Eastern Military Academy
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Eastern Military Academy (EMA) was a high school military academy founded in 1944 in
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
, United States, by Roland R. Robinson, a former mathematics teacher at Peekskill Military Academy (now also defunct), and his brother-in-law, Carleton Witham. The relationship with the local town was poor from the start, and in 1948 the school moved to Cold Spring Hills on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, until the school closed in 1979.


History

At its new location, the school was based in one of the largest mansions ever constructed in the United States,
Oheka Castle Oheka Castle, also known as the Otto Kahn Estate, is a hotel located on the North Shore (or "Gold Coast") of Long Island, in West Hills, New York, a hamlet in the town of Huntington. It was the country home of investment financier and philant ...
, built by Otto Kahn, a multimillionaire. Following Kahn's death in 1934, his heirs had little interest in the estate, and the town of Huntington briefly used it as a retirement home for municipal employees. EMA was organized for most of its existence as a battalion, with a band company, troop (using horses stabled a few miles away), two infantry companies of high school and junior high school students, a company of children sixth grade and below, a company of day students, i.e. students who did not board in the school, battalion staff of two to four members, and a four-member color guard. For several years of very high enrollment, the school organized as a regiment. Robinson and Witham died within six weeks of one another in the summer of 1968, leaving the school in the hands of Alice Robinson, who was Robinson's widow and Witham's sister. According to an article in
Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...
on September 30, 1968, she was then the first woman ever to head a military academy in the USA. In 1970 she sold the school to three investors, without notifying the longtime dean and new Headmaster, Leopold Hedbavny, or alumni. These investors immediately took out a three million dollar bank
mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...
, although they had paid Mrs. Robinson only $50,000 plus stock in their new corporation, and stock in several other of the ultimately nine schools they bought. All nine schools were eventually closed following the taking out of large mortgages. In 1955 the Army granted EMA status as an honor Junior
ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...
unit. From 1951 to 1968 students ninth grade and up were taken to a military training base, Camp Smith, for a week in May for riflery training and practice. This continued at a base in New Jersey until 1975, the same year the school lost its honor rating. In 1977 the Army struck it from the rolls of recognized Junior ROTC units, and removed all military supplied equipment, mostly M-1 Garand rifles (prior to 1955 cadets used Springfield M1903 rifles). In 1979, enrollment was down to just ninety from a high of over 350. The school closed in 1979 after a fire had been set in the dormitory floors. In the late 1960s, as the school was declining, two groups of disgruntled staff broke away and founded the General Douglas MacArthur Military Academy and the Marine Military Academy. For a few years EMA had an armored unit based on some surplus
Armored Personnel Carriers An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...
. Operating these when gasoline prices began rising became prohibitively expensive, and two were given to the
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police department. One was allegedly buried on the school grounds. At the funeral of President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
the riderless horse following Kennedy's caisson bore a
saber A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...
from EMA which had been presented to the White House by the senior class of 1962 on their class visit to Washington. EMA's sabers were engraved with a unique, copyrighted design.


Extra-curricular

The school newspaper was called ''The Guidon''. The yearbook was ''The Saber''. The honor society (based on academic grades, military rank, being a class officer, and participation in sports and clubs) was the Order of the Key. At various points the school had a chess club, camera club, glee club, chorus, ham radio, equestrian, swimming, riflery, fencing, basketball, baseball, varsity and junior varsity football teams. EMA also hosted one of the first chapters of the
Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...
to be based in a school.


Uniforms

Uniforms worn by cadets followed the style of the
United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
at
West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
. Shoes were black, and loafers were not permitted. Socks had to be black (medical exceptions allowed). The "uniform of the day" for all cadets included gray pants with a black stripe on each leg. The belt was black with a brass buckle that had to be kept polished. A gray long-sleeved shirt had a shield shaped patch on the right shoulder. This was the emblem of EMA, an open book atop a vertical saber, hilt down. The collars had indicia of which company each cadet was attached to, a harp for the band, cross sabers for the troop, and crossed rifles for all others. Officers had "pips" to indicate rank on the right collar, one circular pip for second lieutenant, two for first lieutenant, and three for captains. The cadet major had a single diamond shaped pip. A black tie completed the ensemble. It did not hang freely, but was tucked into the shirt between the second and third buttons. On Sundays and for some other occasions cadets wore a "choker" instead of the shirt and tie. This was a gray jacket with a high collar. Rank was shown by stripes on both shoulders. For parades and other very formal occasions such as dances and the graduation ceremony cadets wore a jacket known as a 44 for the brass buttons on it. These had to be kept polished. The 44 had the usual stripes for rank, plus cadets had any ribbons awarded them, as well as riflery medals. These medals were the ones used by the United States military for
marksman A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting. In modern military usage this typically refers to the use of projectile weapons such as an accurized telescopic sight, scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle (or a sniper ri ...
,
sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...
and expert.


Alumni association

An alumni association was formed in 1969, and still exists with its own website. One of the former EMA cadets, Roger Hall, has written about his memories and about
Oheka Castle Oheka Castle, also known as the Otto Kahn Estate, is a hotel located on the North Shore (or "Gold Coast") of Long Island, in West Hills, New York, a hamlet in the town of Huntington. It was the country home of investment financier and philant ...


The association's meetings (generally luncheons or dinners) were suspended in April 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, but resumed in May 2021.


References

{{Reflist Defunct United States military academies Educational institutions established in 1944 Educational institutions disestablished in 1979 Huntington, New York Defunct schools in Connecticut Defunct schools in New York (state) 1944 establishments in Connecticut 1979 disestablishments in New York (state)