Class Ring Memorial Program
Program Origin 
In 1999, LTC (Ret.) Ron Turner ’58 submitted an article to Assembly magazine that contained the following suggestion: “We, as graduates of West Point, should establish a Memorial Class Ring Program… whereby graduates may bequeath (or graduates’ descendants may donate) West Point class rings for the specific purpose of incorporating the gold into the class rings of future graduates.” In November of 2000, Turner’s idea became a reality as 31 rings were melted at the Herff Jones company in Providence, RI, and the Class of 2002 became the first to receive the gold from this historic undertaking in their rings. By 2012, a total of 258 rings have been donated to the Memorial Class Ring Program allowing a tangible and symbolic link within the Long Gray Line to continue in future West Point class rings.
To read about each Memorial Class Ring Melt ceremony and to read the biography of each donor, please click the links below. Finally, to donate your own ring to the Memorial Class Ring Program (or that of a deceased family member), contact the Class Supoort Program at 800.446.1614, or send an email to AlumniSupport@wpaog.org. You may also use this form if you wish to will your class ring to the Memorial Class Ring Program (questions about tax deducibility should be posed to a tax attorney; WPAOG is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization).
Memorial Ring Program Archive by Class Year
Program Founder | 02 Inaugural Program | 2003 | 2004 | 2005
2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014