COL James Benson: A Ceremony of Lessons

On June 1, 2009, after serving as president of MMI for five years, COL James Benson, USMC Ret., will assume the presidency of Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Georgia. Many of us here will be sad to see Jim and Mary leave.

Jim and Mary Benson. (Credit: Marion Military Institute)



The Bensons at the 2008 MMI Christmas Party. (Credit: MMI Alumni Office)



I’ve known Jim Benson since the mid-1990s when we were both on the staff at Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia. I served BC as their archivist and museum curator. Upon his retirement from the USMC in 1995, COL Benson returned to BC, his alma mater (Class of 1965) to serve as assistant to the president (also, Class of 1965). Working his way through several responsible positions to become a vice president, Benson’s no-nonsense, can-do, attitude both impressed and scared some of the less productive members of the faculty and staff.

Founded in 1880, and affiliated with the Church of the Brethren, a pacifist denomination which is one of the Historic Peace Churches along with the Quakers and the Mennonites, Bridgewater College was not ready for a retired Marine colonel in a high leadership position – even if he was one of their graduates! Jim Benson came to kick butt and take names and everyone knew when he was walking the campus – a silent alarm would shoot around from building to building. Folks would quickly get their acts together – men would literally stand straighter, taller, as he passed by – and the College would suddenly become even more productive. Much of what Jim was involved in at Bridgewater was behind the scenes, and I never heard him take credit for a lot things that he was at least partially responsible for accomplishing. For example, BC’s football team (Division III), once in danger of becoming the worst team in division history, suddenly, in a just a few years time, shot up to No. 2 in the nation in Division III, losing by only three points (30-27) to perennial powerhouse Mount Union College of Ohio in the nationally-televised championship game in 2001. (Mount Union has won 10 NCAA Division III National Championships!)

The “miracle” of the BC football team’s turn-around can be attributed to a number of factors, of course (their great coach, Mike Clark), but Jim Benson was a prime mover and shaker behind the scenes from start to finish, and I firmly believe that he helped to give BC one of the truly great moments in its history. When I first came to Bridgewater College in 1993, the most exciting thing about the football games (the stadium was always sparsely filled) was when the cheerleaders put down their pom-poms, picked up a microphone, and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” in two-part harmony. When I left BC in 2005, the stadium was packed for every home game and the team was imbued with a “winning” attitude. (From 2001-2005, BC won five consecutive Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championships! Mike Clark remains the head football coach)

From Dr. Phillip C. Stone, President of Bridgewater College: “Col. Jim Benson is the epitome of a leader. Watching him and serving with him constitute a leadership lesson at the highest level. His impeccable integrity, his commitment to excellence in all things, and his selfless sense of duty and service make him a remarkable leader.”

The Bensons in The MMI Chapel. (Credit: MMI Alumni Office)



From Nick Picerno, Chief of Police and Director of Campus Safety at Bridgewater College: “Colonel Jim Benson’s persona reflects the very essence of the word ‘leadership.’ His service to our nation is a shining example of his strength of character and patriotism. Mediocrity has no place in his vernacular. His commitment to achieving excellence serves as an inspiration for others to emulate.”

COL James Benson takes the Review. (Credit: MMI Alumni Office)



From Mike Clark, Bridgewater College’s greatest football coach: “When athletics answered to Colonel Benson you knew you could count on two things, accountability and support. There were times when the first part of the equation could be harsh, but even after the difficult conversations you left his office knowing he just wanted you to be better. On a college campus there are many competing voices. With Jim, when the administrative door was shut, you knew you had a man who was fighting for your interests. I always felt Dr. Stone had the football vision, but Jim had the tactical skills from an administrative sense to get things changed here with football. I enjoyed many a conversation with Jim out back on his porch overlooking the college. He was a great leadership consultant.”

“As An Officer of Marines.” (Credit: USMC; Anthony Edgeworth, photographer)



Jim Benson will do well at Riverside, and they are lucky to get him. Life can be “a ceremony of lessons” (Josiah Bunting). COL Benson – whose father was killed in the Pacific during World War II – has gone from commanding Marines to working at his alma mater with its then core Brethren leadership, to helping MMI become a viable state institution.

And, yes, the lovely Mary – Jim’s better half - will “wow” them in Gainesville, just as she has in Bridgewater and in Marion.

When MI played the University of Alabama in football!

In the fall of 1943 – the height of World War II – neither Marion Institute or the University of Alabama fielded varsity football teams. Both institutions had club teams, the Cadets of MMI actually being the best of the school’s intramural champions, “D” Company, plus the top players from the other companies. The Alabama Informals, under Coach Mitchell Olenski, were not sanctioned by the University, but they were allowed to use school equipment and to have access to the school’s medical supplies. The 1943 season is listed as “unrated” for Alabama.



The 1943 Marion Institute football team, The Cadets. (Credit: Jimmy Scruggs, MMI HS 1944)

It appears that the Alabama Informals played three games during the 1943 football season. They were crushed by Howard College of Birmingham (Samford University) 42-6 in a charity game played in Tuscaloosa which drew 7,000 people to Denny Stadium. The other two games were played against the Cadets of Marion [Military] Institute, coached by “Bull” Spicer!

In the first game, played at the Perry County High School stadium, the Informals traveled to Marion where they defeated the Cadets 31-12 on Friday evening, November 12th . The Cadets played the Informals tough the first half.

The next week, the Cadets went to Tuscaloosa on the school’s rickety bus to play the Informals in a 3PM game in Denny Stadium on November 20th. This time, MMI fielded a better team and made a game of it; MMI scored two quick touchdowns, missing an extra point, and led the Informals early, 13-0. The Informals bounced back, and the score was 13-12 at the half. The Informals took control during the second half, defeating the Cadets 19-13.

Running back Jimmy Scruggs, H 1944, HSD, a current member of the MMI Board, was one of the star players for the Cadets, being mentioned twice in the article about the Denny Stadium game in The Tuscaloosa News for November 21, 1943. Jimmy remembers being knocked out “two or three times” during the game (“We didn’t know what a concussion was!”). The last time, flat on his back, he was looking up at his father who had run out on the field! Jimmy Scruggs also remembered that it wasn’t cold for late November, and that a couple of thousand people had attended the game.

A MMI high school student, Jimmy was in “D” Company, the champions of MMI’s intramural football. He graduated in December 1943, and, in January, 1944, was on his way to the Navy’s V-12 Program, an early commissioning program for Navy ensigns. Jimmy Scruggs later graduated from Auburn University and enjoyed a highly successful career as a pharmacist.

Another high school player for MMI was Robert L. “Bob” Harrington ‘45, the famed “Chaplain of Bourbon Street.” The Sweetwater, Alabama, native would attend the University of Alabama on a football scholarship.



The Rev. Robert L. “Bob” Harrington, MMI HS 1945, the “Chaplain of Bourbon Street.” (Credit: Bob Harrington, “Chaplain of Bourbon Street”)

Finally, the proceeds from the two games were used to pay the traveling expenses for both the Alabama Informals and the Cadets of Marion Institute.

Special thanks to Jimmy Scruggs ’44 for everything!

General Bruce K. Holloway '33, USAF

The Service Academy Program (SAP) at Marion Military Institute is named for the late General Bruce Keener Holloway ’33, USAF, former head of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), and commander of the U. S. Air Forces in Europe.

General Bruce Keener Holloway ’33, USAF. (Credit: Official U. S. Air Force photograph)



LTC Gerry Lewis, Director of the Service Academy Program (SAP), and Faculty Advisor, Air Force Academy Preparation Cadets, at Marion Military Institute. (Credit: Marion Military Institute)



A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, General Bruce K. Holloway completed two years in engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He attended MMI in 1932-33 as one of 190 members of the Corps of Cadets. Entering the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, Holloway graduated in the Class of 1937 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. He received his pilot wings in 1938 at Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas, and then spent two years with the Sixth Pursuit Squadron and the 18th Pursuit Group in Hawaii. Holloway then pursued postgraduate work in aeronautical engineering at the California Institute of Technology.

Once the United States entered World War II, Bruce Holloway was sent to Chungking, China, when he joined Claire Chennault’s American Volunteer Group – the famed “Flying Tigers.” Later activated as the Army Air Force’s 23rd Fighter Group, Holloway rose to command that unit after earning his status as a fighter ace, shooting down some 13 Japanese planes and becoming a national hero in China. Considered one of air power’s finest tacticians, he obtained a 10:1 victory ratio over the Japanese.

In 1946, Holloway commanded the Air Force’s first jet-equipped fighter group, pioneering jet air operational tactics. Following graduation from the National War College in 1951, Holloway quickly rose through key staff assignments in both the operations and development fields at Headquarters, U. S. Air Force, later directing operational requirements.

Bruce Holloway served as deputy commander of the 9th and 12th Air Forces (Tactical Air Command) for four years, and was named deputy commander of the U.S. Strike Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, in 1961. As part of that assignment, he later served as deputy commander in chief of the Middle East/Southern Asia and Africa South of the Sahara Command.

Emblem of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), 1946 – 1992. (Credit: U.S. Air Force)



General Holloway took command of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe in July, 1965, serving in that capacity until August 1, 1966, when he was appointed vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force.

General Bruce K. Holloway ‘33 retired from the Air Force in 1972, having served since 1937. He was an Associate Administrator for NASA in 1973-74, and served as president of the U.S. Strategic Institute in 1981. The General died at the age of 87 in Orlando, Florida, on September 30, 1999.

His military decorations included, among others, the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal.

Another image of General Bruce K. Holloway ’33, USAF. (Credit: Official U.S. Air Force photograph)

Alumni Weekend, 4 April 2009

This and That

This “quarantine letter,” dated September 2, 1905, is an incredible read! With “fever” in Louisiana and Mississippi, and with those two areas locked down under quarantine, MMI released this appeal for college students in those states to come study at the Institute in Alabama. However, these students would first need to gather at the Piedmont Hotel in Atlanta (“The Marion Military Institute Headquarters”) where COL James T. Murfee, the “Superintendent,” would greet them, and provide them with room and board at the hotel while observing a seven- day observation period required under quarantine law. However, the students would be matriculated and assigned classes, and educational tours would be given in Atlanta (presumably, for only those seemingly uninfected) until the seven-day period expired. Then, they would be taken to MMI and processed as students. The faculty would work to bring these students up to speed so that nothing would have been missed since the Institute’s official September 7th opening for the school year. (Credit: MMI Archives)



The lengths MMI went to recruit students in the past!

These two color images are from a feature article in The Birmingham News, dated February 6, 1972. The article centers on Betty M. Moss, a MMI high school senior, who reportedly became the first female member of The Swamp Foxes, MMI’s elite Ranger unit (the 1972 MMI yearbook depicts her as the unit’s “Sponsor”). However, the News article has her participating in much of the Swamp Fox training schedule, reporting that she was an accepted and highly-popular member of the unit who usually “stole the show” during Swamp Fox demonstrations! (Credit: The Birmingham News; Frank Sikora, author; Robert Adams, photographer)





Betty M. Moss, now Ms. Betty M. McAuliffe, is a “Homemaker” who lives in Richmond, Virginia.

H. O. Murfee, Marion College, and the General Education Board (GEB)

Hobson Owen Murfee, the second president of MMI/MI, c. 1905. (Credit: MMI Archives)



In March, 1910, Hobson Owen Murfee, president of Marion Institute, sent the General Education Board (GEB) in New York City, a 10-page epistle requesting funding for MMI’s endowment. Initially, he hoped to gain some $100,000 from the GEB to establish an endowment foundation for the Institute. A non-sectarian institution, Marion received neither church nor state funding. H. O. Murfee’s dream of creating an “Eton of the South” in Marion was well underway, and Marion Institute (the “military” had been dropped from the name) was fast becoming Marion College, an institution which was initially modeled on Eton College and other great public (private) secondary boarding schools in England, but one which enhanced its secondary nature rather than its collegiate.

Eton College, Windsor. Founded in 1440, additions to Eton’s list of distinguished graduates include Princes William and Harry, both now Old Etonians. (Credit: http://www.ridge.co.uk/sectors_and_projects/education/eton_college.aspx)



The GEB denied Murfee’s request for endowment funding precisely because Marion Institute/Marion College personified a secondary institution and not a collegiate one. Also, funding could only be provided for endowment – present incurred debts (Murfee had some $9,000 in debts already) could not be paid by GEB funding, including the John D. Rockefeller Fund.

Correspondence between Murfee and members of the General Education Board ran for nearly a decade, beginning as early as 1902! Murfee kept trying to convince the GEB that he had amended his original plan, and that he was now transforming the Institute into a full-fledged college, one which would be patterned after the Ivy League colleges and universities. However, MI’s reputation as a strong college preparatory school was difficult to overcome.

Murfee’s 1910 application to the GEB included these statistics as to the number of teachers, students, and graduates since MMI/MI’s founding in 1887, through 1909. (Credit: MMI Archives)



H. O. Murfee canvassed Alabama trying to raise some $100,000 from within the state. The good people of Marion reportedly contributed some $10,000 to this effort, but I have yet to locate a listing of donors. One man from Russellville, Alabama, gave $5,000 in the name of his late son, who was a MI student.

In short, H. O. Murfee’s dream was well underway, but his plans to expand and improve the physical plant alone were incurring numerous debts. The long sought-after monies for the endowment – vital to insure the stability of Marion College – was just not forthcoming in the amounts needed to stabilize the institution.

In the end, the outbreak of World War I, mobilization, and the return to military training at the Institute, signaled the demise of H. O. Murfee’s dream of an “Eton of the South.” After so many years of hard work and sacrifice pursuing his goal, Hobson Owen Murfee must have been crushed by its failure.

A Unique Howard College/MMI History

Howard College During the Civil War and Reconstruction, 1860-1873, by James Dean Lancaster, Jr., M.A. Thesis in History, Samford University, 1974.

This master’s thesis by James Dean Lancaster, Jr. - which is housed in the Samford University Library - is an excellent source of material about the history of Howard College in Marion, Alabama, during the Civil War and Reconstruction.
It also serves as a precursor to the founding of Marion Military Institute in 1887.

A native of Gadsden, Alabama, where he graduated from Gadsden High School, Mr. Lancaster is a free-lance entertainment and travel writer who lives in Branson, Missouri. A 1972 graduate of Samford University (A.B. in history and biology), he completed the M.A. degree in history there in 1975. Eminent historian, Dr. Wayne Flynt, served as Lancaster’s research supervisor.

This drawing (by Daniel Fate Brooks) from the thesis depicts The Chapel at Howard College/MMI, flanked on the left by Henry Talbird, the president who led Howard College through the Antebellum years to the Civil War; center: a Howard College student in uniform, 1873; and, on the right, President J. L. M. Curry, who tried to revive Howard after the war and bring it through the Reconstruction period. COL James T. Murfee, who served as president from 1871 until Howard moved to Birmingham in 1887, initiated the military system of discipline, uniforms, and drill. Murfee founded and served as the first president of Marion Military Institute beginning in 1887, utilizing the old Howard College campus in Marion, Alabama.



Painting of James Thomas Murfee in the Samford University Library. (Credit: Bill Mathews, MMI H’60, J ’62)



The title page from the thesis.



The thesis is divided into two parts: “Howard College During Antebellum Times and the Civil War, 1860-1865”; and “Howard College during Reconstruction, 1865-1873.” The “Table of Contents” is illustrative. Descriptive appendices and a strong bibliography complete this effort.

The “Table of Contents.”



From the author’s abstract:
“The years 1860 to 1873 were years of growth, turbulence, and transition for a small Baptist institution, Howard College. This was a period of adjustment which tried the patience of Howard and her presidents, faculty, trustees, and students.”

Finally: “Howard College during this fourteen-year period managed to survive a war and the ordeal of Reconstruction. It survived these trials as well as internal problems such as finances, lack of enough students, and even at times, a lack of leadership, to become the university [Samford University] it is today.”

Credits: Samford University Library, Birmingham, AL; James Dean Lancaster, Jr., author, Branson, MO; Daniel Fate Brooks, artist; and to Gail Barton and Jennifer Taylor of the Samford University Library/Special Collections staff.

In my opinion, this master’s thesis is worthy of publication.