It’s Up To Us by Gerry Garvey USAFA Class of 1959

Gerald “Gerry” Garvey, USAFA Class of 1959, was one of the early voices who helped articulate what the Air Force Academy could — and should — become. 

Long before he graduated with the First Class, he was already thinking deeply about purpose, tradition, and the spirit that would define the Academy for generations. His February 1956 essay in The Talon captures that early vision with clarity and conviction, written at a moment when the Academy was still finding its identity and its cadets were learning what it meant to build something entirely new.

Gerry’s classmates remember him as exceptionally bright, thoughtful, and articulate — a cadet whose intellect was matched by a quiet seriousness about the mission they shared. One classmate reflected that “he was a cut above most of us, and certainly held the admiration of his classmates.” Another recalled how naturally he stepped into the role of thinker and writer for the class, giving voice to ideas many felt but had not yet put into words.

His essay also reflects the larger responsibilities the First Class carried — not only to shape the Academy’s culture, but to recognize the enduring impact their leadership would have. Over the decades, that impact has become unmistakable. The Academy may not have had the centuries of tradition that West Point or Annapolis claimed, but it built its own legacy through the lives and service of its graduates. Members of the Class of 1959 worked alongside figures like Jimmy Doolittle, Chuck Yeager, and President Nixon. They became four-star generals, astronauts, CEOs, and community leaders — and helped establish the Academy’s growing heritage of excellence.

Gerry's life and career reflected that same blend of intellect and service. He had a distinguished career marked by analytical rigor, leadership, and a deep commitment to the institutions he served. Though his life was cut short, his writing — especially pieces like this one — remains a window into the hopes and ideals of the young men who built the Academy’s earliest traditions.

What follows is his essay, “It’s Up to Us,” exactly as it appeared in the February 1956 edition of The Talon. It stands today as both a historical artifact and a reminder of the spirit that shaped the Class of 1959.

IT'S UP TO US

By Gerald J. Garvey, USAFA Class of 1959

The first time, I think, that many of us felt the real meaning of the Air Force Academy was during a retreat review one summer evening as the band followed us off the parade grounds playing the Air Force Song. It was not a jingoistic, "gung-ho" feeling, for that is an unreasoned emotion which cannot be productive of anything except a rather ridiculous parody of the true spirit of our school. And it certainly was nothing like the feeling of apathy toward the system which we have all entertained at one time or another. Rather, it approached a genuine understanding of the real purpose, the real spirit of our school. It would be worthwhile to reflect for a moment on this feeling. It is a spirit which will, we all hope, someday become the core and mainstay of a genuine Air Force Academy tradition.

This is the most important task lying before us. Ours is not only to be good cadets now, that we may be good officers later. More than that, ours is the task of making the Air Force Academy a worthwhile and successful place. We so seldom reflect that all the decrees of the Military Training Department, all our "Freshman Customs," all the technical excellence of the academic instructors can never make the Air Force Academy a truly fine place. While these are necessary for, and may be eminently successful in, doing their parts toward making us credits to the Air Force, none of them can provide that intangible which is so needed and so essential: Call it "tradition"; call it "loyalty for our school"; call it "spirit."

It is the feeling which I am sure West Point Cadets and Annapolis Midshipmen can feel anytime they march across their parade grounds or walk down the halls of their academic buildings. How lucky they are to be able to see pictures of Robert E. Lee and "Blackjack" Pershing! How lucky they are to feel the presence of John Paul Jones and Admiral Dewey! These cadets and midshipmen can look to the graduation pictures of MacArthur and Eisenhower, of Nimitz and Halsey. All about them is a background of tradition, a tradition which can foster reverence and spirit and love for their schools. Consider for a moment: what would West Point or Annapolis be without this spirit?

What would the Air Force Academy be -- without an Air Force Academy spirit?

Without such a spirit, our Academy would be just one, big, impersonal place, something for which we felt no love or reverence, no loyalty or pride. It would, in short, be a hollow, unfulfilled place. And in such a situation we would also be hollow and unfulfilled.

Gentlemen, what I am trying to say is that we are the real founders of the Air Force Academy. West Point is not simply a cluster of buildings, a contingent of Tactical Officers, a phalanx of faceless men in grey uniforms and white cross-belts. Rather, West Point is the significance of that outpost during the Revolutionary War; it is the memory of Grant and Lee and Marty Maher. It is the tradition of "The Mole" and the faith of a colonel who was allowed to keep his most cherished possession – his class ring – while a prisoner of war in a German stalag. Annapolis is not a fleet of schooners on the bay, nor is it a complement of instructors or a campus of Gothic buildings. The real Annapolis is a cheer for the Navy goat; it is a reverence before the tomb of John Paul Jones. It is throwing pennies at the statue of Tecumseh and a pride in a football team which so often comes out second best to Army.

Our sister academies have finer facilities and much prettier uniforms than we. But no matter, though, in the philosophical sense, accidents. They are fortunate, though, in having true and beautiful substances. For, from the heart of every Pointer or midshipman, past and present, has come the heart of the Military Academy and the heart of the Naval Academy. And from us must come the heart of the Air Force Academy.

All this may seem unimportant now, but what of our views many years from now? Somewhere, there is a retired general who considers among his most treasured memories the time that he, as a cadet, helped kidnap the Navy goat. Somewhere, a respected admiral prizes above all his military accomplishments, the memory of dipping his class ring in the "waters of the seven seas" before his sweetheart presented it to him at the Annapolis Ring Dance. Someday each of us will look back on our days at the Academy; our uniforms will have faded and the binomial theorem will have been long forgotten. All we will have to love and cherish then will be our memories – and the only memories to be taken will be of the things we give now.

Gerald Garvey

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About the Author

Gerald Garvey (USAFA ’59) was a member of the Academy’s First Class and one of its early intellectual voices. Known among his classmates for his insight, clarity of thought, and gift for writing, he contributed to shaping the emerging culture and ideals of the young Academy. His career after graduation reflected the same dedication and analytical strength that marked his cadet years.

A full biography of Gerald Garvey is available here:

Full Bio for Gerald Garvey