Taylor University Magazine (Summer 1968)

Taylor UniversityPillars at Taylor University Summer 1968 Taylor University Magazine Summer 1968 Taylor University Follow this and additional works at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/tu_maga

Taylor University

Pillars at Taylor University

Summer 1968

Taylor University Magazine (Summer 1968)

Taylor University

Follow this and additional works at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/tu_magazines

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https://pillars.taylor.edu/tu_magazines/4

ABOUT THE COVER:

Recently I had part of my lawn

seeded in hopesofhavinga nice stand

of grass in a few weeks Well, after

watering religiously by the light of

many silvery moons, a number of

patches sprouted here and there

Sadly, more work will have to be

done before my goal is realized.

Which is to say what has been said

before in thismagazine, that '"growing

is about the only thing that takes

much time anymore." Growing is

vital to the whole business of living

and has many facets, as we all know

Commenting on this subject, one of

today's great Christians has written

"Many people are so closely linked

with their bodies that . their very

persons are bound up with the

for-tunes of the body Life's supreme

tragedy is to watch the triple decay

of body, mind, and spirit in yourself

or in another."

Jere Truex is a brilliant example

of the opposite Despite his extreme

handicaps he has achieved towering

intellectual growth which received

nation-wide recognition, thanks to an

Associated Press story by John

Sto-well. As a result. Jere received a

multitude of cards, letters and

news-paper clippings from well-wishers

(in-cluding alumni) across the country

He is surrounded here by these prized

keepsakes which, I suspect, he will

guard closely the rest of his life. A

local news story, and one which Jere

particularly liked, is reprinted here,

beginning on page 5. W. C. Photo by

Ed Breen

TAYLOR UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

SUMMER 1968

Will Cleveland '49, Editor

Mrs Alice Shippy, Class News Editor

Issued quarterly by Taylor University

Second Class postage paid at Upland, Indiana

MAGNA

CUM

LAUDE

The old words have lost their magic.

There is so much of the dramatic, the zarre, the unbelievable, the traumatic, in

bi-the world today, that it becomes

increasing-ly hard for any event or news to shake us

any more For when there is an

assassina-tion, a new athletic feat, a technological

breakthrough, we know it is just a matter

of time — and not much time at that — until

the sensational is eclipsed by something

bigger, or greater, or worse.

But the quiet old words, and the ties they label are still with us —faith, hope

reali-and love — they are part of the fiber and

breath of humanity — so long as humanity

isstill human And so long as Godis honored

and served, "these three" will steer the

actions, motives and feelings of Christian

men.

When a college has had 121

commence-ments, the event has become pretty

emotion-proof, except for some of the seniors and

their loved ones With allthe new graduates

packaged in the same black gowns, the

certain routineness for us old-timers who

have been here many times before.

some-thing else All the seniors were named

—

first the A.B and then the B.S degree

recipients All but one Then Dean

Zimmer-man said, "there is one graduate who is

un-able to come up on the platform to receive

his diploma." And when he read the name,

"Jere Truex — magna cum laude," there

came a spontaneous gasp of disbelief

throughout the crowd and then a standing

ovation There may have been a dry eye in

the gym —I wouldn't know This was the

climax of a saga of faith, hope, love and

other qualities which comprise the finest in human life and endeavor We thank you,

Jere and Mrs Truex, for the inspiration

you have been to the class of 1968 and to all

Taylor University W.C.

a distinguished 1968 graduate of taylor

University was never seen in a classroom.

Jere Truex of Upland, a major in business

administration, may take graduate work at some

university or launch a career in technical writing:

he hasn't decided Physically, life has been a

cap-sule for Jere— he has depended upon an iron lung

since he was seven years of age

But his mind has brooked no restraint He

was the valedictorian of his high school class and

was graduated magna cum laude from Taylor on

May 19 with a B.A in Business Administration

and a scholastic average of 3.8 out of a possible

4.0

Although his education involved

adjust-ments and a tenacity that would have wearied

many in his situation, Truex won at Taylor

Uni-versity the Business Achievement Award for the

highest grade point average among all business

majors; he was elected to Chi Alpha Omega,

honorary scholastic society, and his name

ap-pears in Who's Who Among American College and

University Students

Jere is equipped for a useful career, now,

thanks to his high school and a widely-respected

Midwestern university, the help of people around him and the marvels of electronics and medical

science, that sprang from other minds that knew

Taylor's long history

Speaker Recalled Jere's FortitudeAppropriately, the commencement speaker

was U S. Senator Birch Bayh, who, in 19(54 made

an inspiration out of Jere's enrollment as a

freshman by writing a letter of encouragement

to young Truex This letter is among Jere's ished mementos.

cher-Undergirding the hopes of the family for

Jere has been the father, Charles Truex, a

mem-ber of the engineering department at the ans Administration Hospital in Marion for the

Veter-last 30 years

Jere was born in Marion, where the family

lived for several years, and he was stricken during

a heavy outbreak of polio in Grant County in 1952.Opposite page: Jere and classmate exchange comments as they listen, via telephone

liook-up to classroom lecture

Below: Jere's room, where he spent each night in an iron lung In the background areinterests of earlier years, including an electric train, cars and trucks aiid some of the

the epidemic started

when Jere became ill : the family had taken more

than the ordinary precautions to minimize thechances of infection

It seemed that he had contracted flu, but he had difficulty breathing and was admitted toRiley Hospital There, his illness was diagnosed asboth spinal and bulbar poliomyelitis

Doctors gave him two months to live.

Jere was at Riley Hospital a total of seven months Soon after the onset, he became totally

paralyzed, could not swallow, and depended tirely for life upon an iron lung

en-After two months there was a thrilling

de-velopment in Jere's condition: he could move one

finger on his right hand. After four months, he

was able to breathe for a minute or two withoutthe assistance of the lung

There were some grave hurdles after Jere's

discharge from Riley Hospital—repeated surgery

to prevent further deformity There were three

surgical sessions to straighten his back, and a

fourth operation on his legs brought no result

Robert Wolfe '58, assistant professor of chemistry

and physics, ivas one of several teachers who visited

Jere in his home and staged laboratory

demonstra-tions.

This is the path that leads to the house of courage

But everything medically possible was done

to improve the physical setting for this brilliant

young mind; a muscle transplant in his right

hand greatly increased the use of his thumb Even now, home therapy continues to pre-serve the muscle tone that is left for Jere

Much of Jere's success has been a sense of

humor, shared by the family

Respite Possible from Iron Lung

Time and what some might define as theeffect of mind over matter have brought improve-

ment in Truex's physical experience; for some

time, with a respirator handy, Jere has been able

to breathe outside the lung for three or four hours

at a time

Aside from the lung, the Truex home never has been cluttered with emergency equipment-

the family has had no occasion to lose confidence

in the electric utility The only thing that labelsthe Truex home is a special sign above the electric-meter: "Do not disconnect meter Iron lung pa-tient."

By means of two-way telephone circuits

be-tween his home and the classrooms (these areapproaching a routine service) Jere was able toask questions, like the classmates he never could

join, and even give reports Mother's quick mind and nimble fingers have prepared stacks of notes

classmates gave considerable help in sciencethrough both taped lectures and subject matter

which were brought to his home for study sions, and 16 mm motion picture training films

ses-He took several courses in physics to fulfill

his science requirements; and since he could notparticipate in lab work in the classroom, his

teachers brought equipment to his home and gavelecture-demonstrations

In these ways, Jere came surprisingly close toclassroom and campus associations

The youth's electronic experiences in grade

(Continued on page 12)

Jere listens to lecture and at the same time dictates

notes for his mother to write She faithfully wrote

all hisnotes during four years of college and out his high school days

through-Lower photo: In an exceptional gesture Taylor

Uni-versity aioarded Mrs Truex a well-deserved honorary

Oneofmy superiorofficers, when he learned that

I was to speak on a college campus on the subject

of Vietnam, expressed his concern about my safety

It was a real honor to be able to explain the

unique-ness of Taylor University and, thus, assure him that

he need not fear for my safety He was doubly

as-sured when I explained that I was only going to be

addressing a group ofalumni anyway.

There is, perhaps, no subject that evokes more

controversy or sharply divides opinions than Vietnam

For this reason, I want to qualify my remarks on the

subject The impressions I share with you are those S

gained from what I saw where I was when I was

there I am fully aware that another person in a

dif-ferent place at a different time and under different

circumstances may gain a contrasting impression

My role and interest in Vietnam was not as a

combatant: as a chaplain I carried no weapons My

reason for being there was entirely of a religious

nature This war, like all wars, is fought by

men-men who, by the seriousness of their responsibilities

and circumstances, deserve a first priority in hearing

the Gospel They are the "cream of the crop" and

hopeofthe futureof thisgreat Nation More than that,

they are your sons They are the reason I was in

Vietnam

in September of 1966 the 3rd Battalion of the

4th Marine Regiment made contact with the enemy in

what was one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam

conflict:the battle for Hill 400 Thefirstthree casualties

suffered by the battalion in that operation were

Christian fellows: Burgess, Schmidt and Hale

Burgess was the first. The intensity of the enemy

fire at the moment he was hit prevented his buddies

from reaching him immediately This young man had

sat in my tent weeks earlier and shared his deepest

grief over the loss of some of his closest friends in

the previous action After we had talked at length,

we prayed together and Burgess made a profession

of faith in Jesus Christ Today Burgess is reported to

be a prisoner of war in North Vietnam

Schmidt became the second casualty as he

at-tempted to reach Burgess He had been a Christian

since he was a child but had only recently begun to

grow spiritually He never missed a worship service

and we had some great chats about the things of

Christ Schmidt had been a father just ten days when

he died in my arms

Hale was a casualty in the same action He was

wounded in both hands and in the leg. As I helped

him to a safer area where he could be treated and

evacuated I asked him about his relationship with

Christ He confidently affirmed that he knew Christ as

his Savior asked him he would like me to praywith him and he said he would We bowed our heads and Hale began to pray before I could lead I shallnever forget his prayer—not once did he pray for his

own safety or about his own wounds! He prayed forhis buddies He prayed that God might spare theirlives to hear the message of Christ, and that theymight come to have faith in Him He prayed, too, forcourage for his familywhen they received the news of

his wounds.

These three men are so typical of the tremendousspirit that I sensed among the troops in Vietnam, i

shall never forget them.—I can't! I learned from them

a measure of unselfishness, dedication and passion that I had never grasped before I learned

com-this as I shared a canteen of water with a weary

Marine; as I shaved out of the same helmet with him;and as I shared the same fear in the same fox hole

with him I learned it more forcibly as I cradled that

same Marine's wounded body in my arms and, in the

midst of death and battle, was able to speak to him

of Life and Peace in Jesus Christ This is the highhonor that comes with being a Navy Chaplain!

We often anticipate heaven as filled with

white-robed angelic choirs singing hosannas to the King of

Kings This is a Biblical view, and I anticipate

some-thing of this too Nevertheless, I have experienced o

sight nearly as beautiful and enthralling—a company

of smelly, unbathed, unshaven Marines sitting in thecorner of a rice paddy singing "What A Friend We

Have In Jesus"!

I spent 7 months in Vietnam with these Marines and another 13 months in the hospital withothers who

had been wounded. The months with them were the

by Lt Comm Stan Beach

One of our Naval Chaplains, severely

views on the war.

Note: He presented this article as an address during

his visit to the campus on Alumni Day

richest moments in my personal with

Christ and the ministry to which He called me I

could never regret these experiences—I thank my God

for them

These men who are preserving the integrity of

our United States in the jungles of Vietnam today

share a common trait that largely distinguishes them

from the fighting man of previous wars These men

are shockingly young! Many of them are dying

be-fore they are old enough to vote

They are largely the product of our modern

American society (A complex society that seems to

defy definition, but one of which some general

ob-servations can be made of its bearing upon the lives

of these men.)

They are the products of a society characterized

by rapid change Everything is in constant change

from hallowed ideas to hemlines— new discoveries

seem to make inventions and ideas obsolete before

they can even be tested Their's is a society

character-ized by a tremendous concern for freedom and

securi-ty; a concern that tends to seek freedom from existing

laws and stresses merely physical security Their's is

a society that speaks with great optimism about

man's future and, at the same time, betrays a deep

pessimism obout his future Their's is a society that is

experiencing a growing belief in man and his

cane-bilities and a faster growing disbelief in God.

v**" 4

It on this young man's shoulders that we havethrust the defense of the integrity and freedoms of

our Nation whilethe adult generation and many of his

own peers enjoy theiratmosphere of liberty to debate whether this man has the obligation or even the right

to go to the aid of the people of South Vietnam

This young man's generation, by the sheer fact

of its number and the evidences of its uncertainty, is

the target of the appeals of advertising and everyrevolutionary philosophy that is seeking an audience

He is taken from our comfortable, affluent, securesociety and is suddenly thrust into awar torn, povertystricken, threatened and abused environment There

he sees people fight with one another for a handful

of his garbage He sees women and children brutallytreated and murdered by the Viet Cong These things

go against all that he feels and believes He suffers

an inevitable culture shock, but he gets over it

fast-he has to!

We can't say he is unprepared for this

experi-ence by his society—his school and his church I am

not certain it is even possible to prepare a man for

these experiences, but I can say this: he has gained ashockingly realistic insight into life that he never pos-

sessed before He matures fast. One of these men put

itsopoignantly when he said, "Chaplain, I have neverbeen so close to God as when I was in Vietnam." He paused and reflected with all of the maturity of hisnineteen years and concluded, " And I have neverbeen so far from my church as when I was closest toGod"!

This magnificent product of our frequently

criti-cized society and this scapegoat generation, when

placed under the most trying circumstances known toman, is fulfilling his responsibilities in a manner that

demands our respect and gratitude General moreland confidently declared, "Out of this genera-tion is going to come some of the finest Americansour Country has ever known."

West-The morale of our men in Vietnam, as you

meas-ure this sort of thing, is phenomenally high This is

one of the first and most obvious things that impresses

the new arrival in Vietnam On one occasion a

report-er queried a Marine Colonel about the morale in hisunit The Colonel simply called a Marine to him and

asked: "Marine, how is your morale?" The Marine

saluted and firmly replied, "From excellent to standing, sir."

out-This high spirit is indicated in that over 1,400 ofthese Marines have extended their duty tours inVietnam for a second time and some for even a third

time.Malingering isalmost unheard of. Psychoneurosis

of combat is extremely rare In spite of their trying

Continued on Page 1f>

Not many people

project would succeed; but as it

be-gan to take shape, the student and

community enthusiasm outgrew my

DESIRES AND EXPECTATIONS That

proj-ect was a simulated orbital space

flight around the world for eight

days in a mock space capsule by

three Junior High School boys with

a groundcrew offellow students

Since I have an intense interest in

space science, two years ago I began

to lay plans for such a project by

in-vestigating the possibilities for

un-dertaking it. As a teacher, I wanted

to create a unique project which

would be a dramatic educational

ex-perience for my students without

be-ing a farce and a flop. The idea

seemed feasible.

Last September when school

be-gan, I decided that this should be the

year to stop dreaming and to act. So

I discussed the project with 56 eighth

grade students in my general science

classes and let them begin to make

my idea a reality under the program

which they established: "Operation

Teamwork."

Throughout the first semester, the

students organized themselves into

committees to design the space craft,

determine equipment and launching

site, and establish operational

pro-cedures to be used for the simulated

flight. Letters were written to almost

every major aircraft company and

space organization in the United

States requesting information The

responses were enthusiastic

Eventu-ally, an eight-foot-high mock capsule

was constructed of cardboard to

specify measurements and angles for

construction procedures

In January, we erected an

eight-foot-high launching pad on which the

capsule would rest about 30 feet

out-side the school building The capsule

itself, constructed of wood and

fibre-board, was built to resemble the

famed Gemini-rocket nose-cone Itjutted upwards about fifteen feet.

The top section of the three-stagecraft was to be used as a storagespace for forty gallons of water Nor-

mally, in an actual space capsule this

area is used for radar and cations equipment The two other

communi-sections of the capsule were six-foot

high compartments, one atop theother The middle compartment wasfor sleeping and food storage, while

the bottom one housed the controlpanel, "radar screen," (a television

screen of continuous snow), and munications system It was in this

com-section that the three "astronauts"

would spend most of their time

For a blockhouse, we used a able classroom near the launching

port-site, and covered its walls with ters from the National Aeronautic

pos-and Space Administration and otherspace agencies to create an atmos-phere of scientific endeavor Also, onthe walls were charts prepared bythe students to be filled in with dataobtained from the astronauts during

the simulated flight.

The Indiana Bell Telephone pany installed in the capsule and

Com-blockhouse a buzzer telephone

sys-tem to keep in contact with the

as-tronauts and an emergency telephone

to contact police and the fire

depart-ment They also furnished the ricks to lift the completed 800-poundcapsule onto the twelve-foot-square

der-launching platform

And so, surrounded by a

three-foot-wide iron catwalk, the craft towered26-feet skyward, ready to be the first

space vehicle launched into orbit bythe Eastbrook Space Project (ESP)

As community residents saw us

work they became interested and

co-operative As a result, local

business-es donated money and material to

build the craft. Students from other

classes than general science

volun-teered to operate the blockhouse

around the clock and log all the dataobtained from the boys in the cap-

sule. Parents also volunteered to

su-pervise the activities cf the

block-house throughout the day and night

It is in a large part to the credit of

the community that the project was

atmos-"Drifter," then awaited its mission

Lift-off was set for 8:30 p.m May

OPERATION TEAMWORK

by Walt Campbell '(>4

with Larry Austin '68

Walt Campbell is a general science

teacher at Eastbrook Junior High

School—formerly Jefferson Township

Junior High in Upland As a result of

imaginative teaching, he has made a

unique contribution to the

education-al experience of his students and to

the community as well. Here is his

story of a unique approach to the

teaching of space science

Larry Austin is working in the

Tay-lor Development Department this

summer as an assistant in publicity

He will begin graduate study at

Princeton Theological Seminary this

fall.

Walt checks the equipment in the

blockhouse during the space flight.