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ROTC HISTORY at RIPON

Section I: The Development of the ROTC program in America, 1862-1916

Section II: The Golden Age of ROTC at Ripon College, The 1920s and 1930s

Section III: Ripon College and its ROTC Unit during World War II

Section IV: Postwar Reconstruction: The Ripon ROTC Unit, 1945-1950

Section V: An Era of New Challenges: The Ripon ROTC Unit in the 1950s and 1960s

Section VI: The Ripon Battalion in Crisis: The Ripon ROTC Unit, 1967-1970

Section VII: The Ripon Battalion as a Volunteer Organization: The Ripon ROTC Unit 1970-1991

Concluding Observations

Appendix: ROTC Personnel, Ripon College, 1919-1995

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{ ROTC History at Ripon : Faith and Courage }

A History of the Ripon College Reserve Officer Training Corps 1919-1991

Editor: Raymond Larson

Production Editor: Paul Franken

Contributors: Eric Atkisson, Sara Hermann and Todd Johnson

Ripon College Press: 1995

Forward

This history of the Ripon College Reserve Officer Training Corps has no single author. Instead, it was the product of a four-year research effort carried out by a number of students. The research was supported by a grant from the John M. Olin Foundation to which all participants wish to express their gratitude.

In this project the students had to start from scratch. They had to search out the various written, oral, and artifactual sources that would be needed for such a history, accession and catalogue them in the college archives and museum, carry out the necessary preservation that would allow future students to use these sources, and then study them themselves to write this initial history of the Unit. The result of these years of efforts is not only this history but also an increased commitment to the collection, organization, and preservation of materials relating to the college's past and making these materials available for use by similar students in the future.

The editor and contributors listed on the title page all shared in the writing of this history. Todd Johnson '94 did research on the 1920s, Sara Hermann '93 was responsible for the 1950s and early 1960s, Ray Larson '94 and Eric Atkisson '94 brought the story to its conclusion, and Ray and the advisor filled in the remaining gaps. Ray, then, did the rewriting necessary to bring the pieces together into a whole and the advisor carried out two further rewrites. Finally, Paul Franken '97 developed the appendix, selected the photographs, and saw the publication process through to its completion.

The work of these students, however, was based on the efforts of predecessors in the Olin Program at Ripon, including Todd Baker '92 and Richard Demas '92, who catalogued the unit's large artifact collection; Heidi Bukert '92, who supervised the duplication and preservation of the Unit Diary; Melinda Trainor '97, who established the oral history program connected with the project; and Mark Hoke '91 who did oral history interviews. Finally, Louise Schang, college archivist, was of monumental assistance in directing the students during the archival portion of this program and in providing ideas and inspiration throughout the entire project.

This history is now being sent to you as members of the college community as a memento of your relation to Ripon and as a means of stirring your memories of your experiences here. We hope that after perusing this history you might take a few moments to write your own recollections of your years at Ripon and send them to us for possible inclusion in future works related to the history of the College.

William J. Woolley

Faculty Advisor to the John M. Olin Military
Research Project at Ripon College

Introduction

During the 72 years of its independent existence, the Ripon Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) served as both a significant force in shaping the character of Ripon College and a leading representative of a distinctive and alternative element of the nation's ROTC program. While always operating within boundaries set by extremely limited resources, the Ripon Unit still had a highly successful career illuminated in its early years by moments of national renown. Indeed, it provided Ripon College the first sustained means by which it could begin to get a sense of itself as a national rather than local institution. At the same time, on a national level, Ripon College was one of the most successful representatives of those civilian schools which placed the the emphasis in ROTC education on quality rather than quantity.