Save CAPER History
In 1999, I got a copy of the history that had passed down through the years and what Pershing Angels knew of our history. I revised it and added to it, but both the printed and computer copies have disappeared. I have done an new revision, leaving the original in tact. This way, others can add their memories of our history to this. And some how with all of our memories, we will get close to our real history. We are lucky compared to Pershing Rifles when it comes to history. Our official start was November 26, 1966 (based on an on-line perpetual calendar). Most of our members are still alive. But as we age (the author included), our memories are starting to fade. I challenge as many CAPERS as possible to add their memories of events in our history, local or national. I'll add Save Our History pages for any companies that start adding their company history memories.
This page is to be our history as told through the memories of our members.
Different people remember things differently. That's OK. You can challenge things just like I did with the Pershing Angel History.
Sometimes the memories are wonderful. That's great. I've got a lot of those.
Sometimes the memories are painful. That's OK, too. I've got some of them, too.
We need it all to tell our story and make sure that we won't be forgotten.
Please submit your history memories and we'll give you credit for your additions. Return to the main page.
From the Pershing Angels history: Until September 1966 no records or files were kept. All history prior to that is not accurate.
In 1962 the KAYDETTES were founded by Pershing Rifles Company H-7 at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. For the next few years, the KAYDETTES were very successful functioning as a local drill, social and service organization. The girls began wondering about forming other companies and the possibilities of becoming a national organization similar to that of the Pershing Rifles. Between 1962 and 1966 the KAYDETTES changed their name to CAPERS.
Linda Grissette:
Based on the University of Oklahoma ROTC Yearbook from the 1963-1864 school year, Kaydettes started the Fall of 1963. The text reads "The Pershing Rifles Kaydettes was organized this fall....." If you would like to see pictures of the Kaydettes, just go to the Kaydettes pictures page. This is the first written proof I have for any of the history, so this should be considered a FACT. Prior to this, I would have accepted 1963 as the date.
This sounds as if the idea of coed units affiliated with Pershing Rifles started at the University of Oklahoma. In my 4 years in CAPERS (1967 to 1971), I realized that during the 1960's coed units sprung up all around the country. At every National Convention I went to (7 total), one of my jobs was to talk to people from all over the country to find out which Pershing Rifles units had coed units. Then we went back to Norman and contacted them. I'll talk more about the expansion efforts later.
I remember being told that Pershing Rifles National asked for proposals from coed units around the country for forming a national coed organization under Pershing Rifles. At the Fall Little National Convention the Pershing Rifles Regimental Commanders decided the the proposal from the Kaydettes at the University of Oklahoma was the best and named them the National Headquarters of Coed Affiliates Pershing Rifles, commonly referred to as CAPERS. At the time the Fall Little National Convention was always held Thanksgiving weekend, with the main convention on Saturday. Based on an on-line perpetual calendar, the date for that vote would be, November 26, 1966. Gail Kish, the second National Commander confirmed my memory that we had the best proposal. I still wish I knew who else had proposals.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: When I received pictures of KAYDETTES from 1964, 1965, and 1966 and read the text with them, I found that what I know as history of the early years completely out the window! I'm hunting details before I publish any more. I feel like I'm on the PBS TV show "History Detectives". Gail Kish didn't have the answer, so I've got to get in touch with Tanya McDonald Miller.
From the Pershing Angels history: During the 1966-67 school year, CAPERS were under the advisement of Pershing Rifles 7th Regimental Headquarters at Oklahoma State University. The CAPER Commander was COL Tanya Mcdonal (correction: Tanya McDonald). Their work was rewarded with the affiliation of 7 units by the end of the year, thus firmly establishing a national organization.
The first CAPER National Convention was held in Washington, DC in the spring of 1967. This was also the site of the first National Drill Meet. Six CAPER units were present at the convention and seven observing delegates who were considering affiliation.
The National Commander was Gail Kish for the 1967-1968 school year. One semester later COL Kathryn S. Sykes (called Kay) took command. At the spring 1968 convention in Lincoln, Nebraska, only Company C-7 was present due to poor communications. However, by the end of that school year, 14 new units were chartered.
Linda Grissette: Now about the 1968 Spring National Convention. At the time, we thought it was poor communications, but I learned more in 1999 or 2000 when communicating with the NSPRAA (one of the Pershing Rifles Alumni organization that says that the welcome CAPER Alumni). The convention (just convention as the national drill meets were only every other year) was originally scheduled to be at New Orleans. At the last minute the sponsoring company decided there was too much unrest in New Orleans and the convention was moved to Lincoln. When they sent the registration information to Pershing Rifles National Convention, we got a call asking where our registration was. We told them that we had never received the information and immediately told them who would be attending. In 1999, I learned that there was discrimination by the original sponsor of the convention and that is why we didn't get our registration materials. I heard that no CAPER Companies got the materials, so it wasn't "poor communications." I don't think any CAPER Companies attended and there was no CAPER Company C-7.
Gail Kish was only National Commander for one semester, because she wasn't a student any longer. Her husband Bob was still in college, but I think she had to get a job. He was the H-7 Company Commander during the 1967-68 school year and National Liaison for CAPERS the next.. Kay Sykes was commander from January 1968 thru January 1969. Tanya McDonald came back to campus for the spring semester with her husband, Jim Miller, so I also got to know her.
From the Pershing Angels history: On 31 January 1969, COL Nina R. Jacoby took over command. She later retired turning over the command to COL Gwen Coley. Three weeks later, the Spring 1969 National Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio. Seven of the 23 then chartered units attended. Company A-5, which placed second in the cod division of the Pershing Rifles National Drill Meet, was awarded the first outstanding Unit Award. The Rose Award and the National Commander's Award were also given for the first time that year.
Linda Grissette: This is where I have to work hard to keep from getting upset. Until Kay Sykes retired after a year in command, things were going wonderfully for CAPER National Headquarters. When Nina Rose Jacoby and then Gwen Coley took command things turned quite bad. The spring of 1969, I was very close to getting out of CAPERS. But my love of the organization kept me in. I even wished I could change schools to someplace that had a CAPER Company so I stay involved, but that would have meant out-of-state tuition.
The first week-end of March, 1969, we had our first ever inspection by Pershing Rifles National Headquarters. The inspection team was Dennis Lambert, Jim Condon and Monte Fellingham. After the inspection, they stated that the only section functioning properly was the G-1, Adjutant (me). I could have told them that! Within days, Nina resigned and Gwen was named commander. She was a former friend and former roommate, who after being named Chief of Staff by Nina, Gwen completely changed. I had always been trying to help out other sections where work was not being done. After Gwen took command she forbid me from doing any other work than my own and things just stopped getting done.
The amazing thing was, that despite the way the headquarters was being run, we did grow dramatically as a national organization. But many units had to wait and wait to get their charter and membership materials! That is probably why we had such poor attendance at the convention. But it was wonderful to really have our convention. But the delegates really didn't have any authority, but it was really just a group discussion of things. Here are some pictures I took at that convention.
Although I didn't like it, the coed division of the National Drill Meet was not limited to CAPER units. We were thrilled that Company A-5 placed second. Gwen might have given them an award because of that, but there were no other awards given out at that convention. As I type this, I wonder if maybe one unit might have sent in an awards application. But the next year, we had an effort to give awards which I coordinated. I still believe that I was the first recipient of the National Commander's Award.
From the Pershing Angels history: When school started in the fall of 1969, three officers worked together to maintain the National Society of CAPERS. A pledge class was trained and the National Staff rose to 14 members. On October 10, 1969, COL Iris Rodriguez took command. By December 1969, a total of 26 units were chartered.
Linda Grissette: WOW! What a change from reality. When the fall semester started, I found that Gwen, Iris and I were the only remaining members. Several told me that the didn't come back due to how I was treated. After all, Gwen (and Nina) pledged the semester after I did and Iris had pledged in the fall of 1969 and was only a member for a few months when she was named Chief of Staff by Gwen. And I was still G-1, Adjutant. I did promoted to MAJ because I'd done the job so long!
NOTE: When I first read the Pershing Angels history, it sounded familiar and it seems like when I saw it the first time, I knew the first part was not accurate. The fact that a date in given for Iris' promotion to commander tells me that she was the one who wrote the history up through this part.
We also found the headquarters in a total disarray, as the ROTC staff had moved our stuff to a new, larger office. We were still sharing it with 2 other organizations! I started working on getting it back in to shape and Gwen forbid me from doing anything. So things just sat there! Finally in October the ROTC Cadre sponsor stepped in and removed Gwen from command and named Iris the new commander at a surprise late afternoon meeting...with the pledges present. I was completely devastated and wrote several versions of a resignation through my tears that evening. One of my dear friends, Gwen Howell, who I had talked into pledging, slipped a note of support under my dorm door. A little later someone knocked on my door. It was Iris. She told me that she was surprised as I was and felt that I should have been named commander. She said she wouldn't blame me if I resigned, but hoped I wouldn't as she couldn't run the organization without me. That night we basically became co-commanders and we started making plans on how to save the organization. The next day I officially became Chief of Staff. Unofficially, I was also still G-1, Adjutant, G-2 Expansion, and G-4 Supply! Iris was National Commander, but unofficially she was Finance Officer, G-2 PIO and G-3 Training (she was the pledge trainer....and also became our first drill team commander later in the year). We started working like crazy and training our pledges to take over the sections.
As I started exploring what was going on with Expansion, I discovered a letter from Pershing Rifles 4th Regiment (Clemson University). P/R COL Robert Shelton was the Regimental Commander that year. I first gotten to know that Regimental Staff at the Spring 1968 Convention. The coed unit at Clemson had chartered the year before and were the largest unit we ever chartered. But now the Regimental Staff really wanted to help us expand. They wanted to name one of the coeds there as "CAPER Coordinator". Iris and I loved the idea of getting help. We named her as part of the National Staff, but I don't remember her name. We sent her copies of all the expansion and chartering materials and told her to make copies whenever she needed them. We also asked all the other Regiments to do the same. I don't remember whether there were any others named.
From the Pershing Angels history: By early January 1970 two additional units were in the process of being chartered. CAPER Regimental Headquarters were formed. Since the CAPER Regimental Commanders would hold the rank of COL MG William F. Anton made official the promotion of CAPER National Commander to BG. By the Fall of 1970, there were 28 active CAPER units.
The CAPER National Headquarters was disbanded on October 31, 1971, due to a backlog of work and a lack of officers.
On February 5, 1972 the CAPER Headquarters was relocated to Kansas State University in Manhattan Kansas. Brigadier General Susan Lindholm assumed command with a staff of 17 officers. There were 35 active company under the administration of the four Regimental and National Headquarters.
In April 1972, Rhonda McGuire was elected National Commander of CAPERS. At the Spring National Convention CAPERS were allowed to compete apart from the Pershing Rifles for trophies for the best drill team.
In April 1973 Elizabeth Crammer took over as National Commander. After time accurate recordings became deficient.
Linda Grissette: The last line is very true! So here goes:
The CAPER Coordinator concept made Iris realize that we needed to divide the organization into Regiments. At the Fall 1969 Convention, Iris told the Pershing Rifles National Staff that she would be working on establishing the Regimental Headquarters and completely re-writing the National SOP.
The two units mentioned above were in Texas. At the Fall National Convention in 1969, the 17th Regimental Staff invited us to attend their Regimental Drill Meet a week or two later. While there, we meet two units who were in the process of filling out their chartering paper work. I have a picture of some of the members on this site.
In early March, 1970, we had another inspection by Pershing Rifles National Headquarters. The National Commander, MG Dennis Lambert was sick and couldn't come. Bill Anton was NOT the commander then. (That is why I know that Iris did not write this part.) He was elected National Commander at the Spring 1969 Convention, but over the summer, he resigned and Dennis Lambert became the National Commander. Before the inspection started, BG James Condon, Deputy Commander, had a meeting with the Professor of Military Science. After the meeting, all the staff was called in. BG Condon read the order that were signed by MG Lambert promoting Iris to BG. Shortly after the inspection, Iris promoted me to COL and named me the first CAPER Deputy Commander. I also took over the responsibilities of the Finance Officer. Learn more about that day and see a picture taken just a few minutes after Iris' promotion to BG
I don't remember much about the CAPER Convention at the Spring National in 1970 in San Antonio. That's because I was named as our representative at the Pershing Rifles Convention and Caucus, especially the Expansion Caucus as it always dealt with CAPERS. As I mentioned before, we were thrilled to give out numerous awards at this convention. LTC Paulette Kikugawa (Chief of Staff) and I was surprise to get awards, too. I do have a wonderful memory of going out for drinks on The River Walk in San Antonio with Dennis Lambert and Jim Condon after the convention was over.
After the convention, Iris told us that she wanted to make sure that the right person was named National Commander for the next year so that we would get the maximum number of members back the next year. She asked us each to tell her on a secret ballot who we felt should be commander. At the Pledge Initiation Dinner, Iris gave me the National Commander's Award. I actually thought it was a "Thank You and Goodbye" Award and that Paulette would be named commander. (After what I had been through, can you blame me?) Then Iris named me National Commander.
The next week-end we competed in our first ever drill meet at the 7th Regimental Assembly. I went the day before everyone else to represent the Headquarters at the full Assembly. The rest of the drill team came later. The group from Pershing Rifles National Headquarters included P/R BG Condon and P/R MG Jim Radclff (who was named the next years National Commander at the convention) and they didn't even know yet that I'd received the promotion!
When I got back to college at the start of the 1970-1971 school year, I found we had been moved again. This time we got to work fast fixing up our new, even larger office (still shared). I also found that Iris had not brought new SOP and Regimental Plan back to campus over the summer. I recently learned that she never graduated from the University of Oklahoma (she was supposed to be going to the OU Nursing School in Oklahoma City). I think I figured out what happened. Her mother and father were stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and I think that when she got home, she found out that the had orders to a new post and she decided to go with them. I wish I had known that, because I resented the fact that she hadn't done the work as she had promised. It's bad to resent someone you had such a good relationship with. I'm glad I figured this out before this went out on the internet!
Anyway, I went to work on setting the regimental boundaries, asking the preferred unit if they wanted to do it and to send me permission from their Professor of Military Science, and re-writing the SOP. One evening, while I had the whole thing spread out all over my bed, I got a call from the Pershing Rifles National Commander MG James Radcliff, asking where the SOP and Regimental plan was. I told him what had happened and promised it would be distributed by the Fall National Convention. It was. By that point, we had an excellent relationship with Pershing Rifles National Headquarters. All of my choices for Regimental Headquarters accepted and are listed on the Regimental Headquarters page.
At the Spring National Convention of 1971 in Atlanta, we had a National Convention set up with Caucuses as Pershing Rifles Conventions were. Each of the Regimental Commanders were assigned a caucus to run and issues we felt need to be discusses. The next morning they brought their motions to the convention floor. After that we had a Commander's Call to elect Paulette Kikugawa the next National Commander. And we finished before lunch! That was because all of our units competing at the Drill Meet were scheduled in the afternoon and we all wanted to support our units. After we ate lunch and were heading out for the drill meet, I ran into MG Radcliff who was quite jealous that we were already through with our convention! While we were on the bus to the drill meet site, I was talking to a member whose name I had known for 4 years (I probably processed her membership as a pledge....and watched her move up in rank), but had never met until this convention. She told me that she felt this had been the best year ever for CAPERS. I was proud to accept that complement! If she sees this detailed history, she will finally understand why....and if she does, I want her to contact me immediately and tell me her name!!!
After I graduated, I went off with my now ex-husband to be a military wife and after 6 months, he left for Germany and I went back to Oklahoma for 2 months (April to June of 1972). When I was in Norman, I got together with Paulette Kikugawa and Gwen Howell. That's when they told me that they had made the hard decision to move the headquarters. I think they told me it was going to Kansas State University. When I was working on doing this the first time in 1999 - 2000, Gwen told me that Paulette could not bear to be the National Commander who moved the Headquarters, so she named Gwen the National Commander before the transfer.
From Pershing Angels History: Between 1974-76, National Headquarters were moved from Kansas State University to Auburn University in Alabama. Apparently, lacking in experience and numbers, this Headquarters closed in 1978.
In 1979, National Headquarters was once again moved. The new location was Appalachian State University in North Carolina. Susan B. Rice held the position of Brigadier General.
In 1981, the Headquarters was moved to Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, with Sharon Sanders as the National Commander. There were problems which lead to Shirley Jones assuming the role of Brigadier General for the 1982-83 school year. The Headquarters had problems went manpower and it closed from 1983-84.
In 1985, Fran Lopez took over the National Headquarters at Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, New Jersey.
In 1989 - Madeline Colon (National Commander)
NOTE: After this, the history was definitely all Pershing Angels.
From Linda's Conversations with a member of Pershing Angels National Staff in 1999: I was told that some time during the 1980's Pershing Rifles "banned" CAPERS and several of the units went "under ground" and got together to start a new national organization (Pershing Angels).
From the Chairman of FPRAA (Bill Wagner) who was the Commander of Pershing Rifles Company Q-8, Hofstra University: In 1980, Pershing Rifles National Headquarters issued an order that all Pershing Rifles Companies with CAPER Companies take their CAPERS into Pershing Rifles Membership. When he was company commander, took their CAPERS into membership.
From the 2009-2010 Pershing Rifles National Commander, P/R MG Tom Carlson: In 1980, the Pershing Rifles Constitution was changed to allow "civilian" (non-ROTC Cadets) to join Pershing Rifles. He feels that and the order from National effectively merged the two organizations. That is why CAPER Alumni are now considered Pershing Rifles Alumni. I feel that the CAPER legacy is all of the "civilian" (including P/R MG Carlson) and female members of Pershing Rifles.
Linda: We don't yet know all of the history of the time when CAPERS ended, but we are getting closer. The two pieces of information above were missing pieces to help me understand the end of CAPERS. As I have researched on-line, I have learned that ROTC enrollment went down dramatically in the late 70's and many ROTC departments were closed. That means that Pershing Rifles membership also went down. When thinking about these two additions to our knowledge of our history in light of this information, I am very pleased that CAPERS becoming Pershing Rifles members may well have helped the organization and maybe some companies keep going.
About Pershing Angels: My assumption is that southern values are usually a little more conservative that the rest of the country. I know that if someone had even offered me the chance to join Pershing Rifles in the 1960's, I would have remained a CAPER. I didn't have a desire to go into the military, but loved supporting the military and Pershing Rifles. I think that was the feeling in the CAPER Companies who "went under ground", keeping their company going without any real national support and retaining their original name of Pershing Angels. I'm not to sure that the headquarters and commanders listed about had any real authority from Pershing Rifles and were probably part of the "under ground" movement. In other words, they went back to the status of unofficial co-ed units prior to CAPERS being formed and like the coed units who never applied for a CAPER Charter. I am thrilled that they kept going and openly acknowledge CAPERS as part of their history.
NOTE: After I wrote this above, I was talking to one of the Pershing Rifles H-7 Alumni and said to him that in a way I did feel like I was part of Pershing Rifles. His response was that he always felt like we were, too. It is interesting because when he pledged P/Rs there were no CAPERS, only Kaydettes. CAPERS started during his sophomore year.
I want to again encourage others to add to this history page by adding their memories of the history. It does NOT have to agree with what I have said! I will give their name....and probably drop anything I have written as speculation. I keep making changes every time I learn something new.
The creator of this website, Linda Grissette (the 1970-71 CAPER National Commander) is not asking for any money to help support this project. Her reward will be finding people she remembers and learning about other former members memories. If you appreciate the effort, please use her for all of real estate needs. If you aren't in the St. Louis area where she works, she can find a great agent in your area and will receive a small referral fee. Contact Linda about real estate. See Linda's main real estate website.