Army Sgt. Walter Steele Covington Jr.\u2019s name is engraved on the memorial wall of Summerall Chapel alongside the names of more than 250 other alumni who were killed in World War II. Covington enrolled at The Citadel in 1942, but like many of his classmates, he was called to war before he could graduate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last spring, while most college students headed to the beach, Cadet Chase Collins, \u201926, along with 20 other cadets and eight graduate students, traveled through Europe to study World War II battlefields. As part of a military history class on World War II and the Battle of the Bulge, the students followed history professor Kyle Sinisi, Ph.D., to the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg, where they visited cemeteries, battlefields and museums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was incredible to stand in the same places where many great, young American warriors fought in grueling conditions against a dangerous and determined enemy,\u201d said Collins, who has a contract with the South Carolina National Guard. \u201cI had never been overseas before, and this experience was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each cadet was assigned a fallen Citadel graduate to research and present. Collins honored Covington at the Henri- Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium where Covington is buried. \u201cMy favorite part of the trip was honoring Citadel alumnus Walter Covington, who gave his life in Belgium,\u201d he said. \u201cIt meant a lot to stand there and share his story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sinisi also assigned each graduate student an important battle site to brief the entire class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was an experience that deepened their appreciation and understanding of the complexity of the entire battle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sinisi took the students to 85 different sites, including the scene of the Malmedy Massacre, where 84 American prisoners of war were executed by German soldiers in 1944, and the American Cemetery in Luxembourg, the burial site of Gen. George S. Patton and several Citadel alumni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis trip really opened my eyes and helped me understand more about the battle and what our men went through, so we have what we do today,\u201d said Collins. \u201cBeing able to connect The Citadel\u2019s history, the alumni who served and the places where they fought gave me a deeper appreciation for our military heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Army Sgt. Walter Steele Covington Jr.\u2019s name is engraved on the memorial wall of Summerall Chapel alongside the names of more than 250 other alumni who were killed in World War II. Covington enrolled at The Citadel in 1942, but like many of his classmates, he was called to war before he could graduate. Last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":694,"featured_media":888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other"],"yoast_head":"\n