1999 ROTC Hall of Fame Inductees
Col. Paul E. Donnelly, Class of 1941
Paul E. Donnelly was born in Canada and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Bonaventure College in 1941.
He was commissioned a field artillery second lieutenant that same year, and reported soon after to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he received his initial branch training. In September 1942, he graduated in the 35th basic parachutist class at Fort Benning, Georgia.
He became a battery commander in the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in September 1942. From then until June 1948, he served as a field artillery officer in the 82d Airborne Division, holding positions as battery commander, liaison officer, communications officer, adjutant and other staff assignments.
His tenure with the newly formed division included participation in the Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Anzio, Rome-Arno, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe campaigns, including several combat jumps, during World War II.
Assigned to the post-World War II 82d Airborne Division, Captain Donnelly was selected to serve as a State Department observer on the United Nations Truce Commission in Palestine in 1948.
He returned to Fort Bragg as a battalion executive officer in the 82d Airborne 319th Field Artillery Battalion, serving in several other staff positions until he attended the Advanced Field Artillery Officer Course in 1950. Upon graduation, he remained at Fort Sill as an instructor, then received special weapons training.
His third overseas tour was as a commander and advisor in Thailand from 1954 until 1955. Major Donnelly returned to St. Bonaventure in 1954 as an assistant professor of military science, working very closely with the corps of cadets.
He was influential in mentoring the Class of 1956 that produced two future general officers, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) John Mitchell and Brig. Gen. (Ret) Joseph Nagel. Advanced military schooling followed, and after being promoted to lieutenant colonel, Donnelly commanded a missile battalion in the 81st Artillery, Federal Republic of Germany from 1959 until 1961.
Following this command, Donnelly received additional special weapons training and was assigned to NORAD (North American Air Defense Command) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he eventually served as the acting chief of intelligence for the director of threat assessment, CONAD (Continental Air Command).
In January 1965, he began his fifth overseas tour as plans officer, U.S. Military Assistance Command-Vietnam. Returning to the United States in January 1966, he became chief, Organization and Training Branch, DCS Intelligence at Fort Monroe, Virginia. In May 1967, he supervised ROTC training as chief of the Training and Education Division, which was his last assignment before retiring in 1974.
Colonel Donnelly awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (arrow head device and 7 bronze service stars), World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal (Germany), National Defense Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device, the Master Parachutist Badge with Combat Stars, Belgian Fourragere, Netherlands Orange Lanyard, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation and seven Overseas Service Bars.
Lt. Robert A. Gavin, Class of 1951
Born on 20 August 1927, Robert A. Gavin was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Gavin and the brother of Frances A. and Rev. Robert Gavin, O.F.M. of Olean, New York. He attended St. Mary's Academy and graduated from Olean High School in 1945.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army at the close of World War II and served at Fort Dix, New Jersey from October 1945 until November 1946, when he was honorably discharged as a corporal. Upon graduation from ³Ô¹ÏȺÖÚ with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1951, Gavin earned his commission as a second lieutenant in field Artillery.
Called to active duty later that year, he served with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and took part in the Texas Maneuvers during the fall of 1952 at Fort Bliss, Texas.
Second Lieutenant Gavin completed the anti-aircraft and guided missile courses at Fort Bliss, and was assigned overseas, first in Japan, and then in Korea. He served in combat for two months as a forward observer in the 48th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division.
In February 1953, Gavin became an automatic weapons platoon leader in the 15th AAAAW Battalion. On Tuesday, 24 March 1953, near Sonbyok, Korea, Gavin was leading his platoon under intense North Korean fire. St. Bonaventure student newspaper,
The Bona Venture, reported on 30 October 1953,
"Lieutenant Gavin distinguished himself by going forward under enemy mortar fire to aid one of his wounded men. Upon hearing that another one of his men had been hit, the platoon leader went forward again. Although he returned both men, Lt. Gavin suffered fatal wounds from mortar fragments."
One of the 27 men whose names are on the memorial stone located outside the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at ³Ô¹ÏȺÖÚ, Robert A. Gavin '51 was awarded posthumously the Silver Star, for gallantry in action near Sonbyok, Korea.
Col. John M. Hart, Class of 1941
A 1941 graduate of St. Bonaventure College, John M. Hart earned his Bachelor of Arts degree and commission as a second lieutenant of field artillery from the St. Bonaventure Army ROTC program.
Upon completing the Field Artillery Officer Basic Course, he was assigned to the 2nd Armored Division, with whom he served throughout World War II "from Benning to Berlin."
His assignments in the division 78th Field Artillery Battalion included aerial observer, battery executive officer and assistant S3/fire direction officer, and he saw combat in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy and the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central European campaigns, including assault landings at Sicily and Normandy.
Between World War II and the Korean War, Hart returned to Fort Benning, where he was assigned to the 83rd Field Artillery Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment (also known as School Troops Battalion). In 1949, he went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma to complete the Field Artillery Officer Advanced Course, and was then assigned as survey instructor in Fort Sill department of observation (target acquisition).
Upon completion of the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, he departed for Korea, and joined the 3rd Infantry Division, where he worked in DIVARTY as the S \_3 and S\_2 at different times during his second combat tour.
Returning from Korea, Hart completed the Strategic Intelligence School and then served in the Pentagon from 1953 until 1956, before returning to Fort Bragg to command three different battalions in the XV III Airborne Corps Artillery.
He commanded a 155mm howitzer unit (777th Field Artillery Battalion), then the 250th Field Artillery Battalion, which had the honor of being the first Honest John Battalion east of the Mississippi, and finally the 83rd Field Artillery Battalion (8" Howitzer). He was also executive officer of the 54th Field Artillery Group, acting G3 of the XVIII Airborne Corps Artillery and field artillery staff officer of the XVIII Airborne Corps tactical operations center (TOC).
He was also selected to observe the last testing of an atomic weapon at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. He completed the Senior Officer Nuclear Weapons Employment Course at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1958 and then went to Japan for a three-year assignment as chief of the surface to air missile branch, before he finally returned to ³Ô¹ÏȺÖÚ in 1962. At St. Bonaventure, Hart spent five years as the professor of military science, whereupon he retired from active duty in 1967.
Colonel Hart is the honorary colonel of the 78th Artillery regiment.
His awards and decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Soldiers Medal, Bronze Star (2 oak leaf clusters), Army Commendation Medal, American Defense Service Medal, Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (arrowhead device and 7 bronze service stars), World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal (Germany), National Defense Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Korean Service Medal (3 bronze service stars), United Nations Korean Service Medal, Belgian Fourragere, French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star, the Presidential Unit Citation, Distinguished Unit Citation (with oak leaf cluster) and the Republic of Korea Unit Citation.
1998 ROTC Hall of Fame Inductees
Thomas E. Bowen, MD, Class of 1961
Born in Lackawanna, New York to Harry and Veronica Bowen, Thomas E. Bowen moved with his family to Olean when he was in fifth grade. In 1952, he graduated from Olean High School and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, serving four years before returning to Olean and enrolling as a college student and Army ROTC cadet at ³Ô¹ÏȺÖÚ.
Bowen was a distinguished military graduate of St. Bonaventure, where he earned a bachelor of science in biology and a commission as a second lieutenant in 1961. Selected for an educational delay to attend medical school, Bowen earned a doctorate of medicine from Marquette University in 1965.
He served for two years in the Republic of Vietnam, eventually becoming chief of surgery at a hospital unit in Long Binh and later holding the same post at Chu Lai. Following those combat tours, Bowen was assigned in a variety of surgical positions, including postings at Walter Reed Medical Center, the U.S. Army Surgeon General's Office, Letterman Army Medical Center, U.S. Army Medical Department-Panama and the 121 st Evacuation Hospital, Republic of Korea.
While assigned to duty at Walter Reed, Bowen simultaneously held a position as instructor and assistant professor of surgery at the Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, Maryland. He was also a consultant in cardiac surgery at the U.S. Public Health Hospital in San Francisco, California.
On 23 August 1988, he was named commanding general of the 500-bed Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado. In this capacity, he oversaw a staff of 122 military physicians and 17 civilian physicians, and led a facility with more than 2,500 employees and an operating budget of $101.8 million.
Maj. Gen. John Mitchell, Class of 1956
Major General John H. Mitchell graduated from ³Ô¹ÏȺÖÚ receiving a BA in Business Administration and an ROTC commission in 1956. He also received a Masters in Public Administration in 1973. In 1957, he graduated from the Field Artillery Basic Course and in 1963 the Advanced Course, both at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. At Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, he completed the US Army Command and General Staff College in 1968. He later completed the US Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, in 1973.
General Mitchell served in a variety of command and staff positions to include Commander, 8th Battalion, 6th Artillery, 1st Infantry Division, Vietnam in 1968; Chief, Officer Assignments, Field Artillery Branch, Officer Personnel Directorate in Washington, D.C.; G 1 for the 8th Division 1973-1975; Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, Headquarters, US Army Europe and Seventh Army in Heidelberg; Division Artillery Commander and Chief of Staff, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kansas, Commander; Field Command, Defense Nuclear Agency, Kirkland Air Force Base, New Mexico.
Selected for promotion to Major General, he assumed duties as Director of Human Resources Development Office, Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, US Army, Washington, D.C. ; United States Command, Berlin; and Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff, Army.
His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf and V, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, and the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Army Commendation Medal with V. Device and with Oak Leaf Cluster.
He was promoted to Major General on 1 October 1982.
Brig. Genl. James Morris, Class of 1962
General Morris began his career with BA Degree and a commission as a Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Reserve on 3 June 1962.
He has served in a number of command and staff asssignments to include Unit Commander with E Battalion, 36th Artillery; 6th Battalion, 32d Artillery as a Fixed Wing Aviator; 220th Aviation Company stationed in the Republic of Vietnam; Plans and Training Officer, Headquarters and Service Company, United States Army Aviation Center Regiment; Helicopter Pilot, 42d Infantry Division Artillery; Platoon Commander, Company B, 42nd Aviation Battalion; On 22 June 1971 he was assigned as S-3, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 42nd Aviation Battalion; Assistant Division Aviation Officer, Battalion S-3 and subsequently Battalion Commander, 4211ct Aviation Battalion; Brigade Commander, 2d Brigade, 42d Infantry Division; and Assistant Division Commander. On 13 December 1988, he was promoted to the grade of Brigadier General.
General Morris' awards and decorations include: Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal (17 OLC), Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal (4OLC), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (l0LC), Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Navy Unit Commendation Medal, Master Army Aviator Badge, New York State Military Commendation Medal, New York State Long and Faithful Service Medal (20LC), New York State Aid to Civil Authorities, and the New York State Humane Service Medal.
Brig. Genl. John Schmitt, Class of 1971
A native of Buffalo, New York, General Schmitt was a Distinguished Military Graduate from ³Ô¹ÏȺÖÚ, he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in August of 1971. He also holds a Master of Science Degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California.
General Schmitt has served in a variety of command end staff positions, which include overseas tours in Korea and Germany. He commanded Company C, 2d Battalion, 2d Infantry, 9th Infantry Division; Company B, 3d Aviation Battalion (Combat), 3d Infantry Division, U.S. Army Europe; 3d Battalion, 3d Aviation, 3d Infantry Division, U.S. Army Europe; and the Aviation Brigade, 2d Infantry Division, Eighth U.S. Army. His staff Assignments Include Assistant Battalion S-3/Fiight Operations Officer, 52d Aviation Battalion, Eighth U.S. Army; Battalion S-4, 2d Battalion, 2d Infantry, 9th Infantry Division; Battalion S-3, 3d Aviation Battalion (Combat), 3d Infantry Division. U.S. Army Europe; Staff Officer in the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development. and Acquisitions, HQDA; Chief, G-3 Training, VII Corps, U.S. Army Europe; Senior Military Aide-de-Camp to the Secretary of the Army; end Executive Officer to the Commander In Chief, United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command,U.S. Forces Korea.
His awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Republic of Korea Order of National Security Merit Semil Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Modal, The National Defense Service Medal with Service Star, the Expert Infantryman Badge; the Master Army A via tor Badge, tile Senior Parachutist Badge, the Ranger Tab, the Department of Army Staff Identification Badge, and the Republic of Korea Army Honorary Aviator Wings.
Fr. David F. Sweeney, O.F.M.
Father David Sweeney, a Long Island, New York native was educated at St. Pancras School in Glendale, L.I. and St. Joseph Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon.
He entered the Franciscan Order in Paterson, NJ on August 12, 1942. Father Sweeney completed his theological studies at Holy Name College in Washington D.C. and was ordained to the priesthood in the Church of Mount Sepulchre in Washington on June 12, 1948.
Father Sweeney received his doctor of philosophy degree in history in 1949 from the Catholic University of America. His dissertation was published in book form under the title "The Life of John Lancaster Spalding". Father Sweeney joined the faculty of ³Ô¹ÏȺÖÚ in 1963 where he continued to teach until illness forced him to retire several months before his passing in March 1993.
Father David was inducted as a charter member of the Seneca Battalion Hall of Fame in recognition of his longstanding support of the Reserve Officer Training Program at St. Bonaventure.
He served as chaplain to the cadets and cadre of the Seneca battalion providing moral support not only at the University but under the austere conditions of field training exercises as well. His spiritual leadership is truly missed and always remembered.
Maj. Gen. Norbert J. Rappl, Class of 1952
Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery, Major General Rappl completed the Field Artillery Officer Basic Course at Ft. Sill Oklahoma then served 13 months with the 8th U.S. Army in Korea.
Upon release from active duty, Rappl joined the 98th Infantry Division. He held successive positions in the 923rd Field Artillery Battalion culminating with the position of Battalion S-3. Rappl was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in January 1968.
In November of that year, he became commander of the 98th Division Support Battalion. He was promoted to the grade of Colonel in 1971 and Brigadier General in 1980.
In February 1982, he assumed command of the 98th Division and was promoted to the rank of Major General, the highest rank a reservist can attain in August 1982.
Brig. Gen. Joseph Nagel, Class of 1956
A native of Elmira, New York, BG Nagel was awarded a BS degree in biology in 1956 at the same time he completed the ROTC program and was commissioned a 2nd
Lieutenant.
His military education includes Filed Artillery Officer Basic Course, Command and General Staff School, and the United States Army War College. He has held a wide variety of command and staff positions culminating as Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army Training Center, and Fort Dix, Fort Dix, NJ.
His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star (2nd Oak Leaf Cluster), the Meritorious Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), several Air Medals, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal with "V" device.