BG Raymond J. Winkel Jr. USA (Retired)
Cullum: 26682
Class: '67
Cadet Company: F1
Date of Birth: February 1, 1946
Date of Death: August 30, 2011 - View
Memorial Article: http://apps.westpointaog.org/Memorials/Article/26682/
or Post a Eulogy
Brigadier
General (Ret) Raymond J. Winkel, Jr. passed away August 30th at the Walter
Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda, MD, following a long battle
with cancer. He was born Feb 1st, 1946, in Baltimore, MD, the eldest child
of Raymond and Nellie Winkel. From an early age, serving in the military was
one of his life directing passions. Upon finishing high school at the Baltimore
Polytechnic Institute, he received an appointment to United States Military
Academy at West Point at the age of 17. Even as one of its youngest members,
he graduated in the top 5% of his class in 1967, and volunteered upon graduation
to go to Vietnam as part of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. He was severely
wounded three months into his tour. During his convalescence, he turned to
another great passion: physics. He received permission to obtain a Master’s
Degree in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley, which he completed
in 1969. Despite suffering mobility problems from his wounds, he volunteered
for a second tour of duty in Vietnam, where he commanded Delta Company, an
engineering unit assigned to the 23rd Infantry (Americal) Division. He returned
to the United States in 1970 and was assigned as a student at the Engineer
School, Ft. Belvoir, Virginia. While there, he met Sally Hajdu who he married
in 1972 while he was assigned to Germany. Other assignments included Ft. Leavenworth,
KS, the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA, and Saudi Arabia. After
ten years of service, he was selected to the permanent faculty at West Point
where he was able to combine his love for the Army, for physics, and for teaching.
He returned to U. C. Berkeley to study with Sumner Davis, and completed his
Ph.D in 1984 after which he returned to teach physics at West Point. He was
selected to be the Head of the Department of Physics in 1987. He insisted
on continuing with the classroom instruction of Cadets in addition to the
duties of department head, and taught Physics to cadets each semester until
he retired. In addition to his teaching and administrative duties at West
Point, he conducted research at Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratories and served overseas, including as scientific liaison for the
Army in Australia and England. Recent assignments to Iraq and Afghanistan
have helped these countries develop their military academies. He was an ardent
supporter of cadet sporting teams, and served as Officer Representative to
Army hockey and track teams. When he retired in June of 2009, he was the senior
active duty Colonel in the Army and the last member of the West Point Class
of 1967 still on continuous active duty. Ray and Sally made their home at
West Point open to cadets, their families, classmates and many friends. They
maintained an extensive network of friends across the country who will sorely
miss him. He loved to travel for pleasure, was a connoisseur of fine wines,
and a life-long fan of the Baltimore Orioles. He is survived by his loving
wife of 39 years, Sally, a sister June Hudak of Brookfield CT, and nephews
and a niece.
Donations made by made in Ray’s memory to CAUSE –
http://www.cause-usa.org/main/index.cfm
