History

When the members of the Clemson Class of 1939 walked across the stage in the College chapel on June 5, 1939 to receive diplomas, it is probable that not one of us gave any thought to returning 50 years later for our Golden Anniversary Reunion. The thoughts that day were thoughts of embarking on a career and spending the rest of our lives working and raising a family.

It was not to be. Two and a half years after graduation almost all of the class of '39 went off to war. All too many of our classmates made the ultimate sacrifice and were buried in the soil of Europe and in the jungles and atolls of the Pacific.

When the war was over, we returned home to resume our lives. We became architects and engineers, teachers and farmers, doctors and lawyers. Most of our class have now retired and are enjoying golf, fishing, spectator sports and spoiling our grandchildren.

Looking back on the past fifty years, we see changes in the world that we could not have imagined in 1939. Television, jet planes, men on the moon and great advances in medicine.

Clemson has also changed. The cadet corps are gone. Clemson Agricultural College became Clemson University. Women were admitted and now make up a sizeable portion of the student body. The football team won a national championship.

One thing has not changed and never will. That is the affection and pride we have in our school. We feel a part of the advances made by the University. As long as any of us live, we will always stand proudly and say, "We are Clemson men, from the Class of 1939!"

Benjamin O. Cantey, Jr.
Class Historian
1999