The night the gym burned out, I was the Company Commander of A Company. I was just looking out the window of my room which faced the gym. It was then that I saw three cadets running out of the gym. Within a minute or two, the gym went up in flames. One of the cadets graduated in 71, one in 72, the other in my class, 70.
For a few months,it bothered me not to have come forward since I had no proof it was then who caused it.
When I brought my concerns to the authorities, and offered to come up front if needed, I was told to drop it, that the fire had been a result of an electrical malfunctioning of the old structure, and that, the statute of limitations had expired therefore, no need to talk to anyone.
So, looks like that is what we have to go on with. If these three guys did it, they got away with Arson. If they did not, then they are totally inocent. In any event, who they are is no longer important. When it could have been, nobody cared. So, what's the use in solving it if the findings were conceived and finalized over three decades ago?
Hope this answers you.
Frank.

thanks frank, Always heard that story. would it be nice if those envolve would come forward an come clean. I am sure it would heip them also. I still remember how hot that fire was that nite. Skip

Yep, it was hot that night. I remember going into the side with Captain Miller to see if we could get some of the ammo out only to have some fire chief kick us out. That roof came down like a stack of dominoes. I will never forget how it went down in less than ten minutes, the whole thing.
As far as those three guys, two were pure crap, trash. The other, nobody would suspect him of anything of that sort. But, I doubt very much if they would come clean now.
Besides, I think there was more to it than met the eye. In 71 I became a cop here in Dade county,(Miami). A year later I was a narc and the name of one of them came up in a national investigation we were conducting involving radical groups trying to kill police officers.
It was then that I contacted Mercer County Sheriff and so on and so on and they all wanted no part of it. Even someone at the top of RMA adm refused to do anything about it.
So, skip, I think the best thing is to forget about it. As it turned out, neither of the three amounted to much in life so they may have gotten their own punishment that way.
Frank