After 20 years, Citadel cadets to get their rings Class of '57 restores mostly silent bell tower "Dong!" "Dong!" "Dong!" That's one of the sounds Citadel alumni and cadets could soon hear emanating from 59 campus bells that have been mostly silent for the past 20 years. The Citadel Class of 1957 has undertaken the massive project of renovating the 90-foot-tall bell tower beside Summerall Chapel and hopes to soon reinvigorate a cultural tradition that links the school with the World War II fallen alumnus, Thomas Dry Howie, for whom the tower is named. Howie, an Army major and 1929 Citadel graduate, was killed shortly after the 1944 Normandy invasion as he fought to relieve troops encircled by the Nazis on the outskirts of St. Lo in France. His last words, "See you in St. Lo," became a battle cry. Howie's troops laid his body, in full combat gear, on the lead jeep as they entered the fallen city so he would be the first to arrive. Ten years later, The Citadel honored his memory with the construction of a bell tower, installing 59 Dutch-made bells weighing from 25 pounds to 4,400 pounds. For many years, cadets heard the bells resonate across campus, but neglect and disinterest topped by Hurricane Hugo's water damage silenced all but 15 of the bells. The Class of 1957, led by Harry van Bergen, whose Dutch ancestors' foundry cast the carillon's bells, took it upon themselves to restore the building so all the bells would peal once again. After a healthy fund-raising drive including more than 100 of his classmates, the project, which set a goal of raising $500,000, is nearing its end. For months, workers have scraped away about 50 pounds of rust, applied new paint to the steel casing on the elevator shaft, replaced the leaky roof, installed several new, smaller bells from France and are now finishing work on the metal strikers and the transmission system. "It was in a total state of disrepair," van Bergen said. "It will be great to get it up and going again. It brings back a tradition that was established some 50 years ago, and it remembers those who have given their lives for our freedom as they are doing today." The bells themselves are original, with the exception of 25 of the smaller ones, which were replaced to give them better tonal quality so they would blend more evenly with the heavier bells. Today, they will finish the project by connecting the entirely new keyboard to the carbon rods that control the bells. "This is a restoration," van Bergen said. "It's more difficult than a new project. You have to design the old tower and the location of the bells on the computer. The project is not very easy. The place is so small, and you have a lot of bells." The new carbon rods, which the workers were meticulously sanding Thursday, will provide a better connection and will not rust like the steel rods that were subject to the salt air and rain that spilled into the tower through arched, screened openings that carry the bells' sound across the Charleston military school's campus. "They are totally weather resistant and maintenance free," van Bergen said. Though the carillon should be completed today, van Bergen said there's more work ahead on the tower's downstairs, where he hopes to use some of the donations to create a memorial room with displays on the walls. "We want it to be a living memorial," he said. The carillon should be ready to play today, but van Bergen says a ceremony will be worked out to officially rededicate the tower. As part of the fund-raising effort, he hopes to create an endowment for cadets who are interested in playing the bells so the art will live in perpetuity. Donations should be sent to The Citadel Carillon Fund, c/o Harry van Bergen, P.O. Box 12928, Charleston, S.C. 29422 Written by Warren Wise of The Post and Courier. He can be reached at wwise@postandcourier.com or 843-745-5850.