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
 

15849 David, Bert Alison
July 04, 1924 - January 28, 1979

usma1946

 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.

Personal Eulogy

deceased

 Email Feedback FEEDBACK 

ADMIN

Return Home