R.O.T.C. Drill at Spring Hill College:
A Vietnam Epigram

On Fridays we had R.O.T.C. drill at noon. So I attended my class in 20th Century British Poetry in the uniform of a Cadet First Lieutenant. For any of his classes which had R.O.T.C. cadets enrolled, Franklin Murray, S.J., the professor, thought it both amusing and instructive -- two terms which he considered synonyms -- to thoroughly cover the works of Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, whose fates as warriors are -- alas! -- well-known.

In fourragere and Sam Browne belt
I study Owen and Sassoon.
Dulce et decorum est.
I'm ready to parade at noon.

-- Warren F. O'Rourke, 1971

Typical Infantry Lieutenant
Circa 1965