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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly Nov '96
Malcolm Means Macwilliams
No.15674 Class of 1946
Died 12 March 1994 at Sun City West, Arizona, aged 70 years.
Interment: West Point Cemetery, West Point, New York.
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Mac was born 2 March 1924 in Colon, Panama Canal
Zone. His father was an Army Air Corps Chaplain (Presbyterian).
As with all "Army Brats", he spent his youth at various
posts with his father. He attended and graduated from Sidney
Lanier High School, Montgomery, Alabama in 1941. It was while
there that Mac had the opportunity to learn the finer points
of golf from the famed teaching professional, Curdy Bird. From
high school, he attended the University of South Carolina for
a year before going to Millard's Prep School, Washington, D.C.
in September 1942. Mac joined the Class of 1946 at West Point
on 1 July 1943.
Company mate Ben Bellis remembered Mac as a cadet:
"I never knew anyone who didn't like him and consider him
a friend. A natural athlete, his favorite sport was golf and
he was good at it with an eight or better handicap. He was our
C-1 Cadet Company commander and was elected president of our
class first class year." Classmate Spider Reed remembered:
"Even in Beast Barracks, one who floated to the top as one
of the outstanding men in our class was Mac MacWilliams. I remember
his wonderful smile was like the sun coming out of clouds but
even more important was his sincere interest in everyone. His
leadership abilities were instantly apparent to all of us."
Mac opted for Air Cadet training in 1945 and graduated with the
wings of a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps.
After attending Twin Engine School at Enid Army
Air Field, Oklahoma, he moved to Carswell Army Air Field, Fort
Worth Texas for B-29 transition training. Ben Bellis was there
also and recalled: "Around Christmas 1946, we received classified
orders for six months TDY to Sandia Base in Albuquerque, New
Mexico. No one would tell us what we would be doing, it was just
too sensitive. Being bachelors, Mac and I roomed together. We
were being trained as the first Army Air Corps Weaponeers to
operationally handle and monitor the Atomic Bomb in flight. It
was there that Mac met Nancy who was a friend of classmate Walt
Bauchman. Shortly after we returned to Carswell, Mac and I both
received PCS orders back to Sandia to become part of the initial
cadre to set up the Tech Training Group to train Weaponeers and
Bomb Commanders. We had two and a half great years there."
Mac married Nancy Lee Cowan on 18 June 1949 in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
From Sandia, the MacWilliams moved to North Carolina
where Mac received his Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering
at North Carolina State University in 1953. It was then on to
Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio where Mac served in the Nuclear Propulsion
Program. In 1957, Mac and Nancy traveled to Arco, Idaho where
Mac served in the Aircraft Reactor Engine Test Division, AEC
Reactor Test Station. From 1961 to 1965, Mac was Special Assistant
to the General Manager, AEC, Germantown, Maryland. After graduating
from the Air War College in 1966, Mac became Operations Officer
and then Commander, 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron in the Philippines.
Back to the States, he served as Assistant to the Commander for
System Support, AF Rocket Propulsion Lab, Edwards AFB, California.
From 1969 to 1974, Mac was Chief, Nuclear Power Division, Kirtland
AFB, New Mexico. He retired as a Colonel in 1974.
Mac and Nancy retired to Fountain Hills, Arizona
but spent four months of each year in Island Park, Idaho. Mac
spent his retirement doing the things he always wanted to have
time to do on active duty: golf, fly fishing, bridge, gardening
and building things. Mac also did a lot of volunteer work. He
died from liver cancer on 12 March 1994. He is survived by his
wife, Nancy; a daughter, Mary Lee; two grandchildren; sisters,
Jane and Betty, and brothers, Donald (USMA '44) and James.
Mac touched many people in many ways. Fishing partner
and neighbor from Idaho, Bud Molle, recalled: "No one whom
I've met ever thought of him as anything but a true gentleman.
It has been a great honor to have had him in my life, sharing
moments that I will appreciate until my time comes. I say honestly,
I'm a richer man to have known him."
Idaho neighbor, Donald Hankins recalled: "My
first association with Mac was when he and Nancy started building
their cabin next to ours. He was always wanting to help me as
well as all the other people in our area. He was so knowledgeable
about so many things. He cared about the environment. I will
remember Mac as one of the most sincere and true friends I have
ever known and probably will ever have. It's too bad there are
not more people like him."
Ben Bellis remembered: "Rosemary and I miss
Mac. There is no question but that the world is a better place
to live because Malcolm Means MacWilliams lived his life in the
way he did."
Longtime Arizona friend and neighbor, Russ McCollom,
delivered the eulogy at Mac's funeral service. Excerpts from
his remarks say much about Mac: "We are here to pay tribute
to a truly great man who touched our lives in many positive ways.
Mac was a person who gave abundantly and received his reward
in giving. . . . He was a patriot who served his country well.
. . . He was a man who appreciated a good martini, a good joke,
and a good party. . . . He was world class. He was a winner and
our hero. We shall all miss him terribly, but we are all richer
for having known him."
His sister Jane remembered: "He was compassionate,
generous and
brought joy into the lives of all of us. We thank God for his
life and cherish many loving memories."
His daughter succinctly summed up Mac, the father,
husband, classmate, friend: " He was simply the greatest!"
The Class of 1946 is proud to add these words that
have so much meaning to the sentiments of Mac's family and friends:
"Well done, Mac; Be Thou At Peace!"
'46 Memorial Article Project and his wife, Nancy
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