Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 25, 1991 TAG: 9103250262
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET CAMLIN CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Maj. Thomas Zeugner, class of '76, and Lt. Terry Plunk, class of '88, died in the last days of Operation Desert Storm, bringing these thoughts in an editorial last Friday in The VMI Cadet:
"Their deaths scare us. Their deaths inspire us. Yet also, their deaths exemplify the meaning of a true VMI alumnus. . . . They realized that a VMI diploma carries responsibilities with it. It is a symbol of honor, selflessness, and duty. We could only hope to leave VMI with those qualities."
Nearly every graduating class since 1958 had at least one man stationed in the gulf. Thirty percent of the class of '88 fought the war - the largest percentage of any class.
Maj. Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, was VMI's highest-ranking alumnus in the war.
Peay commanded what officials described as the largest helicopter assault in history 2 1/2 weeks ago.
Peay's "Screaming Eagles" of the 101st Division plunged 50 miles into Iraq to establish a refueling installation - a stop for helicopters aiming to attack the strategic Euphrates River Valley.
With 300 helicopters and 2,000 soldiers, Peay led the assault at dawn on Sunday, Feb. 24. His troops included the first U.S. women to fly attack helicopters onto enemy territory.
According to The New York Times, the soft-spoken Peay would distribute inspirational diagrams to his troops in the desert, stressing discipline, leadership and the 101st's rich history. He gave out lists of values, including "ethics always."
"There is a quiet confidence - not a lot of bravado," Peay told The New York Times before the assault. "We trained very hard. Our training had robustness."
The New York Times wrote that the air assault and convoy operation that followed owed much to two colleges that keep alive a Southern military tradition - the Citadel Military College in Charleston, S.C., and Virginia Military Institute.
"Citadel" became the code name for a convoy of supplies and 2,000 more troops that traveled across the desert on an old track used for the annual Muslim pilgrimage. The convoy's commander was a Citadel graduate.
And New Market was the code name for the convoy's roadbed, named for the Civil War battle fought by cadets from VMI.
Peay, who lives at Fort Campbell, Ky., with his wife and two sons, remains in the gulf with the 101st Division.
Dick Meade, a '44 VMI graduate, has lived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for 26 years as an executive with the International Commercial Marketing Corp.
He threw a dinner party for several alumni at his home last Christmas.
Zeugner, of Petersburg, was an Army ordnance officer. He graduated from VMI with a degree in English in 1976.
Plunk, of Vinton, was the top civil engineering major in his class, graduating with honors in 1988. At graduation he was awarded the Cincinnati Medal, bestowed upon the one cadet whose four years at VMI proved academic and all-around excellence.
by CNB