West Point Societies WP-ORG Services WP-ORG Home West Point Parents USMA Class Year Groups Greater West Point Family and Friends About WP-ORG
Search Tips 

15288 Strain, Milton Albert
November 17, 1925 - October 02, 1981

usma1946

 

 MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly Jun '85

Milton Albert Strain No.15288 Class of 1946 Died 2 October 1981 at Woolocombe, Devon, England, aged 55 years. Interment: Woolocombe, Devon, England

Milton Albert Strain was born 17 November 1925 in Manila, Philippine Islands, where his father was stationed with the 31st Infantry. His siblings used to tease him when he was young that he could never become president because of being horn in the Philippines. Even as a youngster, Mickey/Mike had an easy, quiet confidence in his abilities, and this teasing never perturbed him. A classrnate later explained Mike's philosophy: "It was not that he fought the system, even the military aspects of West Point..., rather, it was that Mike always had another perspective and an independent view about what was going on."

He spent a normal Army brat life traveling with his family around the United States, finally ending up at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he graduated from Columbus High School. After one year at Auburn University in Alabama, he entered the Military Academy in July 1943, wore stars three years, and was on the Honor Committee his last two years. A classmate remembers "the humanity, fairness, and respect for the Academy's traditions that he brought to his service" in that position. His classmates are unanimous in their praise of his intellect.
"He was the most academically brilliant person that I have ever known."
"His intellect was even more formidable than his stars would indicate. Ten minutes study per night assured a 'max' and then he would turn to something more challenging from astronomy to Zen.
" When the lights in the cadet barracks were changed from bulbs to fluorescence, Mike made the discovery, "I can turn the lights on and jump into bed before they come on. That makes me faster than light." And all his classmates who knew him suspected he practically was, mentally.
"His academic coaching of his classmates was legendary."
"He was a friend of all his classmates, especially the goats whom he coached an immeasurable number of hours. He strived to see that none of his company classmates who requested his assistance ever failed academics.
"If the other roommate and I faced a lesson unprepared, he would make us proficient with a five-minute review of what the questions had to be and the shortest route to the correct answers."
"While he was conscious of his ability, he never let it interfere with any associations. He never was the least bit pretentious or ostentatious in personality."

In addition to the debate club and the ski club, Mike was also a member of the plebe boxing squad. This latter experience left him a slightly enlarged and misaligned nose which was a great source of satisfaction to him because he thought it made him look old enough to be a lieutenant.

He graduated second in his class of 875 and chose Engineers. After courses at the Infantry School and the Engineer School, he spent a year and a half on Guam. A classmate remembers sharing Bachelor Officers quarters there with Mike and two other lieutenants: "One thing that drove the rest of us crazy was to watch Mike read. He would lie on his bunk and turn the pages of the book he was reading so quickly that you would swear he couldn't possibly be reading it. Every once in a while one of us would grab the book away from him, turn back 20 pages or so, and question him about what it said. Invariably, he would repeat exactly what the book said.

Subsequently, Mike was selected as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He used to recall, with some relish, his comment to the selection committee during his interview. The number one and three graduates in his class had previously been selected Rhodes Scholars, and Mike's advice to the committee was, "Gentlemen, you've had an over and a short. Now is your chance to be on target," and so they were.

He studied at Brasenose College at Oxford during the period 1949-1952, earning his Master's degree with honors, in politics, philosophy, and economics. During his studies he met and married Cynthia Bowers, an English girl. A Brasenose classmate remembers: "He was a stalwart on the lacrosse field, and he worked conscientiously at his studies, but, in a way, it seemed his greatest efforts were expended in pursuing Cynthia. She was a classic, black-haired, English beauty who enthralled everyone, but Mike most of all." Mike forever considered his marriage to Cynthia his greatest accomplishment,

After completion of his course, he and Cynthia returned to the United States where Mike was assigned to an engineer construction battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, 1952-1953. He then attended the Advanced Course at the Engineer School, graduating in 1954. After an unaccompanied tour in Korea, he resigned his commission in 1958 to take a position with Procter & Gamble in England.

He became a brand manager in record time, and a group product manager in less than five years, being assigned both in England and Germany. In these positions, he developed selling strategies which boosted the Procter & Gamble share of the market by 35% for one product and by 5O% for another. He was promoted to marketing services manager for all of Scandinavia. Here his marketing strategies produced a 100% increase in sales in Finland and a 60% increase in Sweden. How much his Procter & Gamble responsibilities challenged him we will never know, but he certainly contributed to the sale of a lot of soap.

When he retired in 1972, he and Cynthia built a home in Devon, England. However, he did not fully retire but kept partially busy as a free-lance writer. In 1981, he and Cynthia attended the 35th Reunion of his Class at West Point. During this visit he expressed regret that he had never become involved in the NASA program because he had been interested in outer space and science fiction since childhood. And a roommate remembers Mike as a plebe doing calculations for landing a spacecraft on the moon. Contacts he made at this reunion got him interested in returning to the States to live, and he was actively investigating several prospects for jobs in the United States when he died of a sudden heart attack. In addition to Cynthia, who still lives in Devon; he is survived by a daughter, Cyndy, who is married to an officer in the British Royal Air Force; one grandson; two sisters and two brothers.

His brother.

Personal Eulogy

deceased

 Email Feedback FEEDBACK 

ADMIN

Return Home