I am saddened to relate that the Class of 1960 has already suffered its first casualty, scarcely one week after graduation.  Clark Porter Chandler II was killed in an automobile accident June 16th  near Fort Knox, Kentucky.  Needless to say, his death was a great shock to all of us, especially those who were his classmates. Often, after four years at West Point, one can easily fall prey to the notion that all who graduate with him are a permanent part of his life.  The tragedy that has befallen our class quickly dispels any such illusions.

Since Clark had so little opportunity to make himself known to most of the Alumni, I thought it best to relate to you some of the details of his background.  He was born February 22, 1937 at Fort Riley, Kansas --  an Army Brat. As a matter of fact, he was the third generation of West Pointers in the Chandler family.   He was the grandson of Colonel Clark P. Chandler, Class of 1907, and the son of Colonel William E. Chandler, Class of 1931.  Colonel William Chandler is presently Deputy Assistant Commandant of the US Army Armor School at Fort Knox.

As Often happens with service dependents, Clark attended schools all over the world as his father travelled on duty.  He graduated from high school at Salzburg Army High School in Salzburg, Austria.  That was in 1955, and he spent the next year prior to joining the Class of 1960 studying at Sullivan’s Preparatory School in Washington, D.C.  There he met many; of the men who were to become his best friends at West Point.  In 1956, via a congressional appointment from Senator Norris Cotton of New Hampshire, Clark joined us in ’60 at West Point.  After Beast Barracks, he was assigned to Company M-1, where he began the four year career that made him known to all of us as a man of exceptional note. 

Anyone who knew him at all couldn’t help but be aware of the unusual degree of intensity in everything Clark did.  As all of you no doubt realize, it is often “fashionable” to perform all tasks and activities at West Point with a professed attitude of indifference.  But Clark would have none of this; everything he did was done with a will or not at all.   A good example of this is to be found in his participation on the Gymnastics team.  He began as a manager, and though he worked long and hard to assure “logistical” support for the team, he was nonetheless a bystander.  Not satisfied with this, he began to work out himself, developing the skills required of a gymnast.  Finally, even though he started far behind his contemporaries, he made the team and became an accomplished gymnast. 

Clark’s spontaneous good humor, intense interest in everything and everyone, his ability to express himself easily and logically in all environments and with all ranks and his complete lack of self-consciousness or selfishness made friends for him easily.  His devotion to the service of his choice, his highly professional attitude and grasp of military subjects, his leadership and personal and professional integrity earned him the respect of his classmates and officers at West Point and of the men and officers of the 101st Airborne where he served his month in 1959. 

It was this sort of thing that made the expression “to the best of his ability” a particularly apt one  for Clark Chandler.  His loss is a bitter shock to all of us, and I am certain all join me – especially those of you in the Class of 1960 – in extending to Colonel Chandler and his family our profoundest sympathies.

We have lost a friend and the Army has lost a fine dedicated officer.