West Virginia State University ROTC Hall of Fame to Induct 14 New Members

9/26/2018

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Contact: Jack Bailey
(304) 766-4109
Jbaile19@wvstateu.edu
 
   
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University (WVSU) ROTC Hall of Fame will add 14 new members during an induction ceremony Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, at 10 a.m. in the Fannin S. Belcher Theater of the Davis Fine Arts Building.

Joining the ranks of those enshrined in the ROTC Hall of Fame will be: 1^st Lt. Robert L. Clark, Jr.; Capt. Daniel R. Dean; Capt. Samuel C. Evans; Maj. Thomas Greene; Maj. Everett “Kenneth” Hobson; Lt. Col. Daniel Hudson; Lt. Col. Richard C. Jones; 2^nd Lt. Robert L. Lewis; Maj. George Moss; 1^st Lt. Robert L. Pugh; 2^nd Lt. Robert H. Strong; 1^st Lt. John Benjamin Taylor III; Maj. Dale L. Volley; and Lt. Col. Robbin Edwin Lincoln Washington, Sr.

The induction ceremony is free and open to the public and will also feature remarks from WVSU President Anthony L. Jenkins and musical performances by the WVSU Wind Ensemble.

Clark is a native of Institute, W.Va., and a 1968 graduate of WVSU where he was active in ROTC as well as student government and served as president of his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, for two years. Upon graduation he was commissioned a second lieutenant and served in Vietnam. Following military service, Clark earned a law degree from the University of Toledo and worked as a senior district attorney in Toledo, Ohio, for 32 years.

Dean is a native of Atlantic City, N.J., and a 1963 graduate of WVSU where he was active in ROTC, was a member of the track team and also worked as part of the yearbook staff. Following graduation he served as an executive officer and later company commander for the Fifth Battalion, First Brigade at Fort Knox, Ky. Following active duty, he spent five years in the U.S. Army Reserves. He worked for Citi-Bank for 20 years, rising to the position of vice president, before becoming an entrepreneur and starting his own flooring company in Atlanta that is still in business today.

Evans is a native of Bellaire, Ohio, who graduated from WVSU in 1963. He was commissioned a second lieutenant into the Medical Service Corps and assigned to the Sixth Special Courses Group in Fort Bragg, N.C., where he became the first African-American commander of a special forces unit. Evans volunteered for two tours of duty in Vietnam where he was part of the first combat parachute jump since World War II. After military service, Evans worked for the Atlantic Richfield Oil Company, and later the U.S. Department of Treasury, before becoming involved with international development opportunities. In 1995, Evans in conjunction with the Chinese Academy of Medicine developed a product called Genvia to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS.

Greene is a native of Orlando, Fla., and a 1961 graduate of WVSU where he was active in ROTC and a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. Greene served two tours of duty in Vietnam in the Medical Service Corps, and following his service there held a series of administrative positions in various military medical units. Greene spent 16 years in the U.S. Army. He passed away on April 20, 2010.

Hobson is a native of Richmond, Va., who graduated from WVSU in 1960. While at the University he was a member of the football and track teams and also active in ROTC and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He spent one year in active military service and was a member of the U.S. Army Reserves for 20 years before retiring as a major. Hobson earned a law degree from Howard University in 1973 and worked as a legal advisor for the Security and Exchange Commission and later served as second vice president for the Bankers Security Life Insurance Society.

Hudson is a 1962 WVSU graduate where he was active in the Spanish and Sociology clubs. Following graduation he embarked on a 20-year career in the U.S. Army that saw him stationed in Uruguay, South America, Korea and Vietnam. He received the Vietnam Service Medal with three campaign stars, the Army Commendation Medal, the Bronze Star and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, to name a few. Following retirement as a lieutenant colonel, Hudson taught high school Spanish in North Carolina, and also was a foreign language instructor at Methodist College. Hudson passed away Feb. 6, 2014.

Jones is a native of Beckley, W.Va., and a 1961 graduate of WVSU. He was the first WVSU ROTC graduate to be selected for the Military Police Corps. During a military career that spanned more than 20 years, Jones was deployed to Vietnam where he oversaw the security of Cam Ranh Bay, and he later served as Provost Marshal for the 8^th Logistical Command in Camp Darby, Italy. Highlights of this assignment included escorting the U.S. Ambassador to Italy during tours of the area. Following retirement from the military in 1982, Jones worked as director of safety and security and risk management at D.C. General Hospital.

Lewis is a native of Mt. Hope and a 1960 graduate of WVSU where he was active in ROTC as a photographer and public relations officer. Following graduation he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and served on special assignment at West Point Military Academy training cadets in cryptography. He was selected for the Special Forces Training Group and trained as an Engineer on a Green Beret Team specializing in demolitions activities and served as a Demolition Instructor. Following his military service, he supervised roadway construction projects in the District of Columbia. He served 23 years on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, where he received recognition for the design and construction of the Metrorail and Metrobus Systems.

Moss is a native of Glen White, W.Va., and a graduate of WVSU where he was active in ROTC and a member of the track team. Moss served in the U.S. Army from 1964 until 1977 in a variety of capacities including as the Race Relations/Equal Opportunity Officer for Fort Benning, Ga., and as a Classified Nuclear Weapons Specialist and Company Commander at Sandia Base, Albuquerque, N.M. After his military service, Moss attended and graduated Rhema Bible Training Center and became a minister. His ministry has taken him to Guatemala, Honduras, Africa, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, India, Philippines, and throughout the United States.

Pugh is a native of Bluefield, W.Va. and graduated from WVSU in 1965 where he was active in Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and also a member of the U.S. Army Reserve in Charleston. Following graduation he was commissioned a second lieutenant and his initial assignment was at ASCOM Army Depot near Seoul, Korea. Upon completion of his tour of duty in Korea, Pugh was stationed at Fort Dix, N.J., and was honorably discharged from the military in 1967. Pugh received his master’s degree in education from the College of New Jersey, and was a professor of health and wellness at Mercer County Community College for 46 years.
Strong is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and a 1960 graduate of WVSU where he was a member of the swimming team and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. Commissioned a second lieutenant he completed the Medical Service Course and served at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. After military service, Strong entered a long career in federal civil service, working 34 years for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. State Department. He entered Foreign Service in 1985 and was assigned as the regional director of the American Embassy in Mexico City. After three years in Mexico, he was assigned as the Regional Director at Gulfport, Miss., where he directed Plant Health Activities in southeastern United States, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands. Strong received the Presidential Commission into Senior Foreign Service with the diplomatic rank of Counselor.

Taylor is a 1962 graduate of WVSU and the first State military graduate to be selected for the Adjutant General’s Corps. Taylor was assigned to the office of the commanding General for the Transportation Corps where h performed the duties of Test Control Officer for all military occupation series for the Army, Norfolk Navy Shipyard and Air Station, Submarine Base Atlantic and all other military units located in the Hampton Chesapeake, Va., area. After more than two years of military service, Taylor was hired as the Military Instructor for Cardozo High School in Washington, D.C. Taylor went on to serve in the federal government for 32 years in various agencies in the capacity of Head of the Civil Rights Programs. His final position was the Civil Rights manager at the United States Coast Guard where he developed a partnership between the Coast Guard Academy and D.C. Public High Schools to increase minority participation, the first program of its kind in Navy communications.

Volley is a native of Lynchburg, Va., and a 1977 graduate of WVSU where he was a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and served as class president. Volley’s assignments included duty in the 25th Infantry Division, Hawaii, as a Redeye Section Leader, and deploying in Operation Team Spirit to South Korea. He also served as a Vulcan and Chaparral Platoon Leader, Battery Executive Officer and Battalion Adjutant. He later served as a Recruiting Operations Officer in the Chicago Recruiting Battalion and then was reassigned to the University of Texas at San Antonio with duties as the Battalion Executive Officer and Recruiting Operations Officer. His last active duty assignment was as a Capstone and Planning Officer, United States Army Reserve Command, Fort McPherson, Ga. Volley served 18 years as a Senior Army Instructor in the Junior ROTC program and retired from John F. Kennedy High School, San Antonio, Texas, in 2012.

Washington, Sr. was born in Huntington, W.Va., on May 19, 1917, and enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 30, 1941. He was selected for Officer Candidate School and commissioned a second lieutenant in May 1942. He worked his way through college and graduated from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State College with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering; and was inducted into Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Washington was professor of Military Science at WVSU and led the ROTC program from May 1951 to May 1955. Among Washington’s Cadets were Charles Rogers and Dallas Brown, both ROTC battalion Commanders. Rogers was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and Brown was promoted to Brigadier General. The ROTC program produced seven Distinguished Military graduates during the 1950’s. Reverted to enlisted grade from June 23, 1959, to August 31. 1961, Washington served in the Army for more than 20 years and two months.  He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1961. After retiring from military service, he established a real estate and insurance agency and founded Washco Plastics Corp. Washington died April 17, 1996, in El Paso, Texas.

Since its inception, the Yellow Jacket ROTC Battalion has commissioned over 900 men and women as second lieutenants in the United States Army as well as produced more General Officers than any other ROTC program of its size in the country. The Yellow Jacket Battalion includes cadets from the University of Charleston and the West Virginia University Institute of Technology.

The ROTC Hall of Fame induction ceremony is part of Homecoming activities at WVSU. For more information, and a complete schedule of Homecoming events, visit http://connect.wvstateu.edu/homecoming or call (304) 766-3387.

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West Virginia State University is a public, land grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi-generational institution, located in Institute, W.Va. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service, and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.