This weekend the College will host the 50th reunion of the 234 Naval and Marines Corps veterans who drilled on the Green from July 1943 through the Spring of 1945 in preparation for service in World War II.
The purpose of the preparatory tour, called V-12, was to train Navy and Marine Corps officers as well as offer them liberal arts courses. Of 130 such programs across the country, the College's was the largest.
More than 4,500 men went through the program between July 1943 and the spring of 1945. Fifteen hundred of those men went on to receive a Dartmouth degree.
The men who came to Dartmouth as part of the V-12 program were from many different backgrounds. Some were right out of high school, while others had spent time at Dartmouth or some other college.
Other participants were already enlisted as part of the Navy or Marine Corps. All went on to serve in the war, and many remained in the service, on either active or reserve duty, after the war.
The reunion this weekend brings together many V-12 veterans who are part of alumni classes from 1944 to 1949.
Merle Hagen '44 T'46, experienced life at Dartmouth both as a regular student and as a V-12 student. He says that life at Dartmouth changed "quite a bit" during that time. In addition to the courses he was taking as a regular undergraduate, drilling, military routines, and navy courses became a part of his schedule.
"It's always wonderful to get together...this is a special group of people," Hagen said.
Many of the men who will be on campus this weekend have not seen each other or visited the college for 50 years. Steve Hull '45 remarks that this weekend gives them the chance to all come together again as a group, to see old friends, and to relive their days in uniform on the Green.
Ed Grady '47, who was a member of the V-12 Marine Corps, this weekend will be "very exciting to me, and a little emotional".
This weekend's entertainment includes a variety show held Saturday night in Alumni Gym. The variety show was a favorite form of entertainment for the veterans in the 1940s.
On Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. the V-12 veterans will hold a ceremony to rededicate the World War II-Korean War memorial plaque located in Zahn Courtyard between the Hanover Inn and the Hopkins Center. Later at 11 a.m. a military review of the troops, including the veteran returnees and Navy and Marine color guards, will be held on the Green. Both of these events are open to the public.
