As the young men of the Class of 1969 were studying, competing, training and learning to lead, events in the outside world, that would greatly impact their lives, were swirling up. When they entered West Point on 1 July 1965, the first large group of ground forces were being deployed to Vietnam. After their graduation on 4 June 1969, the class who had melded together in four years of learning, competition and comradery, went their separate ways having each chosen a branch of the military for which they would need more specific training. They would need this specialized training before they could report to their first assignment somewhere in the wide world.