16934 ROBERT SHEBAT
Died June 23, 1955,.near Quonset Point, Rhode Island (air accident),.aged 27 years.

In the warm sun of a summer day, a small group of relatives, friends and classmates gathered at West Point to say our last goodbye and bid "well done" to Robert Shebat.

Who was this man who we-many of whom had known him as a boy--were now saying goodbye to? He was many things . . . devoted son and brother . . . beloved husband . . . close and true friend . . . a classmate. But, he was more than that . . . a modest man . . . a good man . . . an outstanding pilot of great ability . . . a topnotch officer devoted to the service of his country . . . a credit to his alma mater. Even that is not enough . . . he was still more. He was a spirit who lived in the air,

Bob lived to fly. Long before be joined the Class of '49 to enter plebe year with us. be had qualified as a pilot. I can remember him telling of sitting on his father's lap and holding the "stick." He had already made up his mind he wanted to fly. All of us can remember incidences of Bob's devotion to the air long before we graduated. And after the bars were ours. fly he did! His record included a period as multi-engine instructor, 55 combat missions in Korea, and on his final assignment as multi- engine check pilot and flight leader is an all-weather interceptor squadron flying F94 C's and F89D's.

Then, suddenly, on June 23, 1955, while teaching another to love flying as much as he, Capt. Shebat, USAF, made his last landing. The air he loved, through carbon monoxide poisoning from a malfunctioning aircraft, had claimed him,. Suddenly, too, parents lost a son, a wife lost a husband, ‘49 lost a classmate, and I, a roommate.

It is fitting that what we say here should not exceed Bob's modest desires of what he would say or want said, and so, the hand which is raised in salute, falls and passes in memoriam.

His Roomate
 
 

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