 |
MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly Mar '95
William Thomas Reeder No.15949 Class of 1946
Died 6 May 1993 in Austin, Texas, aged 69 years.
Interment: Austin Memorial Cemetery, Austin, Texas.
|
William Thomas (Tom) Reeder was born 28 February
1924 and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. Tom arrived at West Point
after completing two years at the University of Texas in Austin.
Before that, he distinguished himself at Paschal High School,
Fort Worth, as author of the school's Alma Mater and senior class
president. At his high school's 50th anniversary in 1991, the
band hid in the kitchen, then marched out in full regalia, playing
the song Tom had written 51 years earlier.
Classmate Lew Allen, ex-Air Force Chief of Staff,
recalled: "Tom and I became friends while applying for West
Point. We took our physicals together, traveled together by train
to West Point, and were roommates. We shared a great appreciation
of West Point and a determination to succeed. Tom had a great
sense of duty and honor; I learned much from him. We did not
mold easily as plebes, but we endured, he with unquenchable good
humor and uncompromising principle.
Another roommate, Elan Shattuck, remembered: "Our
third roommate, Lew Allen, always finished studying early and
then shot BB's into a steel helmet. Realizing the advantage of
a more studious atmosphere, Tom and I told Lew we needed a more
studious first class year roommate. Lew took this gracefully.
That's how Tom and I 'fired' the future Chief of Staff of the
Air Force."
After basic artillery schooling at Fort Sill, Oklahoma,
Tom married Marilyn Parker, sister of his classmate, William
R. Parker, on Christmas Eve 1946 in Laramie, Wyoming. (Tom and
Marilyn returned in 1964 as PMS, at the time when Marilyn's dad
was Chief Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court.) On 28 November
1947, Tom's first son, Joe ('70), was born at Fort Lewis. (Joe
was confirmed by the Senate as the 14th Under Secretary of the
Army on 24 November 1993.) From Fort Lewis, the family moved
to Kyoto, Japan when Glenn arrived in 1949. Tom, Jr., was born
at Fort Bliss, and John came along while Tom was earning his
master's degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of
Florida at Gainesville.
Tom's 25 years of Army active duty included two
unaccompanied tours in Korea (1951 and 1968), two tours at Fort
Sill (1953 and 1957), Fort Hood (1954), Okinawa (1955), Germany
(Kitzingen, Bamberg and Aschaffensburg, (1960-63), Fort Monmouth
(1964-65), and Fort Belvoir (1965-1967). He commanded the Safeguard
Antiballistic Missile System Evaluation Agency at White Sands
Missile Range, New Mexico, where he retired in 1973.
LTG William Enemark, former commander, 7th Infantry
Division, recalled: "Tom, as G-3 in 1967-68, exhibited great
resourcefulness in meeting many historic challenges. Tom was
a man of great integrity who always maintained his sense of humor
- in short, a great soldier!"
MG Hugh Overholt, retired TJAG, recalled: "In
1967-1968, I was the 7th Division SJA in Korea. As our G-3, Tom
was a superb soldier, a loyal friend with rock-hard integrity
and a fierce competitor. I was younger and faster on the friendly
fields of strife, but I never won against him."
BG Thomas J. Camp, Jr. served twice with Tom: "Tom
was a great soldier and an inspirational leader. In Germany,
he commanded a superb artillery battalion in the 3rd Infantry
Division. In winning the division's Hays Trophy, it scored higher
than any other unit in division wide tests. Tom studied the rules,
mastered the complicated details of a new system, personally
checked on performance and gave generous praise when deserved.
In Korea, as G-3, 7th Division, Tom was a highly respected leader.
I shall never forget the reception hosted by the ROK Army Chief
of Staff for the two U. S. Divisions, and seeing General Kim
Kae Won enter the hall. When he spotted Tom, he literally ran
until he could clasp his Leavenworth classmate in a warm embrace.
Tom and Marilyn had befriended him years before. Those two always
did more than their share for the country, Army, and community,
and at the same time raised a fine family. There is no person
I respect more than Tom."
Tom and Marilyn retired to Austin, Texas, where
Tom earned a Ph.D. and joined the University of Texas Engineering
faculty as assistant to the Dean. Tom died of a heart attack
on 6 May 1993. He is survived by his wife, four sons, and four
granddaughters.
As Blan Shattuck put it: "Tom's 'lopsided
Texas grin' was his trademark. No one tackled life with more
vigor than Tom."
Reverend Ray Whitfield in presiding over Tom's
memorial service, summed up his treasured friend well:
AN UNPREACHED SERMON
Tom Reeder was special to me, as he was to many
others.
Tom and I both trace out spiritual roots to
the same place, the Cadet Chapel at West Point. We have shared
the inspiration and grace of that time and place throughout our
lives and have built upon that foundation in similar ways. Our
values rest on that foundation.
I have no friends more dear and loyal than was
Tom, and so I share in grief of his loss with all the many others
who loved him. With his dear family we all must offer up to the
Lord all the gracious memories that attend him, knowing that
we shall be united again. The best is, truly, yet to be. "One
more link is loosed to bind us to earth; may it now help bind
us to Heaven."
Amen
Perhaps no greater tribute can be offered to his
memory than to refer to The Cadet Prayer and to state that Tom's
life was in every way a living-out of that prayer. Praise God
for the gift of knowing and loving him.
Amen
Tom Reeder left his mark. He is remembered fondly
and vividly by all who knew him. The lives of those he touched
are better for knowing him. The Class of 1946 proudly joins his
family and friends to proclaim, "Well Done, Tom: Be Thou
At Peace!"
Tom's Classmates, friends and family
|