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Leon J. Laporte
General
United States Army

Commander in Chief, United Nations Command/ Combined Forces Command/ Commanding General United States Forces Korea
1968 Graduate of URI ROTC
1999 Recipient Alumni Excellence Award for Professional Achievement

A native of Providence, Rhode Island, COL Regan graduated from Classical High School prior to attending URI.  COL Regan enrolled in the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps while at URI and received his commission as a Second Lieutenant along with a Chemical Engineering degree upon graduation in 1940.  COL Regan participated throughout the European Theater during World War II and held a number of significant infantry leadership positions throughout the war.  At age 27 COL Regan became the youngest Infantry Regimental Commander in the European Theater of Operations.  Edward Regan was a brave and courageous leader throughout the war, and a highly decorated one.  Among his decorations are:  Silver Star, Bronze Star (two Oak Leaf Clusters), Distinguished Service Cross, the French Croix de Guerre (personally presented to him by General Charles de Gaulle), and the prestigious Rhode Island Cross for Valor.  COL Regan died in 1997 and was buried with full military honors in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.  While this University of Rhode Island ROTC Hall of Fame election is a significant honor, COL Regan has received numerous other military and civilian career honors over the past several years – the most recent being his recognition by the Narragansett Council Boy Scouts of America as part of their tribute to “Scouts Who Served…..” in the U.S. military.  COL Regan was also an Eagle Scout and often attributed his early scout training to his development as a successful soldier and civilian businessman.

LTC (Ret) John H. Leach, Class of 1957

Born in Ashaway, Rhode Island, John Leach attended URI from 1953-57 graduating and receiving a commission as an Infantry Second Lieutenant in June 1957.  While at URI, LTC Leach was a leader at an early age:  he was the corps of cadets COLONEL as a senior.  He was also the star fullback on the undefeated 1956 URI football team.  Since his own days as a cadet, for 48 years, John Leach has selflessly served the URI community, “Cramer’s Sabers, our Army and our nation.  Colonel Leach has served throughout the world in a variety of assignments, including two combat tours in Vietnam and two tours working with the URI ROTC until his retirement in 1984 following an assignment at the Army’s Command & General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  John Leach has also been active in his civic and church communities, serving as a board member of the Westerly Armory Restoration Project, the Olean Center;  as a volunteer for the Camp Yawgoog C.O.P.E. Committee, and as the main force in the Westerly High School Hall of Fame.  Colonel Leach currently lives with his wife, Carol, in Westerly, RI.

Dick Smith’s election to the ROTC Hall of Fame culminates a long period of service and intense personal dedication to the officer training and development (ROTC) program at URI.  Though not a product of the ROTC program at his alma mater, Dick has been elected to it’s Hall of Fame under the very special category as:  an alumnus or person of extraordinary talent who has given considerably of his time and resources to the betterment of the ROTC program at the University of Rhode Island and who is presented for consideration for this honor by either the Alumni Association or the Professor of Military Science.

Dick’s nomination and subsequent election stems from his unfailing work over the many years on behalf of the ROTC program at URI and for his tireless efforts to memorialize and remember those members of the URI military community who gave their lives in the service of our country.

Dick was a major force behind a considerable fundraising project to support the construction of a memorial in honor of the seventeen military service personnel from URI who were killed in action during the Vietnam War.  This “URI-17”memorial is located immediately in front of the entrance to the Keaney Gymnasium and consists of a set of three large granite benches with the names of each of these seventeen soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who gave their lives in the service of their country.  Were it not for Dick Smith’s relentless fundraising and memorial design efforts, this project would never have happened.

In addition to the memorial, Dick has aggressively and consistently led a major corporate and individual fundraising campaign over the past many years.  As a result of his efforts he has been able to establish a sizeable account at the URI Alumni Association.  The interest earned from this large account is used each spring by Dick to present multiple awards of sets of full Army Dress Blue uniforms to deserving graduating cadets.  Again this past spring, Dick presented these two awards at the annual ROTC Awards Ceremony held on the Kingston campus. Dick continues to serve the URI ROTC Alumni Association as a member of their Board of Directors. Dick and his wife, Anne, live in Westerly, Rhode Island.

Ken was born in Providence, RI and raised in Warwick.  He began at URI as a chemical engineering major, eventually transferring into the Civil Engineering program and complete his degree after four years, graduating in 1941.  While an undergraduate at URI, Kendall applied for and was accepted into the ROTC program – at  the time when it was a very limited and highly selective program.  Following graduation in 1941, Ken was ordered to active duty with the 1^st Infantry Regiment and served as Platoon Leader and Company Commander for a total of 37 months.  During this period, Ken participated with the early forces that landed in the invasion of North Africa, the invasion of Sicily, and then on June 6, 1944 he landed at Omaha Beach in France during the “D-day” invasion.  Ken was wounded during the Omaha landing but considers himself so much luckier than most others.  He was shipped to an Army hospital in England and following his recovery he returned to his unit to fight in the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium.  When the war ended, Ken joined the Reserve Components and remained active for 22 years during which time he attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  In June of 200 at the annual reunion of his former K Company buddies, Ken was presented with a framed arrangement of the dozen medals he earned through the years.  The most  significant is the Silver Star (with three Oak Leaf Clusters).  Ken taught in the College of Engineering at URI until his retirement in 1980. 

 Ken still participates in events at the university AND with our ROTC Alumni Association chapter.  Ken lives in nearby West Kingston, Rhode Island.

GENERAL ELLIOTT THORPE H ‘51

A native of Westerly, Rhode Island, General Elliott R. Thorpe's (1897-1989) military career encompassed two world wars, the reconstruction of Japan, and a tour of duty in post-war Thailand.  He stood guard in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles when the World War I treaty was signed on June 28, 1919. In 1945 he was on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered to General Douglas Macarthur. He may have been one of the last living survivors of both ceremonies.  While these were momentous and singular events, General Thorpe's unheeded warning about the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941 was arguably his most memorable moment.  Serving as a military attaché in Dutch-controlled Java (Netherlands Indies) in 1941 when the Dutch broke a Japanese diplomatic code, Thorpe was informed that intercepted messages referred to planned Japanese attacks on Hawaii, the Philippines and Thailand. He immediately cabled the information to Washington, but this warning was ignored.  A week later the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

In 1943 then-Col. Thorpe was knighted in the Order of Orange-Nassau by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands for his work as American Liaison in the Netherlands Indies. In 1945, Thorpe was promoted to Brigadier General.  Gen. Thorpe was honored in 1949 with the title of Knight Commander in the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand for his work as military attaché of the American Embassy in Bangkok. Brigadier General Thorpe retired in 1949 after serving 32 years in the US Army.

Elliott Thorpe attended Rhode Island State College for one year as a mechanical engineering student before entering the U.S. Army in 1916.  Even though he did not graduate from the College, he always considered himself an alumnus and was very supportive of efforts to build an adequate campus student activity center.  The post-war campus burgeoned and extra space for the students was added for the campus by using numerous Quonset huts.  One of these huts also served as the student activity center.  He supported a fundraising effort for the construction of a War Memorial Student Union by donating his veteran's bonus check.  He also served as guest speaker at a benefit dinner held on October 27, 1950 at the Sheraton-Biltmore Hotel in Providence.  The War Memorial Student Union was built in 1950 largely through fund raising efforts spearheaded by Gen. Thorpe and other alumni. 

In 1946, the General presented the College with a Japanese temple gong which was meant to be displayed in the Union.  The gong disappeared shortly after its receipt.  While efforts were made to recover the gong, it was never found.  Photographs and typescript translations of the gong's inscriptions are all that remain.  Thorpe also donated a ceremonial sword surrendered to him by Maj. Gen. Yoshio Nasu of the Imperial Japanese Army on the occasion of the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri. In 1969, Gen. Thorpe presented an autographed copy of his memoir East Wind Rain to the University. Both the sword and the book are presently kept in the Special Collections Reading Room.

On June 11, 1951, General Elliott Thorpe received an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters during the institution's first commencement as the University of Rhode Island.  In 1952, Gen. Thorpe was the endorsed Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.  He abruptly withdrew because of an investigation by the U.S. Army's Counter Intelligence Corps questioning his loyalty.  He indignantly felt that the investigation had been politically motivated. The investigation had been a misunderstanding resulting from a 1951 speech addressing the Rhode Island Turkey Growers and Poultry Growers Association in which he criticized the shortage of food growing areas in Japan and the corruption in the nationalistic Chinese regime of Chiang Kai-shek.  He also called for "a greater respect for freedom of speech in America as long as it is not subversive." (Westerly Sun, August 21, 1952).  After a public outcry, the Army quickly cleared the General and apologized for the unwarranted investigation.

He and then-President Carl Woodward (1941-1951) were close friends.   They continued to maintain a close correspondence when Thorpe retired to Sarasota, Florida, in 1960.   During his retirement, he served as commissioner with the Whitfield Volunteer Fire Department.  Gen. Thorpe continued to be in demand as a speaker and was sought for interviews by historians and journalists for his first hand account of post war Japan.   Shortly before his death, Thorpe was interviewed for the 1989 BBC production of Sacrifice at Pearl Harbour.  Most recently, Gen. Thorpe was quoted in John W. Dower's 1999 Pulitzer Prize winning book Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II.

He died in 1989 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C.

COLONEL KENNETH BOWEN POTTER ‘33

Kenneth B. Potter was born in Providence, RI on November 23, 1909 was raised in Cranston, RI and attended the University of Rhode Island, graduating with a degree in chemical engineering in 1933. While at URI Kenneth Potter was captain of the football and baseball teams and a member of Theta Chi social fraternity.  He was elected into the Univ. of RI Athletic Hall of Fame.

  He immediately entered into active duty with the Infantry and attended the U.S. Army’s Infantry Officer basic school at Fort Benning, Georgia followed by the Infantry advance course.  He graduated from the Army War College in June 1956.

 Colonel Potter’s army career is highlighted by his service as an infantry officer in the European Theater during World War II.  He served company and battalion commander with the 3d Infantry Division.  He was awarded a bronze star medal and Purple Heart award as well as a Presidential Unit Citation, among other decorations.  As an infantry battalion commander he was the recipient of the Silver Star medal with four oak leaf clusters and was twice awarded the French Croix de Guerre – once personally from General Charles De Gaulle.  In 1949 (then) Major Kenneth Potter was awarded his second Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism while in leading his unit in action at Heroldsberg, Germany on April 14, 1945 at which time he captured 124 Germans and killed nine more with an enemy weapon he had picked off the ground.  Though wounded twice he was never out of action during the German campaign and commanded the 1^st Battalion, 15^th Infantry Regiment, 3d Division, 7^th Army-Europe.

 Colonel Potter commanded Audie Murphy, the most highly decorated soldier of WW II, as an infantryman under his leadership in the 3d Division.  He was in part responsible for recommending Lt. Murphy for his battlefield commission and the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Colonel Potter and Lt. Murphy were lasting friends and he gave the eulogy at Audie Murphy’s funeral following his death in a tragic airplane crash.

 Following the war, Colonel Potter returned to Washington D.C. where commanded the Army’s separation center at Fort Myer, Virginia. Subsequently he worked with Military Intelligence at the Pentagon.  He also was a teacher of math and science at Flint Hill Academy, Fort Hunt and West Springfield High Schools in Fairfax County, Virginia.

 Colonel Potter married the former Dorothy Kasper of Jamestown, RI and raised three children: Kenneth Freeman Potter of Davie, Florida, Nikki D. Cothran and Richard B. Potter of Virgina.

 Colonel Potter died on September 15, 1995 and was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. 

CAPTAIN CONRAD LAGUEUX ‘43

Conrad LaGueux was born in Pawtucket, RI in May 21, 1922 and attended the University of Rhode Island, graduating with a degree in chemical engineering in 1943.  While attending URI he participated in the Army R.O.T.C. program, receiving a commission as a 2d Lieutenant at graduation.

 Lt. LaGueux was ordered to active duty on 15 May 1943 and assigned to the Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Georgia.  After graduation he was immediately assigned to the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) in Washington and assigned to a “station outside the continental limits of the United States” according to his orders.  Lt. LaGueux arrived in Casablanca, French Morocco, on November 28, 1943.  During January and February 1944 he was assigned to the 2677^th Headquarters Company Experimental (Provisional), later to be known as the 2677^th Regiment, OSS.  While in France, he completed the airborne qualification course. 

 In August and September of 1944 then Lieutenant LaGueux parachuted with his small army team into southern France where his team’s mission was to harass and attach German forces.  He was awarded a bronze arrowhead for his EAME Campaign Medal for airborne operations in southern France in August 1944.  While in France he worked with the Maquis (French Resistance) in the area of south France known as Tarn.  Later in the war he worked in China training commandos.

 Following release from active duty in 1946 Conrad LaGueux worked for American Cyanamid for three year prior to joining the Central Intelligence Agency in 1949.  He went on to serve with the agency’s Far East Division until retiring in 1977.  Over the years he served as station chief in such posts as Taiwan, Burma and spent much of his later CIA career in Cambodia and Vietnam doing work that led to his receiving two awards of the Intelligence Medal of Merit.  His first award was for his actions in March of 1975 when he made a hazardous personal reconnaissance of the heavy fighting between North and South Vietnamese military forces that ended in North Vietnamese victory.  Mr. LaGueux was credited with obtaining the first authoritative intelligence on the extent of the military deterioration.  He then planned and led the evacuation of key Vietnamese leaders, an operation the citation to his award said was “executed with thoroughness and sophistication”. 

 After retiring from the CIA he served on the executive committee of the Heritage Foundation president’s club.

     General Blount prior to his retirement served the military in numerous major positions.  Included in those assignments was a tour as of the United States Southern Command, Quarry Heights, Panama Canal Zone.  After a tour as the commander of the 1^st Battalion, 12^th Cavalry, 1^st Air Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in the Republic of South Vietnam, he was appointed Personnel Staff Officer for that division.  His next assignment was as Secretary of the Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia.  Thereafter, he served on the General Staff of VII Corps in Stuttgart, Germany, initially as Deputy Operations Officer and then as Operations Officer.  After serving as the commander of the 3^rd Infantry Division Support Command, he was posted as the Chief of Staff of the 1^st Infantry Division (Mech) at Fort Riley, Kansas.  Next, he was assigned to the Office of the Comptroller of the Army as the Director, Operations and Maintenance Appropriation, a position which he held until he became the Deputy Commanding General, of the U.S. Army Training Center and of Fort Jackson, South Carolina.  After being named Commander of the Training Center and of Fort Jackson, he was assigned as the Chief of Staff, TRADOC (Training and Doctrine Command.)  Finally, after being promoted to Lieutenant General in 1983, he became Chief of Staff, Allied Forces South, a NATO command consisting of units from Greece, Italy, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 

      Among the many institutions  that General Blount attended are the Command and General Staff College; the University of Miami, where he received a Master’s Degree in management, the Armed Forces Staff College, the U.S. Army War College; and the Executive Program, national and International Security, Kennedy School of Government.

      LTG Blount and his wife Joan currently reside in Columbia, SC.

Col William P. Babcock ’68    

     Colonel Babcock, a native of Wakefield, R.I, enrolled in the R.O.T.C. program while a student at URI.  After his 1968 graduation, he was commissioned as an infantry officer.  Among other assignments, he served with the 3d BN, 8^th Regt, 4^th Infantry Division, in the Republic of South Viet Nam.  While serving in that unit, he earned the Combat Infantry Badge, the Purple Heart, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and the Air Medal.  After completing his initial active duty tour, he joined the Rhode Island National Guard.  There, he has held a number of progressively more responsible positions, including that of Commander, 110^th P.A.D.;  Battlefield Circulation Officer and S-3 of the 43^rd MP Brigade; Plans and Operations Officer, State Area Command; Commander, 243^rd Regiment, Regional Training Academy; Chief of the Training Division, State Area Command; and Deputy Chief of Staff - Operations, Joint Forces Headquarters, Rhode Island National Guard.  At present, he is the Commander of the 56^th Troop Command.  In  2003, he volunteered for active duty in Afghanistan, where he spent 6 months as Chief of Staff, Office of Military Cooperation - Afghanistan.  In 2005, he volunteered for duty in Iraq, where he spent three months. 

     Colonel Babcock’s meritorious service has earned him many decorations besides the ones already listed.   Included among these other decorations are the Meritorious Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster; the Army Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Achievement Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster; and the Rhode Island Commendation Medal.  Colonel Babcock, who in addition to his Bachelor’s degree has earned a Masters Degree in Education and a Masters of Business Administration, also is a graduate of a number of military schools, including the Command and General Staff College, the Defense Strategy Course, and the Army War College.

     In 1993, after the Faculty Senate voted to  eliminate R.O.T.C. at U.R.I., Colonel Babcock organized alumni and others to go before the Faculty Senate and speak on behalf of retaining R.O.T.C. at the University.  Colonel Babcock’s efforts were a primary reason for the Faculty Senate reversing itself, voting to retain R.O.T.C.. 

      Colonel Babcock’s efforts on behalf of R.O.T.C. are not limited to his success in retaining the program.  He annually gives an Army dress blue uniform to a graduating cadet.  Further, he created the “Lt. Carmen DeCubellis” award, an award honoring a U.R.I. graduate killed in action in 1968.

      Col Babcock and his wife Judy currently reside in Narragansett, RI.