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The West Point Association of Graduates’ Class Ring Memorial Program, more commonly known as “the Ring Melt,” was held in Crest Hall on Friday, January 21, 2022. 71 West Point rings, with the oldest being from the Class of 1909 and the newest being from the Class of 2004, were placed in a stone crucible so that they could be melted down to form a gold ingot bar. The bar was then handed over to a representative of the Herff Jones Ring Company so that the gold it contains can be mixed with new gold to form the class rings for the Class of 2023.

In the 22-year history of the Ring Melt, beginning with the Bicentennial Class of 2002, 740 West Point class rings have been part of the program. After each melt, a small amount of gold, called the “Legacy Gold” has been preserved so that it can be added to the subsequent year’s Ring Melt. Thus, the Class of 2023 will be receiving class rings in August that contain gold from all the donated rings dating back to 1896.

After being a virtual event in 2021, the 2022 Ring Melt featured the highest number of family members and guests attending in the program’s history, and many more streamed the event through WPAOG’s live feed. With 71 class rings donated this year, the program also broke another record, the previous high being 69 rings in 2018. This year was also special because it was the first time that a class ring from a female graduate was donated (anonymously). More facts regarding the 2022 Ring Melt: there were 12 living donors, including one who donated two rings; 11 rings came from the Class of 1973, the 50-Year Affiliation Class of the class of 2023; and one of the rings, that of MAJ Howell H. Jordan Jr. ’57, was the great uncle of Haley Seaward ’23.

When Ron Turner ’58 proposed the idea of a “Ring Memorial Program” in the May/June 1999 edition of ASSEMBLY magazine, he wrote, “Hopefully, this program will make West Point class rings of the future even more meaningful than those of the past.” 22 years later, his vision has become a reality, as the members of the Class of 2023 will soon realize come Ring Weekend in August when they don that “bold mold of [melted] gold” courtesy of WPAOG’s Class Ring Memorial Program.

Class of 2023 Ring Memorial Donor Listing

1909	Unknown Owner
1932	COL Nelson L. Head USA, Retired
1936	COL Clarence A. Cozart USA, Retired
1937	LTC Charles T. Clagett USA, Retired
1940	COL Gilford D. Green USA, Retired
1940	COL John R. McLean USA, Retired
1940	Unknown Owner
1943Jan	Maj Robert L. Edwards USAF, Retired
1945	Anonymous Donor
1945	LTC James F. Holcomb USA, Retired
1945	COL Arland H. Wagonhurst USA, Retired
1946	COL Edward J. Collins USA, Retired
1946	COL Howard R. Fuller USA, Retired
1946	Lt Col Frederick L. Hafer USAF, Retired
1946	COL Philip D. Haisley USA, Retired
1946	COL Stratis J. Stratis AUS, Retired
1948	COL Francis P. Cancelliere II USA, Retired
1948	Mr. William T. Ryan
1948	Dr. Charles H. Shook Sr.
1948	Maj Gen Henry B. Stelling Jr. USAF, Retired
1949	COL James J. Coghlan Jr. USA, Retired
1949	COL John J. Fatum USA, Retired
1949	COL Duane H. Smith USA, Retired
1949	Lt Col Richard E. Toth USAF, Retired
1950	LTG Charles P. Graham USA, Retired
1950	Lt Col Peter B. Todsen USAF, Retired
1952	LTC Glenn H. Palmer Jr. USA, Retired
1952	COL Arthur E. Taylor Jr. USA, Retired
1953	LTC John P. Angstadt USA, Retired
1953	Mr. Donald J. Hamilla
1953	Mr. Raymond V. Kotowski
1954	COL Charles A. Debelius USA, Retired
1954	LTC Donald C. Porter USA, Retired
1955	COL William W. Brown USA, Retired
1955	Col Paul L. Martin Jr. USAF, Retired

1956	Maj James A. Cook USAF, Retired
1956	COL Frank L. Day USA, Retired
1956	Lt Col William C. McPeek USAF, Retired
1956	COL William L. Weihl USA, Retired
1957	Dr. Francis L. Hanigan
1957	MAJ Howell H. Jordan Jr. USA, Retired
1958	LTC William P. Gillette III USA, Retired
1958	COL Harry J. Hubbard III USA, Retired
1959	LTC Nathaniel F. Colby USA, Retired
1959	Doctor E. J. Eberhard MD
1959	COL Julian E. Weisler II USAR, Retired
1961	Mr. Robert A. McCurdy
1962	BG Nicholas R. Hurst USA, Retired
1962	COL Christopher R. Robbins USA, Retired
1963	Mr. Chris P. Wangsgard
1965	COL Donald E. Appler USA, Retired
1965	Mr. Jon E. King
1965	Mr. Thomas D. MacVicar
1966	MAJ Arthur G. Bonifas USA
1966	COL Richard M. Swain II USA, Retired
1971	Mr. Leon D. Davis
1972	LTC Edward J. Collins Jr. USA, Retired
1973	COL Steven P. Ankley USA, Retired
1973	Anonymous
1973	Mr. Terry A. Bossieux
1973	LTC Michael W. Colbert USAR, Retired
1973	Mr. Nicholas T. Combs
1973	Mr. George W. Everett Jr.
1973	Lt Col Jack L. Kincart USAF, Retired
1973	Lt Col Roland E. Peixotto Jr. USAF
1973	MAJ Paul J. Rana USA, Retired
1973	MAJ Ronald M. Rowley USA, Retired
1973	MG Daniel V. Wright USA, Retired
1983	Mr. Joel V. Liberto
2004	Anonymous

Legacy Gold

The Legacy Gold sample is extracted each year from the ingot of melted rings. It is added to the melt the following year. In this way, a small amount of precious metal from each of the previously melted class rings is included in the manufacture of the rings for the upcoming class. Click here to read more.