
one hour and a half.