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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly Mar '92
Arthur William Pence, Jr. No.15848 Class
of 1946 Died 13 May 1974 in Washington, DC, aged 49
years. Interment: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia |
Art Pence was born and died at Walter Reed. Jack Grady opines
that Art was destined to attend USMA. Born to a family of West
Pointers--his father, Major General A.W. Pence, was USMA 1918-Art
had many uncles and cousins at USMA and USNA. In John Simpson's
words, "Art had a handsome family pride, enormous personal
discipline and he accepted and adapted to cadet life." Jack
Grady begins, "Art was the first 'new cadet' that I met
upon entering West Point. He knew what was to take place
and had a minimum of problems with the plebe system. His father,
a brigadier general In North Africa, was his role model."
Charlie McCarty adds, "We were lined up in the order
of height on the stoops of New North Area so that the upperclassmen
could mark us for either E or F Company. Art and I, at a height
of 5'10", were a long way from the head of the line. Bill
Glynn moved us to a higher place than our height justified. As
a result we were the two shortest men assigned to F-2, but Art
received the dubious honor of being known as F-2's 'runt.'
Grady continues: "Having spent a year at Sully's, Art
flirted with stars for the first month of academics and then
settled down in the middle of the road. He had no
trouble with the Tactical Department and never walked an hour
on the area. His personal popularity and high military efficiency
made him a yearling corporal and a firstie lieutenant
"Art won a coveted 'A' as a member of Billy Cavanaugh's
boxing squad. He relished those 'bloody Tuesdays' by which
Billy selected those to represent Army in Saturday's intercollegiate
match."
Grover Asmus and Art were friends as cadets: "Art and
I were frequently together in the Corps Squad Room getting our
aches and pains tended to. The one thing that always impressed
me about Art was that he seemed so much more mature than the
rest of us. In a way he was a father figure. A natural leader,
he was quiet and studied a situation quickly but completely before
taking any action."
McCarty recalls, "In our first year, Art went to Connecticut
to box against the Coast Guard Academy. He returned from that
trip in high spirits, not because of what happened in the ring,
but because he had met Jane Cope. Copie was the perfect counterpart
for him. Art's enthusiasm (higher than most to begin with) soared
to a new high." Copie and Art were married in April
1947 near the Copes' family home in New Jersey. Simpson adds,
"He shunned finesse for outright grit and determination.
This attitude was his approach to life-push forward, get knocked
down once in a while, brush yourself off and keep going."
The Pences served with the 11th Airborne in Japan, followed
by a tour at Campbell and then an unaccompanied tour to
Korea. Excerpts from the book, Second to None, portray Art's
actions as company commander of A Company which resulted in his
receiving the Silver Star. During the attack, A Company made
the main effort and was the key to the attack's success."
"Hill 266, or Old Baldy, in the left part of the zone,
was an outpost recently captured by the 45th and seemed
to be the enemy's principal target ...A platoon from F Company
of the 23rd made a successful relief there on the night of 16
July, despite a goodly number of incoming rounds. ... On 17 July
the shelling on Old Baldy steadily increased. By 2200 it reached
a rate higher than anything the communists had used in many months...E
Company [attacked] shortly after midnight...[and] pushed back
the Chinese in the early morning hours. [A second enemy counterattack]
was able to wrest control from the hard-hit E and F Companies...A
non-illuminated night attack without preparatory fire was decided
upon to achieve the greatest possible surprise. A and C Companies
[made] a two pronged attack on 2200 hours on 31 July. Contact
was made almost immediately, but the companies advanced up the
slopes. . . As dawn came on the first day of August, the companies
had reached the crest and joined forces…A counterattack
hit the hill shortly thereafter but was driven off, and the outpost
was once again declared secure.
Art returned from Korea to rotation between schools
and troop duty. These included a master's in international affairs
at the University of Pittsburgh and two Vietnam tours sandwiching
the Army War College.
In 1960 the Pences were in Naples, Italy. Art and Copie
had four children by then: Christine, Constance, Catherine and
Arthur W. III. Copie described Art as stubborn, determined, organized,
fearless, tenacious. Therein we can read all the accuracy and
love of a wife and mother.
In 1971 when Art and McCarty saw each other again in
the Pentagon, "Art was as optimistic and enthusiastic as
ever-even though he was suffering from the cancer which would
cut short his military career."
Grady recognized that, "early in our association,
Art had a unique ability to accept adversity and treat it in
a humorous manner. When he washed out of the Air Corps at Brady
Field in May 1945, he accepted it and realigned his ambition
toward the Infantry. In 1971 he reversed the decision of the
Army Air Corps and won his wings as a rotary pilot. In March
1973 he sent me a lengthy letter joking about his medical treatment
at Walter Reed."
[In Art's own words] "Don't know what Copie told
you about the demise of the Pence military career, but suffice
to say that I started having trouble with my plumbing in Vietnam
in October of 1972. I attributed this state of affairs to the
wholesome Vietnamese diet and lousy whiskey of the General's
Mess in IV Corps ... The surgeons sliced me open on 26 April.
They felt that they had removed most of the cancer, but also
advised me that it was already in the liver. I am now on about
four different medicines, chemotherapy, one or more of which
hopefully will assault the cancer.
"At any rate, who wants an old, dilapidated, cancerous,
and cantankerous colonel in an Army overstuffed with old colonels,
so they retired me with 100% disability. I'm still flying, although
I'm in a hassle with the FAA over my medical status, assuring
those bumbleheads that I will die slowly and not all of a sudden.
As you see, I am not ready to kick the bucket yet, and I find
that planning for the future is the best way to procrastinate.
Well, kiddies, guess that I had better get back to work and clean
up some of this paper that keeps piling up on my desk."
Four months later Grady saw him for the last time. "It
was clear that he was declining, but he was still optimistic.
Eight months later he had lost his final battle."
McCarty suggests this -epitaph, "A lesser man would
occasionally be depressed by the suffering and disappointment
that accompanied fatal disease but not Art. He was a fighter
and an optimist to the very end of his shortened but full career
and life. Art Pence died in 1974. His memory is an inspiration
to those who knew, loved and respected him."
Copie has gone now, too, struck by malignancy in July
1989. We trust the two of them have been brought together, and
that their children will always remember them.
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