CELEBRATING THE ARTS
On Saturday, March 18, at 10:00am in the community room of the Patrick Heath Public Library, a retrospective will be hosted filled with vintage images and memories called, Saluting the Peacock Military Academy, (PMA). While they will not be riding stallions at the presentation, four former cadets from this premiere military preparatory school will join the founder’s granddaughter, Donna Peacock, to share their insights on life at PMA.
Proud as Peacocks, the cadets from Peacock Military Academy marched into the consciousness of San Antonians for 80 years. As San Antonio Conservation Society’s President, Peggy Tobin, reminisced about growing up at Woodlawn Lake, she tells us about her neighbors, “We were well aware of the Peacock Boys, mysterious swashbucklers marching in their drill yard.” Whether marching in the Battle of the Flowers parade, showcasing their Cavalry skills, riding on creatively festooned floats, or luring hundreds to their campus at Woodlawn Lake on a weekend to enjoy their exotically named Zouaves and Monkey Drill Teams, the Peacock Military Academy cadets were noticed. The Peacock Academy has a storied history of shaping young men’s lives. Just one of the rich back-stories and unique connections involves their 1915 football coach who turned out to be General, and our 34th President, Dwight D Eisenhower. Information shared by local historian, Bryden Moon, contact info [email protected].
The term “do or die” was adopted as PMA’s motto, and comes from Robert Burns’ poem “Robert Bruce’s March to Bannockburn” that was a poem about the first War of Scottish Independence. The last stanza of the poem reads: “Lay the profound Usurpers low!
Tyrants fall in every foe!
Liberty is in every blow!
Let us Do-or-Die!”
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