Posted by Jerry Hutchins To Al Hill I spoke with George Strayer today and he asked if I would send you an E-Mail outlying how I came to discover your WEB SITE. .....as I was sitting at the computer on the morning of Feb 1, 2005 I was chatting with some of the members of my Internet Gaming Guild when a strange sensation came over me. Now because I was gaming that morning, my speakers were turned up due to the Internet Game being sensitive to Footsteps, Grenade priming and Weapon reloading. As I stared at the picture in a Nostalgic Gaze, the cannon "Fired" and knocked me out of my chair. As I was picking myself up "Reveille" sounded and the tears welled up in my eyes. After I composed myself I then spoke to the Guild saying “Gentlemen I am now going to give you a rare look into my upbringing. They all went to the site and were impressed with all the work that had been done on the Web Site. So as I was posting on your site as to my existence, one of the members of my guild found CadetWeb.net and said that his military school was listed there. So I went to the web site and found OMI and OMS on the same page. All of the pictures and especially those of the Col. and Phyllis were very emotionally overwhelming. I really didn't think much more of it until a couple of days later when I went to my Yahoo email and found 3 emails from George Strayer and Chuck Wharton. There were only 2 times in my life when I "Perceived" that I had a life with Mother and Father at home and nearby. That was at OMI '55 to '58 in Cincinnati, Ohio and OMS '58 to '64 in Onarga, Illinois. As both schools met with similar fates, so did my world and "Hutch" went back to work for the City of Chicago until his retirement. You see I never went to OMI...I lived and breathed OMI from the sound of "Reveille" to the sound of "Taps". When I wasn't in public school I was in Phyllis' class along side the younger cadets. During the summers months the OMI campus was my playground. The swimming pool, the rifle range, the marching band, the parades...these were my world and I thought that this was a "normal" life for boys. This is how I have come to be back in the "Fold" again and I wanted to thank you so much for giving me back my childhood and my family. ....I could go on but I hope that everyone who ever attended OMI will have an understanding what OMI means to me. ...to you I "Salute" for reminding me of the fact that I did have a childhood and it was the greatest. I am eternally grateful and am convinced that there is a higher power at work now so that I might be able to help "Close the Ranks" for a school that produced so many wonderful Men and Memories. ...I speak for the Hutchins family and send my heartfelt gratitude for your efforts. Jerry Lee Hutchins P.S. Please visit nosnarejerr.com and send any suggestions. Link: http://www.nosnarejerr.com
on 3/16/2005, 12:27 pm
12.223.53.178
I promised George Strayer I would post here as my E-Mail may have been lost in Cyberspace...hahaha. Anyway I indicated I would recreate the E-mail here so that all may know my feelings.
Since the Guild was formed around the WWII game "Day of Defeat" we sometimes talk about military issues. Some of the members have been in the military and some have attended military schools. During the conversation I was moved to type in the Search term "OMI" on my browser and a web site indicating a Business came up and I thought that an OMI site was a stretch.
Then I was moved to type in "Ohio Military Institute" and then a match came up with "OMI" embedded in the string and I thought "NO Way".
I press the "Enter" button and the header came up and I looked at the picture and thought to myself, "I know those buildings."
You see, as a young boy the sound of the Cannon and the Drums and Bugle corps playing “Reveille" was so impressionable that I was transported back in time and I was compelled to let my emotions go.
...Your site has inspired me to set up my web site with links to OMIHA and a Photo gallery that has some pictures of OMI and Memorabilia all of which I am giving back to George Strayer so that he will place in the care of the OMIHA in honor of "My Family".
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