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February 1952. From photos by Gerd Baatz and Jim Hansen for the Look magazine assignment "West Point Story -- military officers from the United States Military Academy Class of 1950 who fought in the Korean War. Includes Elliott Knott's funeral at West Point." View full size.
Per perusal of The Register of Graduates, USMA and some stubby pencil work, here are the correct data for the West Point Class of 1949 with respect to the Korean war: (1), Admitted to USMA '49 -- 905; (2), Graduated, 7 June 1949 -- 574; (3) Commissioned (Army or Air Force) -- 569; (4) Killed, Korea (KIA/died of wounds/died while a POW) -- 28; (5) Died in air accidents (outside the combat zone) -- 10.
Thus, by the end of 1953, 4.9% of those so commissioned had died as a result of combat and another 1.7% in air accidents.
The class suffered combat deaths in Vietnam, of course, as well as several losses due to air accidents after the Korean episode.
The headstone in the photo. Read about him here:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13588290
Reading the story behind a headstone is very sobering. There, but for the grace of God ...
According to official online West Point records, there were 1,146 Cadets in the Class of 1949. There were 47 Cadets deceased by the end of 1955, 26 of which occurred during 1950 alone.
Nice memorial to Lt. Knott at the Findagrave web site at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Knott&GSfn=Elliott...
I remember my father telling me that more than half of the West Point Class of 1949 was dead by 1955.
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