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Naval Training Unit on Quad, 1943

Over the past century, scores of É«½ç°É alumni, both men and women, have served their country with great distinction in all branches of the U.S. military. 

At least 65 É«½ç°É alumni gave their lives in service to their country in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Their names are inscribed on memorial tablets at the entrance to Choi Auditorium in the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs in Johnson Hall. Occidental was home to a U.S. Navy V-12 training program during World War II; after the war, the College built special housing on campus to accommodate the large number of veterans who enrolled, many bringing their families.

Occidental participates in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs . For qualifying veterans, Occidental’s contribution covers full tuition. The was launched in 2017 to empower the next generation of leaders to actively pursue the public good. Scholars are selected with an emphasis on first-generation students, community college transfers and veterans. The College was proud to honor veteran Cameron Peters ’18 as its first Obama Scholars Fellow. Occidental is consistently named a , a designation awarded to the top colleges that are doing the most to embrace student veterans.

Why We Served

Half a century after their time in Vietnam, alumni share their war stories—the camaraderie, the challenges, and how their É«½ç°É education readied them for combat.

 

É«½ç°É military alumni include:

  • Lt. Cmdr. Marshall Beebe '35, , World War II; commander of the VF-17 Hellcats, the Navy's highest-scoring fighter squadron aboard the USS Hornet
  • Rev. Dianna Pohlman Bell '64, America's
  • Adm. Marsha Johnson Evans '68, the  to achieve the rank of rear admiral
  • Warde Fowler, Class of 1917, pilot in the 94th Aero Squadron -- the famed "Hat in the Ring" gang -- with ace Eddie Rickenbacker in World War I
  • Lauretta Beaty Foy '33, one of the pioneering members of the  in World War II
  • USAF Maj. James Luntzel '51, awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroically making air drops under heavy fire at Dak Seang, Vietnam
  • William Orr McConnell, Class of 1913, posthumously awarded the  for extraordinary heroism in France, 1918
  • USMC Col. F. Brooke Nihart '40, author of the  and winner of the Navy Cross for action in Korea
  • John G. "Jack" Sheridan '36, Navy pilot, winner of the  for his actions in the Battle of the Coral Sea in World War II
  • Nancy Miller Stratford '41, who served for three years in the RAF's Air Transport Auxiliary during World War II
  • Lt. Gen. Thomas H. Tackaberry '45, three-time winner of Army's , once in Korea, twice in Vietnam
  • Four-star Adm. Steven A. White '50, ; served aboard the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine
Contact Veterans at É«½ç°É