A Note to the Reader: After writing and proofreading this entry, I found that it is mostly a letter to myself. I will find no offense if you pass it by for more interesting matter.
Did you know the “alma mater” can be translated as “nourishing mother?” I was told it could be and so chose to believe it. Since I was in the neighborhood, I visited my alma mater, Louisiana Tech. Interesting how, nearly 40 years later, so much remains the same and so much has changed.
See the flagpole at the top of the driveway? Air Force cadets are responsible for hoisting the flag every weekday and retiring the flag at the end of the day, accompanied by the appropriate music. It has always been thus at Louisiana Tech and remains so to this day.
People don’t often think of Louisiana as cold and I suppose it isn’t, really. But when I was up at 0630 on a blustery 30-degree day in a thin blue uniform, I thought it was really cold. The flag detail marched across the quadrangle early each morning from the white tower in the background, the freshman and sophomores carrying and escorting the flag, with a cadet officer, a junior or senior, marching along to supervise. In the afternoon, the reverse would occur. I don’t remember a single instance when this failed to occur.
The University installed a walkway with every graduate’s name inscribed in a brick, so current students can tread on their predecessors. I found both of my bricks (BS ‘83, MS ‘84).
Many of the buildings have not changed in the nearly 40 years since I left.
I had a great chat with the Professor of Aerospace Studies (that’s the title of the guy in charge of ROTC). It turns out that he recently transferred to Space Force. We had an interesting conversation (I thought, anyway), about the impact of the creation of this new service and the ripple effects from that decision. He was very gracious with his time and showed me the framed displays for each year of Air Force graduates as far back as they could go. I reviewed my year; it was a jolt to see names I had long ago forgotten.
