By Desrae Gibby ’91, WPAOG staff
This year marks the 25th West Point Association of Graduates’ Class Ring Memorial Program, colloquially known as the “Ring Melt.” The Ring Melt has forged connections that Debbie Edelen ’92, WPAOG’s Director of Class Services, has described as a “visible and everlasting bond, illuminating the strength and commitment to Duty, Honor, Country of a Corps of an earlier day to inspire the next generation of leaders of character.” To date, 967 rings from classes spanning 1896-2006 have been donated. [View this year’s Ring Melt ceremony online on January 10.]
In the May/June 1999 issue of ASSEMBLY, Lieutenant Colonel Ron Turner ’58 (Retired) suggested graduates could bequeath class rings so that their gold could be incorporated into future class rings. Furthermore, he suggested retaining some gold after each melt, known as the “Legacy Gold,” that would be added to future melts so that class rings from each year going forward would contain a trace amount of gold from every ring donated. Tony Ferraiuolo HON ’61, then WPAOG’s Director of Class Support, took Turner’s idea and brought the program to life. The first Ring Melt was held at the Gannon & Scott, Inc. foundry near Providence, Rhode Island, on November 20, 2000. Ferraiulo and Turner—along with Cadet Joseph DaSilva ’02, Class President; Cadet Jackie Lawson ’02, Chair of the Ring and Crest Committee; and Major Fred L. Rice ’88, Class Advisor—were on hand to watch as 31 rings were melted so that the resulting gold (about 20 ounces in raw gold) could be used in the class rings for the Bicentennial Class of 2002.
As the number of rings donated grew, WPAOG refined the ceremony. Over the next 18 years, the ceremony was held at Pease & Curren in Warwick, Rhode Island. “I am very pleased that the program has transformed from its humble beginning to where it is now,” Keith Edwards ’85, then-Vice President for Sales at Pease & Curren, once shared. Edwards and Ferraiuolo added to the ceremony by writing and sharing biographies of the ring owners. They used the Register of Graduates to preserve the memories of the ghostly assemblage and living donors, passing their legacies down to cadets. “We got fancy—placing the bios in frames and adding images of their rank, branch awards, and unit patches—and we had one of the cadets read the bios.” When the number of rings donated exceeded their ability to write that many biographies, they asked family members and classmates to submit one. In 2010 WPAOG posted the ring donor biographies online for the first time. By 2011, the year in which the ring of Colonel Percy Kessler (Retired), Class of 1896, was donated (the oldest ring donated to the Ring Melt thus far), 40 people attended the Ring Melt. In 2018, 69 rings were donated, the highest number to that point, and a record of 26 families and 15 cadets, as well as then-Brigadier General Steven Gilland ’90, who was then serving as Commandant, attended, stretching Pease & Curren’s capacity to host. In 2019, the year of WPAOG’s 150th anniversary, Cathy Kilner ’90, WPAOG Director of Class Services, brought the Ring Melt home to West Point, hosting the ceremony at Crest Hall in Eisenhower Hall and melting the rings in Bartlett Hall. WPAOG expanded the program during the COVID pandemic, opening it up to online guests. In 2021 over 400 people attended virtually. Finally, in 2024, the rings were melted on-site in Crest Hall for the first time.
Since 1835, class rings have symbolized the unique relationship USMA graduates have with each other and the values of Duty, Honor, and Country. The tradition of the Ring Melt, gripping hands with the 50-Year Affiliation Program, has refined that relationship. Senator Jack Reed ’71 of Rhode Island, who has attended multiple Ring Melts, said this cherished tradition “brings classes together” and “symbolizes the great history of West Point.” Four Class of 1952 graduates bequeathed rings to the Class of 2002 in recognition of the 50-Year Affiliation Program. Jose Sanchez ’65, who donated notch from his ring, told his 50-Year Affiliation class, the Class of 2015, “For the rest of my days, I’ll be honored to know that my gold is with your gold.” Eighteen Class of 1972 graduates, including 15 living donors from that class, donated rings to the Class of 2022. Then-Cadet Valentina Vincent ’22 will remember the service and sacrifice her grandfather, Harvey Jokinen ’72, whenever she looks at her ring.
Another melding of classes occurred in 2023 when the Class of 1966 generously endowed the Class Ring Memorial Program in honor of their fallen classmates. Major Arthur G. Bonifas ’66, killed in 1976 at the Demilitarized Zone in South Korea, and Captain David R. Crocker Jr. ’66, killed in Vietnam, have rings donated to the Ring Melt. In 2024, Ruth Crocker said she was happy to bring her husband’s ring “home.” West Point is home to graduates, and the Long Gray Line is like family. The Ring Memorial Program increases that bond.
The thousands of stories in the Legacy Gold include the memories of family members and friends, 100 generals (including 10 four-star generals), Commandants, heroes killed in action, judges, WPAOG Distinguished Graduates, legacy families, a Basketball Hall of Famer, philanthropists, class leaders, West Point Society leaders, four women, one astronaut, a ring taken into space, a ring for a Medal of Honor recipient (First Lieutenant Frank Reasoner ’62) and a number of Distinguished Service Cross recipients (including Lieutenant General “Jumping” Jim Gavin ’29 [Retired]). “Our father would have loved this program,” said Barbara Gavin Fauntleroy and Chloe Gavin, Gavin’s daughters. “His ring symbolized his love of West Point and the values it stands for.” Additionally, almost all Army branches are represented, as well as all branches of the military. The Class of 1946 has donated the most rings (51). The newest ring in the Legacy Gold belonged to Captain Andrew M. Pedersen-Keel ’06, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2013.
WPAOG, the Corps of Cadets and the Long Gray Line are deeply grateful to the generous family members like Helen Pedersen-Keiser, the Gavins, and Ruth Crocker who have donated one of their loved ones most prized possessions to the subsequent generation. Looking at a class ring with its USMA crest and class crest, conjures recollections of the shared cadet experience and friendships forged during trials. Now this connection is more meaningful. When a graduate looks at their “bold mold of rolled gold,” they see it sparkling and shining and can reflect on the exemplary lives of nearly 1,000 members of the Long Gray Line.
Photo 1: The 12th Annual West Point Memorial Class Ring Melt for the Class of 2013 was held at Pease & Curren, Inc. in Warwick, RI on March 5, 2012. Photo 2: 2013 Class President Timothy Berry received the gold bar from 42 rings (the largest number at that point) ranging from the Class of 1915 to the Class of 1969 and symbolizing how West Point values are passed “from generation to generation.” Photo 3: Class of 2025 Ring Melt at Eisenhower Hall on January 19, 2024, boasted the highest number of ring donors in the program’s history (89), with a record number of family members and guests attending.
Read the complete Winter 2025 edition of West Point magazine when it hits mailboxes later this month.
