The Class That Never Was
This story was originally published in the Sandlapper, Autumn 2009. It is posted here in its entirety with the permission of the author.
The 1940 plebes prematurely were carried off by a small diversion known as “World War II.”
At mess one day in 1943, The Citadel Class of ’44 were ordered to stand up. They heard the words: “Gentlemen, you are shipping out.”
By Sheila Collins Ingle
“A place for everything, and everything in its place”—one of many Citadel standards. (Courtesy of Sheila Collins Ingle)
In 1940, World War II enveloped Europe. Belgium, Norway and France surrendered to the German Army. Italy, siding with Germany, declared war on Britain and France in June. Hitler’s parade into Paris was broadcast in American theaters on Fox Movie-tone News. Air battles and daylight raids between the Luftwafte and the Royal Air Force over Britain’s skies began in August. Men, women and children were dying.
That same year in America, Big Band sounds filled the air waves and dance floors. Crooner Bing Crosby and comedian Bob Hope made their first movie together. Everyone flocked to laugh at My Favorite Wife and The Philadelphia Story. (Our Office of War declared movies essential for morale and propaganda.) But in May, the country listened to President Franklin D. Roosevelt give a “Fireside Chat” on National Defense. He looked backward and forward at the situation in Europe and its future
effect on America.
World War II was winding closer to home shores.
On September 2, 1940, 565 high school graduates reported to The Citadel in Charleston for their freshmen year of college. They came from across the United States. Each enthe same wrought iron gate. Young men arrived from California, Indiana, Pennsylvania . . . but most were South Carolinians. Registration began at 9 a.m. in the armory with forms to fill out and fees to pay. Freshman expenses were $531.50 for first-year South Carolina cadets, $671.50 for out-of-state cadets. Gen. Charles Pelot Summerall, Citadel president, welcomed the class that night. (more…)
Lt. Charles M. Thirlkeld, Class of 1944, 506th PIR, Easy Company
When I started this journey, I hoped that I could help put faces to the names on a few of the beautiful, white marble headstones in our American cemeteries in Europe and North Africa. I hoped that I could help record their stories for future generations, and I hoped to help others remember the Citadel Men who rest in peace overseas and those who are memorialized on Tablets of the Missing. My journey has only just begun, yet, it has already brought me in contact with many people, living and deceased, who are sharing with me their incredible stories. Mark Dworschak is on a similar journey remembering a young man from the Class of 1944. Below is his story and his request in its entirety which I received this morning. Although I am in the middle of writing about this past Memorial Day Weekend, I found his story so intriguing and in need of sharing that I had to post it today. Please contact us if you can help or know of someone who can.
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Roger:
I discovered your site, The Citadel Memorial Europe, during my research of 2nd Lt. Charles Marion Thirlkeld, Jr. and thought I would provide some additional information for his record. Attached are some additional photos of Chuck, a name his father used and as my wife and I have come to call him, which you may wish to use on your site.
I should provide some background: in April, 2011, I purchased from an estate a box of miscellaneous items which I have come to learn belong to Chuck. The estate, I later learned, was of his sister, Jean. Included in the materials were various photos and letters alongside Chuck’s wallet and Purple Heart. In the subsequent months, my research told of quite a life. I have begun to document Chuck’s life and service in an attempt to memorialize what may otherwise be lost.
There exists enormous gaps in the information I have been able to obtain. Chuck’s service records, along with thousands of others, was lost to fire at the National Archives in 1973. I wrote to a fellow service member who had some correspondence with Chuck’s mother, Mary, after the war, with no reply. Based on research to-date, this is what I’ve learned of Chuck.
I wear the ring
For a Citadel graduate, the band of brotherhood formed and embedded in the course of four long years is both figurative and literal. It is intrinsic and personal as well as concrete and visible. What is known to many as “the band of gold”, The Citadel ring is instantly recognizable and marks its wearer as a Citadel Man, or since 1999, Woman. It is standardized yet unique, and it is distinguishable from all other college rings. There are no others like it, and, as far as Citadel alumni are concerned, there will never be.
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The Citadel Memorial Europe 