James Drum graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1937. He was the grandson of Captain John Drum, a civil war volunteer, who later volunteered again during the Spanish-American War and was killed in action at the Battle of San Juan Hill. Colonel Drum’s uncle was Lieutenant General Hugh Drum for whom Ft. Drum, New York is named. He retired as a U.S. Army Colonel in 1946, and joined the Office of Strategic Services, which is now the CIA. The Drum Award, established in 1995, is the highest accolade a person in the OTS can receive. Wounded in World War II, the shell fragment removed from Colonel Drum’s neck in 1944 was placed in the hand of the first soldier in the monument dedicated to the American Soldier at West Point. The fragment is marked JHD ’44 by the artist, symbolizing the risk of physical danger shared by leaders and followers alike in fighting for our country.