This slideshow features veterans connected to The College at Brockport from the Civil War to the present day

Cowling, Charlie

Wierzbowski, Kenneth R

English

The College at Brockport, State University of New York: Digital Commons @Brockport

The College at Brockport: State University of New York
Digital Commons @Brockport
Veterans Day Documents Veterans Day 2012
2012
Veterans Among Us
Charlie Cowling
The College at Brockport, ccowling@brockport.edu
Kenneth R. Wierzbowski
kwierzbo@brockport.edu
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/vet_docs
Part of the Library and Information Science Commons
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Veterans Day 2012 at Digital Commons @Brockport. It has been accepted for inclusion in
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kmyers@brockport.edu.
Repository Citation
Cowling, Charlie and Wierzbowski, Kenneth R., "Veterans Among Us" (2012). Veterans Day Documents. 14.
http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/vet_docs/14
 A college archives presentation: 
Charlie Cowling,  
College Archivist & Librarian 
ccowling@brockport.edu 
 
 
 
Revised for 2012 by: 
Kenneth Wierzbowski, 
Systems & Assessment 
Librarian 
kwierzbo@brockport.edu 
Produced on behalf of the Brockport Veteran Affairs Advisory/Veterans Day Committee 
 
 Co. A, 140th NY Infantry 
was raised in Brockport 
and included students 
and alumni of the college. 
Many served in other 
units as well. 
 
 The 140th played an 
important role at 
Gettysburg and many 
other battles. 
Reenactors of the 140th NY Infantry.  
 
The “Rough Riders” at San Juan Hill. 
 
 After Brockport she went on 
to study nursing at the 
Bellevue Nursing School in 
New York City. When the 
Spanish American War 
began she joined the Red 
Cross nursing service and 
went to Cuba with the army. 
 
  She returned home at one 
point to recover from 
malaria and "nerve 
exhaustion" and then 
returned to serve as a nurse 
in the Philippines. 
Pictured is a group of nurses on a ship off of Cuba. 
 
A militia company 
from Brockport went 
into service during the 
war, one of whose 
members was Harry 
Burlingame, son of a 
popular professor at the 
college, Herman 
Burlingame, a 
mathematics professor, 
pictured at right. 
 
“Doughboys” training with a machine gun. 
 
These trees stood along Utica St. and the north side of Hartwell Hall 
up until the 1960s. 
"Beautiful thoughts are inspired by 
nature's trees. The Lombardy Poplars 
around the campus that lift their heads so 
gracefully to the sky are living memorials 
to the one hundred one members of our 
school who answered our country's call 
in the World War. Some of our poplars 
did not survive and some of our boys did 
not return. Beautiful thoughts these trees 
inspire." 
In the 1932 yearbook, Principal Alfred 
Thompson wrote: 
 
 An ambulance driver in WWI, he recalled his 
experiences in an article in the February 1919 
edition of the Stylus, including the war’s ending: 
“We celebrated November 11…, 
everyone was everyone else’s friend 
and booze enough flowed to float 
the Maine. …who can say that 
there was not just the slightest 
feeling of regret? It meant the end 
of a big adventure...” 
Grandfather of Mark Ricci, 
University Police Department 
Age approximately 19 years old.  
Immigrated to the U.S. through Ellis 
Island in New York City. 
Grandfather of Charlie Cowling, 
Drake Memorial Library 
 
Regimental photo 
Grandfather of Robin Catlin, 
Drake Memorial Library 
 
An American soldier on Guadalcanal. 
 Lt. Cecil N. King, father-in-law of Richard Black of the Office of Design & Production, was part of the 509th 
Composite Group, a unit tasked with the operational deployment of nuclear weapons. 
 
Displayed here is rare footage from Tinian Island which shows the 509th prepping the ‘Enola Gay’ and            
‘Bockscar’ bombers to deliver the atomic bombs to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Footage courtesy of Richard Black. 
Please see external video file in Digital Commons for 
footage. 
 
 Many from Brockport served, and after the war the returning 
veterans helped the school expand to unprecedented dimensions. 

 
 Before coming to 
Brockport as a history 
professor, Frank Manno 
was a Navy lieutenant 
and served as a 
beachmaster during the 
D-Day invasion, where 
he was one of the first 
officers to go ashore. 
Father of Kim Myers,  
Drake Memorial Library 
 
Uncle of Bill Jolly, 
Facilities and Planning Department 
At Pearl Harbor. 
U.S. Navy 
Grandfather of  
Kenneth Wierzbowski, 
Drake Memorial Library 
Father of Robin Catlin,  
Drake Memorial Library 
Kneeling at left 
Grandfather of Sharon Chaplain,  
Box Office Manager 
Grandfather of Erin Rickman, 
Office of Student Retention 
 
Soldier resting on a Chinese Communist bunker. 
 
 Bill Oakes, seated, 
served in the Navy and 
was present at the 
atomic bomb tests at 
Bikini Atoll. 
 
 Sam Platania, standing, 
served in the Army in 
Guadalcanal and other 
island campaigns. 
 
Grandfather of  
Kenneth Wierzbowski, 
Drake Memorial Library 
A memorial page 
from the 1954 Saga 
Yearbook. 
 
c. 1955  
Distinguished Service Professor, 
Kinesiology, Sport Studies and 
Physical Education 
 
 
 Served in the Marine 
Corps and received the 
Bronze Star. 
 
He had played football 
at Brockport for three 
years under Coach 
D’Agostino. 
 
Vietnam, 1968-69 
Associate Professor, 
Department of Social Work 
In the village of Hiệp Đức as an Army advisor in Vietnam 
University Police Department 
U.S. Army – August 1973 – 
August 1976 
 
Military Police – Stationed at Fort 
Riley, KS 
Rank SP4/Acting Sergeant 
Basic Training 
Entry station – Fort Dix, NJ 
August, 1973 
Gunnery Sergeant, USMC 
Father of Julie Pruss, 
Office of the President 
KIA Feb. 1967 Vietnam 
Father of Melissa Furness, 
Office of Alumni Relations & 
Development 
 
 
Facilities & Planning Department 
 
University Police Department 
Gulf  War 
CDR, USN 
Husband of Pat Maxwell,  
Drake Memorial Library 
At far right. 
Gunnery Sergeant, USMC 
(Ret.) 
Office of the President 
With Master Sergeant John Pruss, USMC (Ret.), 
HQMC, 2000 
U.S. Army 1992-1999
Department of Military Science 
In Korea, 1993. 
Box Office Manager 
The Freedom Bird 
The 707 bringing A1C Sharon 
Anderson back to the United States 
from Seoul, ROK in April 1991  
Incentive flight for A1C Sharon 
Anderson at Eglin, AFB in Florida 
1991 
 
 
Facilities & Planning Department 
 
Iraq, Army, 10th Mtn. 
Division 
Class of ‘06 and Husband of Sara 
Kelly, Residential Education 
Col. 
Brother of Pam O’Sullivan,  
Drake Memorial Library 
At right, receiving Purple Heart. 
Cpl. USMC 
Student, 
The College at Brockport 
With Senator John McCain (R-AZ) 
Fallujah, Iraq 
L.Cpl., USMC
Son of Tracy Daniels, 
Secretary to the College Senate 
President 
Jason Daniels with his mother Tracy Daniels and sisters Nicole Daniels 
(Sophomore at the College at Brockport) and Megan Daniels (Freshman at 
Hornell Senior High School) Missing from photo: Steven Daniels (father) 
Deployment March 2011 
Homecoming with sister Nicole Daniels, sophomore at the 
College at Brockport; mother, Tracy Daniels; sister, Megan 
Daniels; father, Steven Daniels 
Relation of Amy Kruppenbacher, 
Office of Community Development 
Grandson of Mariangela Ardino, 
Division of Academic Affairs 
 
 There was an active veteran’s group of one sort or 
another from the 1950s through the early 1970s, 
when they seem to have ended. There is a Veterans 
Association on campus today. Following are photos 
from the earlier groups, including one from the 
variety benefit show they did in the 1950s! 
 
 
In the 1950s the Veterans Club did a 
variety show that toured area VA 
hospitals; here are the “Brockettes” 
at the VA in Bath in 1954. 
 
 


Veterans Among Us

https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=vet_docs

Veterans Among Us

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