The Days Forward

West Point Class of 1969

Suzanne Rice

10th Anniversary Memories – Music Chronicling Our Lives

     My appreciation and “Thank You” to the TDF team on the occasion of their 10th anniversary will be a little unique! Unique in the sense that I am including referrals to music that I think will resonate with the class and thus remind us of past stories that we each have that can be written for TDF.

     The music came about as my wife, Kathryn, and I relocated from CA to Nashville area in 2019 where we discovered county music. Each Country Music song is supposed to be a chronicle of a life event. I found this to be true when I started writing articles for the TDF. Initially I was not sure of what or how to write. With a little help, I joined the other USAF guys and wrote a short AF story. Much to my amazement I really enjoyed writing the article and resurrecting those long-ago memories. Those memories covered the spectrum from painful to thoughtful to wild times in the O Club. The attached country music recommendations coupled with the memories so vividly that I ended up writing more stories for TDF. Each new story became more meaningful and enjoyable to me personally. They reflected not only my past but truly helped me prepare for The Days Forward. If you listen to the words in the 3 attached songs, I am sure you will find some passage that resonates with you and reminds you of our graduation into an Army and Air Force at War. I can still remember storing my ‘69 Olds Cutlass in a friend’s garage under a tarp.  (listen to the song- you will understand).

     The Days Forward has been a comforting inspiration to me. My special thanks to our Rice Class Son who conceived The Days Forward Idea and the

TDF team for its successful implementation.

Happy 10th Anniversary!

You can find these songs on YouTube. They are mostly bittersweet.

-David Ball: “Riding with Private Malone”

-The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks):  “Travelin’ Soldier” 

 -Trace Adkins: “Arlington”

10th Anniversary Enrichment – Our Treasure Trove

May the West Point Class of 1969 and their families join together in a “tip of the hat” to Bill Rice’s son (Christopher, also a grad), his widow (Suzanne), daughter (Meredith) and their very talented web designer upon the tenth anniversary of their wonderful gift to us of “The Days Forward.”

This remarkable publication has enriched the legacy of our Class and deepened the bonds between us, serving as both a record and an outpouring of our lives.  

The trove of treasured articles has given us joy, poignancy, and reflection, as well as a greater appreciation of the richness of our collective time on earth.  It has offered each of us an opportunity to reminisce, to express insights of what we came across on our individual journeys and how we dealt with them, what West Point meant and still means to us, and our love and respect for one another.  In many cases, it has given release to things we had held inside for years.  Often, it brought us back into contact with old friends and soldiers we once served with, many of whom search the site and, with careful screening and our permission, get back in touch.

Make no mistake, “The Days Forward” constitutes a record of our experiences that will last for generations.  In the near term, the present total of more than three hundred stories published on it will be digitized at the Honor Library in the Simon Center at West Point, available for review by cadets and other visitors.  With them will also be selected books, articles, studies, official reports and other publications authored by members of our Class.   Already present are hard copies of the 1969 Howitzer and our Legacy Book.  As they are completed, so too will be added the Memorial articles of our fallen comrades, which by design and with your help will eventually include all of us. In the end, it may be possible that no West Point class will have a more thorough (and preserved) collection of its personal history, both in and out of uniform, than the Class of 1969.

“The Days Forward” is a big part of this record.  You, members of the Class of 1969, are encouraged to offer your own stories to it.  

10th Anniversary Reflections – Remaining Connected

It does not seem possible that it has been ten years since The Days Forward started.  Hearing all the stories from Ernie’s classmates has been wonderful – some are funny, others more nostalgic and yet they all remind us of a time

in our lives which was filled with so much promise. Since I lost Ernie 1 1/2 years ago, it has helped me retain a connection with West Point and a lifetime of good memories which started there. I eagerly look forward to each article and treasure them.

10th Anniversary Reminders – Tremendous Friends

Days Forward has enabled me to stay in contact with West Point, the class of ’69 and all the memories I cherish and garnered during the years I dated Mike (Taylor) and after we were married. The highlights of his 11 years of active service (followed by reserves) were three years in Europe and four years back on faculty. The experiences and people we encountered were incredible and only other classmates can appreciate the magnitude of that life. We continued to travel with the class years later and I’ll never forget these tremendous friends. When Mike passed in 2013 after a 5-year battle with cancer, I felt part of my world left with him but Days Forward has reminded me of the grandeur of West Point and the character and amazing feats of the Long Grey Line – especially the class of 1969.

10th Anniversary Benefit – Our Place in History

I have been reflecting on what the days forward has meant to all of us. Not only has the website given everyone in our class the chance to read and enjoy memories of the experiences we have shared, but it has developed into an important archive of the collective experiences of our class during our unique point in history. Many people have written of the West Point experience and have had to do significant research to support their work. You are putting it all in one place, not only for our benefit but also for anyone who comes after us and wants to know what it was like and all the places we went. At the 55th reunion I just happened to be sitting with a classmate for dinner and realized that we had a common experience with the same general officer in two separate places, halfway around the world from each other. Those experiences should not be forgotten. Some of us made big contributions to history, others of us made small ones. All of them should be remembered. I appreciate your efforts to draw them out and memorialize them.