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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly Dec '80
Bert Alison David No.15849 Class of 1946 Died 26 January
1979 In Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., aged
54 years. Interment: Lehighton, Pennsylvania |
With the Fourth of July 1924 as his birth date,
Bert Alison David entered the world destined to love his country.
A native of Lehighton, Pennsylvania, he already had set his goal
at the age of twelve years to graduate from West Point. On his
first entrance examination he failed mathematics. He immediately
sought math tutoring from his high school principal and enrolled
at Pennsylvania State University for one year. His determination
earned him an appointment in l943 from the late Francis E. Walter.
Immediately after his commissioning he returned to his hometown
where he married his high school classmate, Shirley F. Fagan,
in a military wedding. She had the privilege of sharing his entire
Army career.
General David considered his command assignments
the highlights of his career because he found his deepest satisfaction
and fulfillment in working with the troops. He was a platoon
leader and company commander with the 24th Infantry Regiment,
25th Infantry Division, on occupation duty at Camp Gifu, Japan,
from 1947 until 1949. During the Korean Conflict he joined the
45th Division, where he served in staff positions with the 179th
Infantry. As a lieutenant colonel, he was deputy commanding officer
of the 7th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, in Aschaffenburg,
Germany. In 1967 he assumed command of the 2d Brigade, 9th Infantry
Division, in Vet Nam. This brigade was the Army component of
the Mobile Riverine Force, operating in the Mekong Delta.
General David served as Assistant Division Commander
of the 3d Infantry Division in Germany from 1969 until 1970.
He then became Senior Advisor to the First Republic of Korea
Army. Upon activation of the United States Military Assistance
Group, Korea in 1971, he became Chief of the Army Section.
From May 1972 until February 1974 he commanded
the Unites States Army Training Center at Fort Dix, New Jersey.
He then assumed command of the United States Base Command, Okinawa-later
redesignated United States Army Garrison, Okinawa.
He was a graduate of The Infantry School, Advance
Armor School, Command and General Staff College, and Industrial
College of the Armed Forces (ICAF). During attendance at ICAF,
he earned his master's in Business Administration at George Washington
University. He had three Department of the Army tours at the
Pentagon. His final active duty assignment was as Assistant Deputy
Chief of Staff for Logistics from September 1975 until his retirement
on 31 August 1977.
He established his residence in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
where he had a very brief career with Lutheran Brotherhood as
a District Representative. In October1978 he learned that he
was a victim of acute myelocytic leukemia. His final lesson to
his family was one of courage. Despite three unsuccessful courses
of chemotherapy his faith and his optimism never wavered. He
gave his strength to his wife and his sons.
General David was an unusual man-a blend of integrity, loyalty,
fairness, courage, competitiveness, dedication, perseverance,
and tolerance. As the male commencement speaker at his high school
graduation, he quoted lines from his favorite poem, "Invictus,"
which are anappropriate farewell:
"It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the
scroll
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul"
The Major General Bert A. David Award, an annual
scholarship grant, was established in his honor at his high school
alma mater. In addition to his wife he is survived by four sons:
Bert A. Jr., USMA Class of 1971; Second Lieutenant Scott C.,
United States Army, Germany; Second Lieutenant Jon R., Aberdeen
Proving Ground, Maryland; and Lance B., Wake Forest University
student. Other survivors include two grandchildren and his sister,
Mrs. Robert C. Mellen, Lehighton, Pennsylvania.
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