Return to Ring StoryRing Recovery Source: http://www.westpointaog.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=312 |
| Over
the past several years, there have been articles in various publications
relating success stories related to returning class rings to their owners.
It has been gratifying that a large number of rings have been returned
by a variety of people who have been able to act as agents for the returns.
About fifteen to twenty rings have been returned through the operation
of our Class Support Program. The current West Point Ring Recovery Fund operated by Bill O'Neill '92 was established sometime in 1999-2000 after a Class of '54 ring was offered for sale on e-bay. The sale came to the attention of members of the West Point Forum and several joined together to purchase the ring. A number of subscribers commented that it was a shame to see a WP ring being offered for sale. Bill responded that if they wanted to collect money and bid for the ring, he would put up the first $20. The group asked Bill to collect the funds and submit the bid for the ring, and contributions came in steadily. What began as a one-time enterprise has recovered 32 lost or stolen rings through 2002. Several others have become involved with ring recovery. Bill's primary assistants now are LTC (Ret.) David McClellan (father of an '01 grad) who previously served on the faculty at West Point and LTC Mike McGurk '85. This is an "out of pocket" operation relying on contributions from classes or individual graduates who want to help keep the program going. Reimbursement from the owner is never required, but will always be accepted. On several occasions, rings have been returned to a widow or other family member. Donations to the program can be made on the Ring Recovery site. The listserver of the Ring Recovery Program is up and running and started with 60 initial subscribers. "Ring_Recovery" will be a forum for disseminating information, promoting discussion, and providing reports pertaining to the recovery of Military Academy rings and their return to the Academy community. If any member of a class is interested in the recovery of Military Academy rings, they can complete the "Subscribe Now" form at www.west-point.org/wp/ring_recovery/join.cgi or write to owner-ring_recovery@west-point.org . A list of lost and found rings can be found by clicking here. http://www.westpointaog.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=309 |
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LTC (Ret) David Mcclellan, MCCLELLAN_DM@mercer.edu,
father of 2001 grad, Ring Recovery. |
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