VMI - Jeckovich

I had multiple stories stick out to me this morning on our tour of VMI. One I will discuss was the story of Benjamin Clinedinst and his son. The New Market Battle, painted by Benjamin Clinedinst, hangs in VMI’s Jackson Memorial Hall. The painting depicts a pivotal moment in the New Market Battle when a group of keydets kept the Confederate line from breaking and made advances and ultimately won the battle on the “Field of Lost Shoes”. Clinedinst used his own son to depict a young soldier falling in battle and when Clinedinst’s son wanted to fight in World War I, Clinedinst felt that by paiting his son into the painting as a dying soldier, he had somehow cursed him. Clinedinst made two attempts to alter the painting before being stopped by the VMI guard. Colonel Gibson heard this story first hand, as when he was working as a museum assistant in his years at VMI, he came across Clinedinst’s son.

Throughout the tour, Colonel Gibson mentioned the “citizen soldier”, a central belief to VMI. This “citizen solider” ideal was clearly depicted in the statue of General Marshall, a VMI alumni. Marshall is dressed in his military uniform, but both his posture and face are soft.  The glove on Marshall’s right hand is removed, suggesting that he is poised to shake the hand of the viewer. Marshall served as Chief of Staff, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State and was a recipient of numerous awards, including the Medal of Honor and Nobel Peace Prize. VMI chose to memorialize Marshall in a way most significant to the primary viewers of the statue. The statue serves to both honor Marshall but also inspire the staff and keydets. If Marshall began as a keydet and transformed into a citizen soldier, perhaps they also can experience a fraction of his success.