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Old Export Beer
My step-father, Bill Bibby, just before WWII, became president of Old Export Beer, brewed in Cumberland, Maryland. He was a wonderful man, sent to Cumberland by the Baltimore bank that was trustee for the family which owned the brewery. Old Export was an ancient facility, one of two breweries in Cumberland. The other was Old German. It doesn't take much time to figure out that the majority of beer drinkers in our coal mining territory were Polish miners.

After 1939, they boycotted Old German and Old Export thrived. Remember, almost all beer was local back then, particularly in areas like ours where all forms of transportation were very limited, rail being a slight exception. My step-father was also a very gifted marketeer. The day he arrived in Cumberland he wrote the slogan: "Mountain Water Makes the Difference." He also conceived and implemented an ad campaign in which brewers from other parts of the country would praise Old Export in radio and newspaper ads (no TV back then.) He even got imitators who sounded like national radio personalities (remember Arthur Godfrey?) to make ads extolling Old Export, pointing out that other brewers, not movie stars, were talking about how good Old Export was.

Eventually, Old German changed its name to Queen City and the modern brewery bought out the ancient brewery and shut it down. That was after we all went to EOBC at Belvoir and every weekend I would drive up to Cumberland (and Deep Creek Lake to see Connie) and bring back 20 cases of Old Export to our apartment in Hunting Towers, which Rich Miller and Dick Auer allowed me to share with them.

Ah well, the good old days: all you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask.
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From: "Joe Franklin" thegeneral@thousandacres.com
To: "Class of 1955" usma55bus@west-point.org
Subject: usma55bus: Thank you
Date sent: Mon, (11 JUN 2007) 15:14:48,0400
Dear Classmates:
Connie and I thank you, with all our hearts, for the generous outpouring of good wishes you have given us in the wake of our Distinguished Graduate recognition. I must say first, and again, that I see myself the "designated representative" for the hundreds, thousands really, who did all the good deeds through all these years, and I just showed up to receive the award. In my view, the term "Distinguished" belongs to our Class and all the mentors, peers, subordinates, and good soldiers who helped us build our career and find all the good fortune that came to us, year by year.
Our thanks would not be complete without a special tribute to our Class President, Carl McNair. Carl's leadership was evident in the ceremony and dinner following that so many of you took time to attend and be part of. Carl was aided and abetted in this endeavor by Charlie Johnson, who always gets the job done. We are fortunate at this moment to be so cared for by such magnificent soldiers, and we will carry indelible memories of our time together for these festivities, thanks to all of you. Thanks also to the great "team" Carl has put together to help with the chores that fall to our Class leadership. Ted Gay and Phil Enslow were the co-chairs of the committee that led the charge to find past acquaintances who were willing to put their reputations on the line by writing a favorable letter for me. I have characterized their efforts as "putting lipstick on a pig," and must tip my hat to their unsurpassable skill at such a Sisyphean task.
And saving the best for last, I thank you all, most humbly and personally, for honoring the person who stuck with me, protected me, and made me be the best that I could be. Connie was so very moved by the standing ovation you all gave to her when she spoke at our dinner.
Harking back to plebe English, I believe we all still live with the words of our first Poet Laureate, Robert Frost: "For I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep." With every mile I travel, I thank whatever Gods may be for giving me the privilege of being a member of the Class of 1955.
Your friend and classmate,
Joe Franklin
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JOSEPH P. FRANKLIN
Throughout his life of service as a distinguished Army officer, scholar, diplomat, business leader, and Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the West Point Association of Graduates, Joseph P. Franklin has continuously and conspicuously dedicated himself to the principles of Duty, Honor, Country.
After graduating from West Point in June 1955, General Franklin was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers and completed the Engineer Officer Basic Course, Airborne School, and Ranger School. He then reported to the 78th Combat Engineer Battalion in Germany, where he served as a platoon leader and a company commander until 1959. In 1959, he was selected to attend MIT, where he earned Master's Degrees in both Civil and Nuclear Engineering.
Following graduate school, General Franklin was assigned to the Army's Nuclear Power Field Office as part of the Army Nuclear Power Program. In this assignment, his initial role was project manager for the design of the world's first floating nuclear power plant. His second task was to lead a team of specialists to dismantle a portable nuclear power plant located on the Greenland icecap, and to salvage and return (delete "of") its highly radioactive components to the United States. General Franklin accomplished both of these unique and incredibly complex missions to perfection.
Following completion of the Engineer Officer's Advanced Course, General Franklin was assigned as an instructor in the Department of Military Art and Engineering at the Military Academy. He took charge of the Nuclear Engineering course, and wrote a new full year curriculum in nuclear engineering for First Class Cadets. His accomplishment with this course remained essentially unchanged for 40 years, until 2005, when it was expanded to become a Major Course of Study.
After his assignment at West Point, General Franklin completed a year of study at the School of Naval Command and Staff at the Naval War College. In 1969, he was selected to command the 299th Combat Engineer Battalion, conducting combat operations in Vietnam and Cambodia. For his superb leadership of this battalion in combat, he was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star Medal.
General Franklin's follow-on assignment from Vietnam was to the Office of Plans and Policy, the J-5 of the Joint Staff. There he used his nuclear training and field experience to write the study that was the basis for recasting the United States' nuclear weapons arsenal under the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT). While in that assignment, General Franklin was selected for attendance at the Army War College in 1972. Shortly before his graduation, he was reassigned to be the Army Staff Group Executive for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. For his outstanding performance in this important position, he was recognized with a second Legion of Merit and the Joint Service Commendation Medal.
In 1979, Joe Franklin became one of the first members of the Class of 1955 to be promoted to Brigadier General, and soon afterwards was selected to be the Commandant of Cadets at West Point. It was a turbulent period in the Military Academy's history. A serious cheating scandal had brought intense scrutiny to the institution, and West Point was also preparing to graduate its first class with female cadets. With recommendations from a Blue-Ribbon panel, General Franklin worked with the Cadet Chairman of the Honor Committee to develop the initiatives that shaped new policies strengthening the Honor Code and Honor System. Another of his highly successful innovations was persuading the Army's personnel center to assign one senior non-commissioned officer as the "Tac NCO" for each cadet battalion.
Following a tour of duty as Assistant Division Commander of the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii in 1982-83, General Franklin's special talents earned him another call from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to take an important assignment as Chief of the Joint US Military Assistance and Advisory Group in Spain.
Spain was poised to become a member of the European Economic Community when he arrived. This new democracy had just entered NATO, and many critical diplomatic and military issues had to be addressed and resolved. Using his great interpersonal skills, General Franklin was instrumental in ensuring that Spain would become an important partner for peace. When his tour of duty ended, he was awarded Spain's highest decoration for military service and the US Army Distinguished Service Medal.
Following his retirement from active duty in 1987, Joe Franklin entered the world of business in the private sector. Initially remaining in Spain, he began his service in the corporate world by forming a Spanish corporation, Franklin Sociedad Anonima, which consulted for US corporations seeking business in Spain, as well as for Spanish companies seeking business in the United States. In 1992, he was recruited (delete "in 1992") to lead Frequency Electronics, Inc., located in New York. Serving as Chairman and CEO, he led FEI through a complex series of legal and administrative transactions that positioned the company to become a highly profitable and valuable contributor to the US defense, space, and telecommunications industries. He stepped down as CEO in 1999, but remains Chairman of the Board.
Building from the broad array of personal and professional skills he had honed through both his military service and his private business career, Joe Franklin made a conscious decision: he would turn his attention, and his impressive talents, to giving back to West Point. He began his contributions to the Association of Graduates in 1993 with service on the Alumni Support Committee. He was subsequently elevated to the Board of Trustees, appointed Chairman of the Alumni Support Committee, and was finally elected Vice Chairman of the AOG, where he served for four years. In this capacity, he was a driving force behind the Bicentennial Campaign for the Military Academy, helping structure, guide and lead the AOG development team that made the Bicentennial Campaign an unprecedented success: exceeding its $150 million goal by $75 million. He was also instrumental in orchestrating the many changes necessary to bring governance of the AOG into the 21st century and into compliance with the new statutes associated with not-for-profit organizations.
Thoughtful, forthright and modest, Joe Franklin is the epitome of a professional. He has repeatedly proven his dedication to the ideals of West Point in the 52 years since his graduation. As a Soldier, businessman, and leader of the Association of Graduates, he has made all graduates proud to call him a West Pointer. In short, Joe has been, is, and will continue to be a leader's leader.
Accordingly, the Association of Graduates takes great pride in presenting the 2007 Distinguished Graduate Award to Joseph P. Franklin.
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Chairman, Distinguished Graduate Award Committee
Association of Graduates, USMA
West Point, NY 10996
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The Class of 1955 is honored to nominate our classmate, Major General Joseph Powel Franklin, US Army (Retired) for the Distinguished Graduate award. Throughout his military and civilian business careers, Joe Franklin has shown the qualities of selfless service and dedication to his country and to West Point. He has exemplified our motto Duty, Honor, Country.
Joe's academic skills allowed him to select the Corps of Engineers as his branch of choice at graduation. After branch schooling, which included Parachute and Ranger qualification, he served with Combat Engineer units in Europe. In 1959 he was selected to attend MIT where he earned Masters Degrees in both Civil and Nuclear Engineering.
After MIT, he reported for duty with the Nuclear Power Field Office of the Army's Nuclear Power Program. In this assignment, he led efforts in two unique and pioneering projects: the first was the design of the world's first floating nuclear power plant that could be used for expeditionary or emergency service anywhere in the world; the second was the removal of a "portable" nuclear power plant located on the Greenland icecap and the safe return of its components, many highly radioactive, to the US. He brought both of these unique tasks to a successful conclusion.
He next completed the Engineer Officers' Advanced Course and was selected to be an instructor in the Department of Military Art and Engineering at West Point. Joe took over the Nuclear Engineering Course. He wrote the full year curriculum for First Class Cadets who took this course in lieu of the regular Engineering course. For 40 years this course has remained essentially unchanged. In 2005 the course he designed was elevated to and offered as a Major Course of Study.
After completing a year at the School of Naval Command and Staff at the Naval War College in 1969, Joe was assigned as Commander of the 299th Combat Engineer Battalion in the Republic of Vietnam. There he led his Battalion in operations in the Central Highlands and in the reduction of enemy sanctuaries in Cambodia. For his combat success, he was awarded the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, and two Air Medals.
Franklin's follow on assignment from Vietnam was to the Office of Plans and Policy, the J-5 of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. There he used his nuclear training and field experience to write the study that was the basis for recasting our nuclear arsenal under the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT). While in that assignment, Joe was selected for the Army War College in 1972. Shortly before graduation he was pulled out of the War College and reassigned to the JCS as the Army Staff Group Executive to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. For his outstanding performance in this important position he was recognized with a second Legion of Merit and the Joint Service Commendation Medal.
In 1976, as we moved to an All-Volunteer Army, Joe was selected to command the 4th Basic Combat Training (BCT) Brigade at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He successfully merged two training brigades together under his command, greatly improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the training programs while producing the Army's first young volunteer soldiers. Joe's command tour ended in 1977 when he was again recalled to the JCS to be the first Army officer to serve as the Special Assistant to the Director of the Joint Staff. His primary responsibility was to oversee the Agenda for the meetings of the Joint Chiefs in their private conference room, "the tank." While assigned there, in 1979 Franklin became one of the first members of the Class of 1955 to be promoted to Brigadier General.
Soon afterwards, the USMA Superintendent General Andrew Goodpaster selected him to be the Commandant of Cadets. This was in the wake of a serious "cheating scandal;" these were difficult times for West Point. With recommendations from a Blue-Ribbon Panel, Franklin worked with the Cadet Chairman of the Honor Committee to develop the initiatives that shaped new policies strengthening the Honor Code and the Honor System. It was here also that he and his wife Connie formed a team that provided an inspiring climate for the first young women to enter and graduate from the Military Academy. He traveled the country and overseas to tell the complete story of today's Academy and its contributions, a true ambassador for West Point.
Also during his tour as Commandant, Franklin took the initiative to fill a void in the education of West Point's new lieutenants: interface with the Non-Commissioned Officer Corps, the backbone and muscle of the Army. Franklin persuaded the Army's personnel center to assign one senior non-commissioned officer as the "Tac NCO" for each Cadet Battalion. This pioneering concept was so well received by the Cadets, the Academy, and the Army; it was expanded and made a permanent part of the USCC organization. Today a "Tac NCO" is assigned to each of the 44 Cadet Companies.
Joe departed West Point to become the Assistant Division Commander of the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii in 1982-83. There he served with distinction that soon won him a special call from the Chief of Staff to take an important assignment as Chief of the Joint US Military Assistance and Advisory Group in Madrid, Spain.
Spain had just qualified as a member of the European Economic Community when Franklin arrived. This new democracy was poised to enter NATO, and many diplomatic and military issues had to be resolved. Sensitive negotiations that he participated in helped Spain to enter NATO and to reach a new Base Rights Agreement for US Forces in Spain. The Spanish Armed Forces were also preparing to modernize as a prerequisite to joining the Alliance. The sale to Spain of some of America's most powerful armaments were among his most important responsibilities. Using his great interpersonal skills, Franklin was instrumental in ensuring Spain's becoming an important partner for peace. When his tour of duty ended, he was awarded Spain's highest decoration for military service and the Army's Distinguished Service Medal.
After his retirement from the Army in 1987, he remained in Spain and began his service in the corporate world, forming FSA, Franklin Sociedad Anonima. Together with his wife Connie, FSA consulted for US Corporations involved with the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the World's Fair in Seville. Joe's work at FSA also brought Spanish Companies to the United States where, for the first time, they were allowed to make direct investments in American industry. Conversely, he also helped a number of US Companies make initial investments in Spain, increasing the economic well-being of both countries.
Because of his successes at FSA, Franklin was recruited in 1992 by the Vice Chairman of Bear Stearns, a New York financial firm, to lead Frequency Electronics, Inc., an American Stock Exchange company that had been accused of overcharging and was indicted and suspended from government contracting. He was appointed Chairman and CEO of the company. Calling on his outstanding leadership and rock solid integrity, he finally was able to reach an agreement with the Justice Department that preserved the Company's assets and gave it a platform to rebuild the business it had lost. Since then the company has prospered and has been a valuable contributor to the US defense, space, and telecommunications industries. Franklin stepped down as CEO in 1999 but remains Chairman of the Board.
Throughout his years of military service and afterwards, Joe has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Class of 1955. He was elected the second Class President in 1972. In that role, he led the initiative to recast the class Constitution, providing for election of new Class Officers every five years. Ever since voluntarily stepping down in 1980 in favor of the next elected Class President, Joe has remained active in supporting the Class. As a Class Officer, Committee Member, Committee Chair, a leading contributor to many fund raising efforts, a proponent for and supporter of all Class activities, and as one who can be called upon whenever the need arises, Joe has always come through.
Joe has also been an active supporter of the Association of Graduates. After he returned to the US in 1993 he joined the Alumni Support Committee, was later selected as a Trustee, became the Chair of the Alumni Support Committee and finally was elected Vice Chairman of the AOG. One of his major contributions to the AOG and in turn to West Point, and another pioneering "first," was Joe's bringing the idea of "Friends of West Point" from concept to reality. These "Friends" are non-West Point graduates who support the Military Academy, its mission, and its values but never before had official recognition as a group. Under Franklin's guidance and leadership, this support group was added to the AOG, helping to strengthen the Academy and formally recognize the significant contributions made by "Friends of West Point" from around the country and the world.
Returning to the home from which they both came, Joe and Connie Franklin are developing a large tract of land on Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. They have played a prominent role in the resurgent prosperity of that region of Appalachia, once one of the poorest parts of America. By giving back to the site of their early upbringing through their contributions to the economy and to many charitable programs of that region, the Franklin's have established themselves as pillars of their community.
Even as he is undertaking this challenging work, he is putting the finishing touches on a book, Building Leaders the West Point Way, which will be published in the Spring of 2007, a fitting coda to the outstanding career of this distinguished graduate. I can think of no finer exemplar of Duty, Honor, Country than Joseph Powel Franklin.
Carl H. McNair, Jr.
Major General, US Army (Retired)
President, Class of 1955
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Joe Franklin's Leadership Book (2007)
Major General Joseph P. Franklin (ret.) believes almost everything that he is as an adult can be traced back to his days at West Point, where he was not only a cadet but an instructor, football coach, and eventually Commandant of Cadets. U.S. Military Academy graduates are found at the highest levels in every walk of life: military, education, business, medicine, law, and government. "But," says Franklin, "you don't have to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy to embrace its ideals or to benefit from the wisdom that is taught there. Competent, even inspiring, leadership is within the grasp of nearly everyone." The principles of leadership-including Duty, Honor, Faith, Courage, Perseverance, Confidence, Approachability, Adaptability, Compassion, and Vision-can be internalized and polished to one's own level of expertise and ambition.
"I have known Joe Franklin, since the late 1970s, when I coached at West Point and he was the Commandant of Cadets. General Joe is well-known by the many people whose lives he has touched as a truly thoughtful, approachable, and compassionate human being. He has written a very readable book using examples drawn from his personal experience to illustrate key principles of leadership, a subject I have studied and practiced for most of my adult life. His simple, honest, easy to understand text is a welcome addition to the references available to leaders, young and old alike. This book will definitely help you become a better leader. The General is one of the best ever!", Mike "Coach K" Kryzewski, Duke University Basketball Coach.
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Building Leaders the West Point Way: Ten principles from the Nation's most powerful leadership lab. By MG Joseph Franklin '55,
Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2007. Hard cover, 224 pages. Reviewed by COL Thomas A. Kolditz, Head, Department of Behavioral Science & Leadership.
Any aspiring leader in the public, social, or private sector would find it beneficial to sit for an hour or so, perhaps over lunch, and pick the brain of a former Commandant of Cadets. These great officers spend years honing their leadership in the Army and then come to West Point to set the leadership and ethical culture in the Corps. MG Franklin's book is a series of brief essays on ten of the leadership principles that characterize "the West Point way." Reading this book is like having the perfect noontime conversation with a Commandant.
The foreword by GEN Norman Schwarzkopf makes clear that the book has a broad audience. he writes that "(T)aken together, these ten principles form the building blocks for a successful career in leadership in every walk of life, be it in the military, profit or non-profit corporations, teaching, or coaching." Chapters on duty, honor, faith, courage, perseverance, confidence, approachability, adaptability, compassion, and vision are gems of common sense reasoning about how to be a leader. There are many fine qualities inherent to this book, but the best quality is its insistence that leadership is less a collection of techniques than it is a way of living one's life.
As I read through the book, I was on the lookout for indications that this work by a former Commandant somehow would be dated. I stopped short at a sentence in the chapter on confidence that spoke of "the everyday life of soldiers, training for combat that may never occur," because in the current "long war," combat is now viewed as virtually inevitable by soldiers and cadets alike. Yet the context for this sentence was in a discussion of the importance of failure in development-one of the more progressive ideas in leader development today. As I finished the book, I felt that it was not only a good read, but included so many fundamental principles that it is genuinely timeless.
General Franklin makes clear that, in his view, "leadership is more caught than taught," a statement I find somewhat less ironic in a speech, rather than a book. Yet this book will serve as an enjoyable primer that will teach many aspiring leaders how to catch the essence of leadership as it will always exist, here at West Point.
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How I got my appointment to West Point
I was recruited (if you could call it that way back then) to go to Princeton by their football coach, Charlie Caldwell, most likely because my school played single wing, which was a hallmark of Princeton's football program. My visit to the Princeton campus was pretty wild, and when I got back to the prep school where I had boarded for six years, a teacher who had been an Army officer in WWII asked me about it. I told him what I had seen and how I felt about it, and he said, "You should go to West Point."
I wrote to my congressman (J.Glenn Beall, sixth district, MD) and he had me take the civil service exam in Dec 1950 in my home town of Cumberland, MD. He subsequently informed me that I had won the principal appointment, so I committed to go to West Point. The Korean War was on and that along with my youthful impressions from WWII were a big influence in that decision. Even so, I did not realize that I would be going into the Army when I graduated from the Academy.
On the first day of Beast Barracks, in my "plebeskins with "FRANKLIN" stenciled on the back of my big white belt, a disembodied voice from behind me said: "New Cadet Franklin, what branch are you going into?" I had no idea what that was all about, so LTC Bill McCaffrey (Barry's father) walked around to face me and informed me that I would be going into the Army when I graduated. This feature of West Point had somehow escaped me until that moment.
Many years later, when I was XO to Admiral Tom Moorer, CJCS, we visited USAREUR and I had dinner with then LTG McCafffrey. I told him about our first encounter in Beast Barracks 1951, and he said he would take full credit for any success I achieved in my Army career. He was the first Army officer I ever spoke to directly and a wonderful man, as were so many others whose influence was a principal reason I served and enjoyed my full Army career.
Joe Franklin
16 AUG 2010
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TAPS Check List
1. Cumberland, MD. 28 August 1933
2. Dr. Joseph P. Franklin, Jean Arendes Franklin. Note: father died 1945, mother remarried to G. William Bibby, step-father.
3. One twin sister: Jean Arendes Wittich
4. Graduated 1951 from McDonogh School, Baltimore, MD. Valedectorian, lettered in football, basketball, and baseball, awarded trophy for best all-around student, honorable mention All-Maryland in football.
5. McDonogh was originally a school for orphans. My stepfather was from Baltimore and knew of the school, so sent me there to take the entrance exams in 1945, the day I graduated from grade school. We wore uniforms because some of the boys had little else for clothes. We lived in barracks and worked on the farm before school every day. Many of the teachers were just back from WWII, and one day one of them said to me; "You should go to West Point." I took the Civil Service exam at the Cumberland Post Office in November 1950 and then the physical at Walter Reed, wound up with the principal appointment from my local congressman.
6. N/A
7. Day laborer in summers 1948-51 for grandfather's construction company in Cumberland, MD. Drove speedboats for hire on weekends at Deep Creek Lake in Western MD.
8. No military prep school or other college.
9. N/A
10. No prior military service
11. Principal Appointment to USMA by Congressman J. Glenn Beall, 6th District, MD.
12. Roomed with Rich Miller and Fred Knieriem all four years.
13. Friends: room-mates and all K-1 comrades, and fellow members of the football and golf teams; captain of the golf team Dick Auer in particular, and many others from all companies of the Corps.
14. Wife Constance Marie Smith, also a twin born three months to the day after my twin sister and me in the same hospital in Cumberland, MD. Went to each others' birthday parties from age two on, kindergarten and first grade together. Saw each other every summer at Deep Creek Lake growing up, never dated until summer 1954 when on my last night before going back to football camp neither of our dates showed up so we decided to go out with each other.
15. Four sons: William: 6 April 1958 (born in Heidelberg, Gemany), Perry: 18 September 1959, Philip (PJ), 5 May 1962, Dean, 25 February 1964.
16. Author for Taps: wife or son Bill, assisted by Rich Miller and Dick Auer
17. Taps authors are in touch with all possible gap-fillers.
18. Dave Maurer as 2lts in Germany; not assigned with other classmates for 32 years!
19. All military assignments are listed in Register
20. Second career info: see bios submitted separately, plus extensive information detailed in my book: "Building Leaders the West Point Way." NB: that book was published in 2007, and includes a great deal of information from my military career as well.
Joe Franklin
24 April 2011
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