Military Academy Chapels

I belong to a little book club. Six old guys who prefer non-fiction stories. This month’s selection is Malcolm Gladwell’s latest, ‘The Bomber Mafia,’ the story of the first U.S. Army Air Corps Tactical School. It begins in 1930’s America and carries through to the end of World War II. The school’s leaders were the first to buck the hide-bound traditions of the two established military branches and promote the concept of precision bombing as a less-damaging way to win a war.

To illustrate the established culture of the three branches of our military, the book used the example of the chapels on the campuses of their academies. It was then I realized I had photographed the buildings in question.

United States Military Academy Chapel, West Point (7 June 2006)

One year into blessed retirement, I visited West Point. The chapel was dedicated in 1910. It is built of native granite and fits perfectly into the Gothic medieval fortress that has been on the Hudson River palisades since the school was founded by the winners of our war for independence in 1802. “We’re an independent nation now. It’s time we properly train our military leaders.”

United States Military Academy Chapel, West Point (7 June 2006)

The book uses these words to describe the chapel – “brooding power, solid, plain, unmovable, deeply patriotic, rooted in service to country.”

United States Naval Academy Chapel, Annapolis (29 March 2007)

The U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis is a short drive from my home. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style that was popular at the time, the chapel was dedicated in 1908. Its dome is modeled after the chapel at Les Invalides in Paris. The windows are large, allowing swaths of light to shine on the ornate interior. The book concludes this is all “...very Navy: arrogant, independent, secure in the global scale of its ambitions.”

Crypt of John Paul Jones, U.S. Naval Academy Chapel, Annapolis (30 December 2015)

John Paul Jones, the Scottish-born naval hero of the American Revolution, occupies this elaborate sarcophagus in the lower level of the Naval Academy chapel. He is called the ‘Father of the American Navy,’ but was out of the service and living in Paris when he died in 1792 at the age of 45. He was unceremoniously buried in a cemetery that was later sold off by the French revolutionary government. It was not until 1905 that his remains were found. With great fanfare, Jones was returned to the States and he has been in this location since 1913.

 

Cadet Chapel, United States. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs (November 1989)

I guess it’s easy to infer much about the three branches’ cultures based on the appearance of their campuses and chapels. Armies have existed since the beginning of organized ground warfare. Most of that time, masses of men collided on the battlefields until weapons that could kill from a distance were invented. A safe country needs an established army to defend the homeland.

The same evolution can be seen with warfare on the high seas. Ships were rowed or sailed close enough to shoot at one another, harass other shipping, and raid waterfront sites by landing marine squadrons. A safe country needs a competent navy to protect its coasts and maritime interests.

The upstart fliers changed so much and the old school commanders were slow to change their ways. Early military pilots were still required to take cavalry training because that’s what Army officers did. From the cloth and wood biplanes of World War I to the end of World War II when jet planes were introduced and the Enola Gay could drop ONE bomb and obliterate a city, it was still the Army and Navy that controlled American air power.

That had to change. Fliers are not soldiers or sailors. The modern separate Air Force was established in 1947 and that branch opened its own academy in Colorado Springs in the late 1950’s. The Cadet Chapel was dedicated in 1962 and it’s easy to see how modern times and aerial thinking can affect architectural expression.

Cadet Chapel, United States. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs (November 1989)

Its soaring shape and blue interior proclaim the ‘sky’s the limit’ attitude of fliers. The chapel boasts that it is the most visited man-made attraction in Colorado…or ‘was’ anyway.

Sadly, one is unable to visit the Air Force chapel now. The architect’s original plans called for a complex of gutters to manage rainfall. The Academy, citing costs, nixed the gutters and elected to caulk all the outside joints and connections. The caulking never worked in the high plateau climate and the chapel leaked from the beginning. After considerable water damage to the interior, the building was closed to the public and enclosed under a giant shroud (see this story from November 2021).

For $158 million, it appears the chapel will be rebuilt from the outside in. In addition to restoring the water damage, all the caulking (32 miles of it) will be removed, the original gutter plan will be retro-fitted, and all aluminum panels and stained glass will be removed, restored or replaced. Word is that asbestos remediation has added to the scope and will delay the completion beyond 2023.

Good thing I got there early.

River Cruise Diary – Aix-en-Provence, France

Back on the bus with one more stop before we arrive in the town of Arles and board our river boat. Aix-en-Provence is a city of over 140,000. The one-time capital of Provence was founded by the Romans in 123 BC.

Plane and Simple, Aix-en-Provence (21 April 2006)

We were dropped off here for a brief walking tour and some free time to find a snack. Less than a third of a mile long, the Cours Mirabeau is the lively ‘Main Street’ in town. There are fountains, restaurants and government buildings that all date back centuries. The French love to line their streets with grand trees, all the same size and all well-manicured. The plane trees (we call them sycamores here in the States) were radically-trimmed at this time and looked a bit scary with no leaves. The links to Aix and Cours Mirabeau both have photos of the trees in full leaf…pretty spectacular.

Fontaine de la Rotonde, Aix-en-Provence (21 April 2006)

At one end of the Cours Mirabeau is the Fontaine de la Rotonde. Built in 1860, the fountain decorates the terminus of the street. With bronze lions, swans and mythical creatures surrounding the base, the top has three figures representing art, justice and agriculture.

City Hall, Aix-en-Provence (21 April 2006)

We first-time visitors to France soon learned the common names for buildings present in most towns. The town hall is the ‘hotel de ville’ and hospitals are ‘hotel dieu’ (literally ‘house of God’). The Hotel de Ville in Aix dates to the middle of the 17th century.

Classical Government Building, Aix-en-Provence (21 April 2006)

Provence Outside the Bus Window (21 April 2006)

Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) was a noted Impressionist painter who led the transition to more abstract artistic expressions in the early 20th century. He lived in Aix and his work included landscapes of the area.

Toward the end of his life, he was one of the first artists to display a cubist style. As with many pioneering artists, the radical move away from impressionism was not well-received. Later, many modern masters acknowledged Cezanne’s contributions to art.

Mont Sainte-Victoire by Paul Cézanne (1902-04)

Using oil and watercolor and three different vantage points, Cezanne made thirty different paintings of this scene. This one demonstrates his later, cubist style.

The Chardonnay on the Rhone in Arles (21 April 2006)

Late that afternoon, our bus deposited us at the landing where we saw our home for the next week. The crew delivered our luggage to the assigned cabins, we received the welcome orientation talks and had the first in a long series of fine meals. We will set sail the next day but not before seeing more of the town of Arles.

River Cruise Diary – Rhone American Cemetery

Rhone American Cemetery (21 April 2006)

While Nice is a city with an international airport, it’s about 150 miles from the Rhone River. That means we’ll be spending the day on a motor coach prior to boarding our boat. Being Golden Agers, that also means there will be frequent stops to see things...and do what Golden Agers need to do – stretch, walk, hit the can and eat. Works for me.

The first stop was the town of Draguignan. In August of 1944, the next major invasion of German-occupied France after D-Day came from the south. Called Operation Dragoon, allied soldiers came ashore on the Mediterranean coast and moved up the Rhone valley.

Rhone American Cemetery, Draguignan, France (21 April 2006)

With more than 116,000 Americans killed fighting World War I in Europe, our government needed a formal policy for the burial and repatriation of our war dead. Congress created the American Battle Monuments Commission in 1923. ABMC administers 26 cemeteries which are located in 10 foreign countries. Twelve of the cemeteries are in France. Seven contain the dead from World War I.

With 851 graves on twelve acres, the Rhone American Cemetery is the smallest of the American burial grounds in France. Regardless, it is still impressive. As you know, I have spent considerable time in cemeteries and while I have not yet seen any of the other American Cemeteries abroad, I know I’ve never seen a burial ground as immaculate as this one.

1944 Allied Invasion Relief Map

Rhone American Cemetery, Draguignan, France (21 April 2006)

We walked among the graves and listened to a brief lecture on the invasion in front of a large bronze relief map of the region. The map shows the dates and directions of Operation Dragoon forces as the invasion moved north toward its rendezvous with the D-Day forces. From there, the combined operation pushed toward Germany and eventual victory in 1945.

Rhone American Cemetery, Draguignan, France (21 April 2006)

In front of the chapel is the Wall of the Missing. Names of individuals who were recorded as missing in action or lost or buried at sea are engraved on the Wall. If remains are recovered or identified later, a rosette is added to the Wall.

Rhone American Cemetery, Draguignan, France (21 April 2006)

Back on the bus, we drove to the town of Aix-en-Provence in that charming, sensual, picturesque region of lavender, plane trees and Impressionist painters.