THANK YOU, CHARLIE, AND WHAT A TREAT THIS IS FOR JO ANN AND FOR ME, OUR FAMILY, FRIENDS AND BUSINESS ASSOCIATES TO BE HONORED BY OUR CLASSMATES IN THIS SPECIAL WAY THIS EVENING. BEING NOMINATED FOR THE DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE AWARD BY MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 1955 WAS A SIGNAL HONOR. AND TO BE SELECTED WAS A SURPRISE OF A LIFETIME AND A REWARD I WOULD NEVER EXPECT TO HAVE ACHIEVED IN A MILLION YEARS. IN FACT, WHEN BOB MCCLURE CALLED ME EARLIER THIS YEAR TO SAY THAT I HAD INDEED BEEN SELECTED, I WAS SPEECHLESS. WHEN HE ASKED IF I COULD BE AVAILABLE ON TUESDAY, MAY 17, TO RECEIVE THE AWARD AT THE ALUMNI REVIEW, I RECOVERED AND FOUND MY VOICE, ALTHOUGH IT WAS CHOKED WITH EMOTION.
THUS I STAND HERE TONIGHT WITH HEARTFELT GRATITUDE, NOT SO MUCH ABOUT WHAT I MAY HAVE DONE OVER THE PAST 60 YEARS SINCE WE TOOK THE OATH ON TROPHY POINT ON JULY 3, 1951. BUT MORE REALISTICALLY THANKFUL TO YOU, MY ESTEEMED CLASSMATES, AND TO THOSE WITH WHOM I HAVE SERVED DURING 32 YEARS OF ACTIVE DUTY, AND THE SUCCEEDING 24 YEARS OF RETIRED LIFE SERVING IN THE NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION FOR WHAT YOU HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT SERVICE. IN MY MESSAGE OF THANKS TO THE EXCOM AND THE CLASS, I INDICATED THAT THERE IS NO GREATER HONOR THAN TO BE RECOGNIZED BY ONE'S PEERS.
UPON ARRIVING WITH MANY OF YOU AT THE EAST SALLYPORT ON THAT FATEFUL DAY, WHEN WE DROPPED OUR BAGS AND SALUTED THE MAN IN THE RED SASH, I COMMITTED MYSELF TO 'BE ALL I COULD BE' – LONG BEFORE THE ARMY COINED THAT PHRASE. BUT AN HOUR LATER, I FOUND MYSELF IN 2D NEW CADET COMPANY, AMID A SQUAD OF 8 HIGH ACHIEVERS, COMPRISED OF JOHN HAMILTON WHO LATER WENT ON TO BECOME A STAR MAN, RHODES SCHOLAR, AND 2D MAN IN THE CLASS; AL MUNCH, SON OF A MARINE COLONEL, GREAT HALFBACK WHO LATER COULD NOT HANDLE PLEBE MATH; MIKE HEPLER, ARMY VETERAN AND A GREAT LINEMAN WHO WENT ON TO PLAY AT WASHINTON STATE, HE ALSO A VICTIM OF THE MATH DEPARTMENT; JACK GOLDSTEIN, WHO HAD ALREADY HAD A YEAR AT THE CITADEL AND WAS AS SPOONEY AS THEY COME; AND THE INFAMOUS AND DEARLY LOVED HERB 'KELLY' LICHTENBERG, ONE OF THE GREATEST BENEFACTORS OUR ALMA MATER HAS KNOWN. ON THE FIRST DAY OF BEAST, HERB CAME INTO MY ROOM AND INTRODUCED HIMSELF AS 'HERBERT S. LICHTENBERG' – I TOLD HIM I WAS CARL HERBERT MC NAIR, JR, BUT THOUGHT WE WOULD BE TOO BUSY TO SAY 'LICHTENBERG', SO COULD I JUST CALL HIM 'KELLY'. HE AGREED ONLY IF HE COULD CALL ME 'BLUE EYES' WHICH HE DID. KELLY'S NAME STUCK WITH HIM FOR ALL THE YEARS, HOWEVER MY EYES FADED OVER TIME.
ALL MY SQUAD MATES STOOD OUT AND STOOD TALL FOR UNIQUE TALENTS, I WAS A SPINDLY, 128#, WHO GREW ALMOST TWO INCHES AND 20 MORE POUNDS BEFORE GRADUATION FOUR YEARS LATER. SO, FIRST, I LEARNED TO SAY 'YES SIR, NO SIR, NO-EXCUSE SIR' SHARPER AND LOUDER THAN MOST – ESPECIALLY 'NO EXCUSE SIR'. I DID HOWEVER DEVELOP A HIDDEN TALENT ACQUIRED BY ATTENDING CATHOLIC SCHOOL AS A YOUTH, WHERE WE WERE REQUIRED TO SHINE OUR SHOES EACH NIGHT AND WERE INSPECTED EACH DAY AT SCHOOL. IN BEAST BARRACKS, NOT TO BRAG, BUT I HAD THE BEST SHINED BOOTS IN THE COMPANY, SUCH THAT MY SQUAD LEADER WOULD INSPECT THEM IN THE MORNING, BOOTS OR LOW QUARTERS, AND MARCH ME FROM TABLE TO TABLE TO SHOW THE OTHER FIRST CLASSMAN HOW YOU COULD ACTUALLY SHAVE BY LOOKING INTO MY SHOES OR BOOTS. SO IN 2D COMPANY, ON FRIDAY EVENING, CLASSMATES WOULD LINE UP AT MY DOOR AND OFFER AN IOU FOR ONE CANDY BAR, COSTING 4 CENTS EACH AT THE BOODLERS, TO BE DELIVERED BEFORE THE SATURDAY EVENING MOVIE, WHICH I WOULD STUFF INTO MY POCKET AND EAT DURING THE MOVIE. BY THE WAY, FOR THE UNINFORMED, WE WERE LIMITED TO BUYING FOUR CANDY BARS PER WEEK, THUS THE 'BOOTLEG' VALUE OF AN EXTRA CANDY BAR COULD REACH 24 CENTS, MY FIRST REAL VENTURE INTO CAPITALIST ECONOMICS 101.
HAVING MADE IT THROUGH BEAST AND SUCCESSFULLY INTO COMPANY E-1, WITH THE LIKES OF MY DEAR FRIEND AND ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED CADETS IN THE CLASS OF 1955, CARL CATHEY, WHO HAD GONE TO DAVISON BEFORE WEST POINT, MY ROOMMATE RALEIGH RALLS WHO HAD ATTENDED NEW MEXICO MILITARY INSTITUTE AND VMI BEFORE WEST POINT, MANY OTHERS WHO HAD ACTIVE ARMY TIME, AND A SELECT FEW WHO BENEFITTED FROM BLUE RIBBON PREP SCHOOLS, WHAT COULD I DO TO BE REASONABLY COMPETITIVE AND CAPABLE AMONG SUCH GIANTS? I WAS LOST IN THIS VAST FIELD OF TALENT AND COMMITMENT, UNTIL THE FIRST SERGEANT, 1ST CLASSMAN JOSEPH JAGGERS, WHO LATER BECAME AN ARMY AVIATOR HIMSELF, CALLED THE PLEBES TOGETHER AND ASKED WHO WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER TO BECOME THE COMPANY CLERK, MAINTAIN DUTY ROSTERS, POST THE BULLETIN BOARD AND DO THE COMPANY TYPING. I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT – I COULD DO THAT – SINCE I WAS AN EXCELLENT TYPIST, WITHOUT THINKING THAT THE OTHER 19 OF MY CLASSMATES, WITH REAL ARMY EXPERIENCE AND MILITARY SCHOOL, KNEW BETTER THAN TO VOLUNTEER, PLUS THEY DID NOT WANT TO LIVE ACROSS FROM THE ORDERLY ROOM BY THE FRONT DOOR WHERE ALL THE UPPER CLASSMEN COULD COME IN AT ALL HOURS – AND WE WOULD HAVE TO POP TO ATTENTION AND BRACE FOR HOURS ON END. BUT JOE JAGGERS CONVINCED ME WERE MANY ADVANTAGES I WAS TOLD TO BECOMING THE COMPANY CLERK. HERE I STAND TONIGHT - 60 YEARS LATER - STILL TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY WERE.
EXCEPT, I COULD ALSO TAKE AND READ SHORTHAND AND MANY OF THE CADETS WHO DATED YOUNG LADIES AT KATHERINE GIBBS SECRETARIAL GIRLS SCHOOL IN NEW YORK, WOULD RECEIVE TENDER MISSIVES WITH THE FAINT ODOR OF PERFUME ON THE ENVELOPE. MANY OF THE CLOSING POSTSCRIPTS WERE WRITTEN IN SHORTHAND, SURELY NEVER DREAMING THAT A CADET COULD READ SHORTHAND, BUT THEIR COMPANY CLERK COULD. SO, I BECAME THE OFFICIAL INTERPRETER IN MANY A RELATIONSHIP, AS I TRANSLATED AS BEST I COULD WITHOUT EMBARRASSING MY CLASSMATES AS TO THE INTENTIONS OF THEIR FAIR LADIES. MOST OF YOU WILL RECALL THAT THE FAMOUS AUTHOR, ALEX HALEY WHO WROTE 'THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X' AND 'ROOTS' BEGAN HIS WRITING CAREER AS A YEOMAN IN THE NAVY WRITING LOVE LETTERS FOR HIS FELLOW COASTGUARDSMEN ABOARD SHIPS AT SEA – FOR FIVE DOLLARS EACH. MY FAILING WAS THAT I NEVER WROTE BACK TO THE GIRLS IN THE SECRETARIAL SCHOOL, JUST INTERPRETED FOR MY FRIENDS.
WITH THAT FIRST YEAR BEHIND ME, VOLUNTEERING BECAME A WELCOME RELIEF TO SOME OF THE OTHER DUTIES WE HAD, SUCH AS ACADEMICS AND DRILL. I BECAME THE 'C' SQUAD FOOTBALL MANAGER, SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER AND SUPERINTENDENT, CADET PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER, DEBATE COUNCIL, SCUSA, CLASS COMMITTEE, AND 100TH NIGHT SHOW MAKE UP DIRECTOR (WHICH WON ME GREAT PRAISE AT THE ARMY WAR COLLEGE, SINCE NO ONE ELSE IN THE CLASS COULD MAKE UP THE FACULTY MEMBERS TO LOOK LIKE ROBERT E. LEE OR ULYSSES S. GRANT). AMAZING HOW THINGS GO ROUND COME ROUND.
DURING THOSE FOUR YEARS, I BELIEVE I DID LEARN TO 'MULTI-TASK' BEFORE THE TERM WAS CONCEIVED. ALWAYS TRYING TO CONTRIBUTE WHERE AND WHEN I COULD, ASSISTING CLASSMATES AND RECEIVING SIMILAR ASSISTANCE WHEN I NEEDED IT. BELIEVE I KNEW ABOUT AS MANY OF OUR OVERALL CLASS AS MOST AND TRIED TO MAINTAIN THOSE RELATIONSHIPS OVER THE YEARS, ESPECIALLY EACH OF YOU IN THIS ROOM. I TOOK MY FIRST PLEBE WALK IN AUGUST, 1951, FOR ONE WHO HAS BECOME A LIFELONG FRIEND, TED GAY, ALSO FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA. WE TOOK EACH OTHER'S SNAPSHOT AT LUSK RESERVOIR WITH AN OLD BOX CAMERA TED HAD SECRETED INTO THE ACADEMY IN HIS SHAVING KIT, BEFORE THEY HAD METAL DETECTORS IN AIRPORTS. AND EVEN TODAY, TED AND I ARE TWO OF THE LONGEST SERVING VOLUNTEER LAY LEADERS IN OUR CHURCH IN ALEXANDRIA, VA.
BOB STRATI, A FELLOW E-1 COMPANY MATE AND PAT, REMAIN AMONG JO ANN AND MY CLOSEST NEIGHBORS. ALTHOUGH WE LIVE 100 MILES APART, WE TALK ALMOST WEEKLY AND VISIT EVERY MONTH OR SO. I WAS IN THEIR WEDDING AT SEWART AIR FORCE BASE AFTER GRADUATION IN JUNE 1956, AND BOB AND PAT SPONSORED OUR FAMILY WHEN WE WERE ASSIGNED TO WEST POINT FROM THE WAR COLLEGE IN 1971. I COULD GO AROUND THIS ROOM AND POINT TO SO MANY WONDERFUL EXPERIENCES I HAVE ENJOYED WITH EACH OF YOU, REUNIONS, FOOTBALL GAMES, CLASS TRIPS AND OTHER GREAT ADVENTURES – NOT TO MENTION SWAPPING MANY A PAPER FOR COORDINATION IN MY THREE PENTAGON ASSIGNMENTS. OR FLYING YOU OUT ON A MISSION DURING MY TOURS IN VIETNAM. IT HAS BEEN A TRULY LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE TO HAVE KNOWN YOU THESE 60 YEARS AND ENJOY YOUR CONFIDENCE AND SUPPORT. SOME OF OUR CLASSMATES HAVE ASKED ME FROM TIME TO TIME WHY I HAVE BEEN SO INVOLVED FOR SO MANY YEARS IN SO MANY THINGS, EVEN OUTSIDE OF THE ARMY AND THE BUSINESS WORLD. MY RESPONSE IS SIMPLY I LOVE THE ARMY, JO ANN LOVED THE ARMY WHEN I MARRIED HER AND WE BOTH LOVE WEST POINT, AND ALL THAT THOSE TWO INSTITUTIONS STAND FOR AND ARE TO OUR NATION. HENCE I WANTED TO CONTRIBUTE FURTHER, ESPECIALLY IN MY RETIRED LIFE, SINCE VOLUNTEERING AND COMMUNITY SERVICE ARE INHERENT TO OUR CIVIC DUTIES. AND WHAT AMERICA IS ALL ABOUT, A NATION OF VOLUNTEERS – AND EVEN OUR MILITARY IS TODAY AN ALL VOLUNTEER FORCE.
I AM PLEASED TO HAVE SOME OF MY BUSINESS FRIENDS FROM ACROSS THE NATION HERE THIS EVENING, JOHN PAUL KETELS AND HIS WIFE, JOYCE. JOHN IS A DISTINGUISHED LAWYER IN ONE OF THE LARGEST INTERNATIONAL FIRMS WHO ASSISTED US GREATLY IN THE PREPARATION OF THE BOOK, 'WHERE VALOR RESTS'. JOHN IS ON THE INTERNATIONAL BOARD OF 'MERCY SHIPS' WHICH PROVIDES MEDICAL SUPPORT AROUND THE COAST OF AFRICA. GEORGE BELSEY IS CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF AIR METHODS CORPORATION IN DENVER, COLORADO, THE LARGEST AEROMEDICAL SERVICES COMPANY IN THE WORLD PROVIDING EMERGENCY AIRLIFT AND LIFE SAVING SUPPORT FOR OVER 100,000 CRITICAL CARE PATIENTS PER YEAR – GEORGE AND HIS WIFE PHEE ARE INVOLVED IN SO MANY COMMUNITY OUTREACH EFFORTS IN THE GOLDEN STATE. DR ASHOK THAREJA IS PRESIDENT AND CEO OF A&T SYSTEMS IN SILVER SPRING, MD, WITH GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS NATIONWIDE. HE AND HIS WIFE, KIMBERLY, ARE INVOLVED IN MANY CHARITABLE VENTURES IN THE NATION'S CAPITOL AND I CALL UPON HIM OFTEN TO SUPPORT OUR WOUNDED WARRIORS AND OTHER WORTHY CAUSES THROUGH SOME OF MY OWN PROJECTS WITH EASTER SEALS, RED CROSS AND OF COURSE, THE ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY PROJECTS. HOWEVER, DR THAREJA IS ALSO A GREAT BENEFACTOR OF FACILITIES FOR THE INDIGENT AND NEEDY IN HIS NATIVE LAND OF INDIA. I AM PROUD TO CALL THEM FRIENDS AND THANK THEM FOR BEING HERE FOR JO ANN AND ME AND TO MEET YOU MY CLASSMATE OF WHOM I SPEAK SO OFTEN. THEY TOO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR REVERED MOTTO OF DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY.
FNALLY, DEAR FRIENDS, I AM PROUD THAT YOU TOO, YOUR CHILDREN AND THOSE WHO FOLLOW ARE SIMILARLY INVOLVED IN OUR NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO SERVICE, AS RECOGNIZED IN THE DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE AWARD – AND YOU SITTING HERE THIS EVENING ARE AT THE CORE OF SUCH SERVICE IN OUR CLASS, BOTH HUSBANDS AND WIVES. THE CLASS OF 1955 IS KNOWN FAR AND WIDE FOR ITS GOOD WORKS AND GENEROSITY TO WEST POINT AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS. I KNOW OF NO ONE MORE DEDICATED TO SUCH SERVICE THAN OUR CURRENTLY SERVING CLASS PRESIDENT, CHARLIE JOHNSON, WHO HAS MORE TIME AS GRAND MARSHAL IN VETERANS PARADES, THAN MOST OF US HAVE WATCHING THOSE SAME PARADES. AND EACH OF CHARLIE'S PREDECESSOR PRESIDENTS, JOE FRANKLIN, ROD VITTY, DON HILBERT, CARL CATHEY, AND ED TROBAUGH, HAVE LEFT SIMILAR FOOTPRINTS. THEIR WORK HAS BEEN LEGEND AS THEY HAVE LED OUR CLASS AND SET THE EXAMPLE FOR THOSE OF US WHO FOLLOW. OUR EARLIER CLASS DISTINGUISHED GRADUATES WHO PAVED THE WAY FOR ME AS I RECEIVED THAT SPECIAL HONOR TODAY, JOHN FEAGIN, MEDICAL PIONEER AND HERO OF SPORTS MEDICINE, KELLY LICHTENBERG, THE SPARKPLUG THAT LIT A FIRE IN ALL OF US FOR OUR CLASS GIVING EFFORTS, AND JOE FRANKLIN, RENOWNED COMMANDANT OF CADETS WHO HELPED REMOLD AND REMAKE OUR ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES.
TO THESE AND MANY MORE UNSUNG HEROES LIKE DAN LUDWIG WHO HAS CHRONICLED OUR HISTORY SO WELL FOR DECADES, THOSE WHO PREPARE OUR OBITUARIES AND HANDLE SCRIBE DUTIES LIKE JIM RYAN AND CHUCK ROADES, OUR FINANCIAL MANAGERS LIKE JIM BERGEN AND BILL STREETT, THOSE WHO MASTERMIND OUR REUNIONS AND DECORATIONS LIKE DAN AND LO DIENST, CLASS GATHERINGS IN WASHINGTON LIKE MATT SCHEPPS AND DICK WARGOWSKY, WITH DECORATIONS BY GRETA MASSON, NOT TO MENTION OUR WIDOW'S SUPPORT PROGRAM CO-CHAIRED BY DICK AND MARCIA CATHEY. I COULD GO ON AND ON UNTIL I WORKED MY WAY THROUGH THE ENTIRE CLASS, BUT HOPE I HAVE MADE MY POINT THAT THE CLASS OF 1955 IS TRULY 'FULL OF CLASS', WHAT A TEAM – A TEAM OF VOLUNTEERS AND LEADERS MOLDED INTO ONE GREAT MACHINE. I WILL BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR HAVING BEEN ABLE TO SERVE ON THIS TEAM AND ACCEPT THE HONOR OF DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE ON BEHALF OF ALL OF YOU WHO CONTRIBUTED TO AND INFLUENCED MY OWN ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH YOUR CONFIDENCE AND SUPPORT.
MY FAMILY AND I THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS OCCASION WITH US AND INCLUDING US IN YOUR CIRCLE OF FRIENDSHIP, ALWAYS. GOD BLESS YOU ALL.
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