Clemson Ring History
Clemson issued the first class rings in 1896. The fine gold and enamel rings had nothing to identify them with Clemson until 1901, when the letter “C” accompanied by the state tree, the palmetto, began appearing in the center. In 1927, the name Clemson College was added to the area surrounding the center stone.
An eagle facing right, representing a country at peace, was added to the side of the ring in 1906. The U.S. shield, originally George Washington’s coat of arms, was placed below the eagle in 1915. Two sabers, then standard issue for Clemson graduates, are positioned on either side of the seal. The Tiger head below the U.S. seal embodies loyalty and fierce protection.
On the opposite side of the ring, the South Carolina coat of arms represents Clemson as a land-grant institution. Inside the shield on the right is a single figure symbolizing hope. Surrounding it is the state’s motto in Latin meaning, “While I breathe, I hope.” Inside the shield on the left, is a palmetto tree with the inscription: “Prepared in body and mind.” Beside the state shield are M1 rifles signifying the military service of Clemson men and a star that represents their sacrifice.
The secret to the Clemson ring lies below the palmetto tree. Here a little-known but fitting motto is inscribed: “Who shall separate us now?”
Clemson graduates and the Alumni Association have the answer: “No one.”
Jerry Reel
After a short rest to receive and train replacements, the 3rd Division landed at Salerno on the Italian mainland as part of General Mark Clark’s Fifth Army. The 3rd battled northward through some of the fiercest fighting of the war, reaching the Volturno River and Monte Cassino, the high ground controlled by the Germans and dominating the road to Rome. In mid-November, the 3rd was pulled from the line to rest and receive replacements.
the cost, as always, was high. The 3rd Infantry Division suffered 955 casualties on May 23, including Second Lieutenant Morgan who was killed in action. The Italian capital was liberated on June 4.
One month after graduation, Second Lieutenant Fellers reported for duty at Camp Wolters, Texas, the largest infantry replacement training center in the country. After a stint at Fort Meade, Maryland, Fellers shipped overseas in August 1944.
The Ventura was normally crewed by six men, but on this flight, with no operational mission en route, Staff Sergeant Lawhon and the two pilots, Second Lieutenant Joe Hanna and First Lieutenant Robert Smith, were the only official crew members. Three other service men were listed on the flight manifest as passengers. The aircraft departed Red Bluff at 1300 hours on a flight plan to Medford. With pilot Hanna at the controls, the Ventura penetrated a light overcast soon after departure and continued to climb through layers of clouds. In the vicinity of Redding, California, the weather closed in and Hanna switched to instrument flying. At this point, extreme icing conditions were encountered.
northern South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese were seeking to disrupt a vital supply link between the sea and the Marine Corps’ Dong Ha combat base in preparation for their upcoming surprise Tet Offensive.
Medal.
Hubbard was soon ordered back to Nebraska where he received additional training in combat flying in preparation for deployment to Europe. In December 1944, Hubbard arrived in England as a pilot assigned to the 388th Bomb Squadron, an 8th Air Force unit stationed at Snetterton Heath in the southeastern part of the country.
accidents, including eight takeoff accidents. Mercifully, not all of them were fatal.
300,000 Americans who died from the Spanish Flu between September 1918 and January 1919.
Zeigler’s classmates observed his “individuality, sincerity, and fineness of purpose” and elected him as president of the Class of 1923, an august group that included a future governor and US senator as well as a world famous journalist and author. Taps wrote that Zeigler had “been recognized as a leader among us, and has tackled every problem set before him in his quiet honest way.”
manager of the depot’s aircraft repair shop. At approximately 1550 hours, Zeigler took off to the west. Upon reaching an altitude of twenty to thirty feet, the aircraft leveled off and then nosed down into a flat dive, striking a road about 150 feet from the end of the runway. The impact sheared off the landing gear and the faring of the right engine’s nacelle. The A-20 bounced into the air and appeared to continue straight ahead while climbing to about 200 feet. Zeigler attempted to make a wide turn to the left to return to the field, but witnesses reported that the airplane was flying in an “extremely tail low position and gradually losing altitude.” Faced with a deteriorating situation, Zeigler elected to land in a small field about two miles southwest of the runway. The plane hit the ground on its belly, the force of the impact flipping it onto its back and causing “total damage.” Both Zeigler and Copeland were seriously injured. Copeland died four days later on Sunday, December 6. Zeigler passed away the following Wednesday, December 9.
Colonel Francis Marion Zeigler was survived by his mother, his wife, the former Mildred Van Ausdel, a son, a step-daughter, four brothers, and four sisters. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
First Lieutenant Richards Daniel Van Allen was awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. He was survived by his mother, his wife Dorothy, and a daughter, Richards Dorothy Van Allen who was born after his untimely death. Van Allen is buried at Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah.
Of course, Agnew wasn’t the only observer of the gathering storm. In Washington, officials of the Roosevelt administration were scrambling to catch up with Germany’s fearsome Luftwaffe, then regarded as the most powerful air force in the world. On October 23, 1941, Secretary of War Henry Stimson announced plans to double the nation’s fleet of first-line combat aircraft. Noting that the increase in strength was needed to meet the “growing requirements” for adequate defense of the Western Hemisphere, Stimson explained that the Army Air Force would extend its growth plans from fifty-four combat groups to eighty-four. In the process, the number of pilots trained annually would increase from 12,000 to 30,000.
peace and then outright war.
The division sailed for France in August 1918 and by early October, was defending a sector around St. Dié. Coleman, remembered as someone with a happy, optimistic disposition, was assigned as a switchboard operator, connecting calls between field phones linked by wires running through the trenches and dugouts scarring the battlefront. His switchboard was located in a muddy, dank, subterranean dugout. These conditions, combined with physical fatigue, probably contributed to a weakening of Coleman’s physical strength resulting in the contraction of an illness. Even so, Coleman remained at his post, continuing to facilitate the critical command and control functions between the various units of the division.
quarters aboard troop ships. As they were mustered out of the service, the soldiers returned home to all corners of the country, carrying the flu virus with them. More than 675,000 Americans would die from the Spanish Flu, a ratio that would equate to about 2.15 million in terms of today’s population. Clemson’s Scroll of Honor includes thirty-four heroes who died during the First World War. Of these, thirteen succumbed to pneumonia.
Henry Alexander Coleman was buried at the Meuse-Argonne American Military Cemetery in France. There is also a marker placed in his memory at Antioch Cemetery in Fairfield County.
In mid-autumn of 1943, Hetrick was admitted to the post hospital for treatment of symptoms diagnosed as a cold. On October 2, during his brief hospital stay, Hetrick died from an acute heart attack. He died two days short of his thirty-sixth birthday,
