BG Robert Worth Berry USA(Retired)
Cullum: 20111206
Class: Friend
Cadet Company:
Date of Birth:
Date of Death: December 6, 2011 - View or Post a Eulogy
Images courtesy of www.http://libarts.wsu.edu/
as originally provided by Gary Wright
Although not a grad, General Bob Berry served at West Point for many years and was well known to many grads. BG Berry is an honorary member of the Class of 1969, an honorary member of the Army A Club and an Associate member of the West Point Society of Denver
MIke Chritton, West Point class of '77 writes the following:
Born Ryderwood, Washington March 2, 1926. Died, December 6, 2011 in Denver, Colorado of cancer, after a lifetime of service to his country. Bob grew up in Kelso, Washington in humble circumstances but blessed by a loving mother, grandmother and two sisters. After his high school graduation, Bob enlisted in the Army in 1944 during War World II and served at Camp Roberts, CA. He then attended Washington State University, graduating in 1950 [summa cum laude] with Phi Beta Kappa honors. Bob was recognized in March 2011 by his alma mater with the first ever Alumni Achievement Award. While at Washington State, Bob joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps and received his commission as a 2LT of Infantry in the Army Reserves in May 1950. He then moved east to attend Harvard Law School in 1950. While in law school he was called back to active duty to serve in the Korean War as the Public Information Officer for the 40th "Balls of Fire" Division. After returning to Harvard Law School in 1953, Bob graduated in 1955 with a Juris Doctorate and accepted a position in the Department of Defense General Counsel's Office where he was instrumental in drafting the Defense Reorganization Act of 1958. Bob continued to serve in the Army Reserves, with duty in the Pentagon and then as an instructor in the Department of Social Sciences at West Point. In 1959 Bob joined Philco Corporation in Philadelphia as Senior Defense Counsel. In 1960 he accepted a position with Litton Industries, at the time a major defense contractor, as senior counsel at its headquarters in Beverly Hills, CA. He then moved in 1964 to Washington DC to establish Litton's Washington Office and serve as its Director of Washington Operations.
Appointed by President Nixon as General Counsel of the Army from 1971-1974,
Bob served as the senior civilian lawyer, offering advice and counsel to two
Secretaries of the Army, Bob Froehlke and Bo Callaway, as well as Army Chiefs
of Staff Generals Westmoreland, Palmer, Abrams, and Weyand. Those were trying
times as the Army dealt with issues from My Lai in Vietnam, Wounded Knee in
the Dakotas, the rebuilding of a demoralized Army, and the transition to a
volunteer force after Vietnam as the draft was eliminated. In 1978, after
several years as the founding resident partner of the DC off ice of the law
firm of Quarles & Brady, Bob returned to active duty as Professor and
Head of the Law Department at West Point. There he supervised the curriculum
and classroom instruction of an academic department critical to the intellectual
and ethical education of the Cadets. During his tour at West Point, Bob also
served as an Officer Representative for the Army foot ball team. The teams
of that time were highly competitive and won the Cherry and Peach bowl games.
His mentorship and support was instrumental in their winning and their growth
as Cadets and young officers. While at West Point, Bob received his Master
of Arts from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Forever a student of the
law, a lawyers' lawyer and a consummate government contracts attorney,
Bob unremittingly cautioned prospective law students, law students and young
lawyers, that the "law is a jealous mistress". Bob
retired from the Army and as the Head of West Point's Law Department
in 1987 as a Brigadier General and moved to Denver to accept a position as
Vice President and General Counsel for G.A. Wright Marketing, Inc. Bob is
survived by his sister, Jackie Beall, of San Antonio Texas, and the many good
friends he mentored who are serving all over the world. A service of interment,
with full military honors, will be held at Arlington National Cemetery at
a date to be determined.
Be Thou at Peace, Sir
MIke Chritton, '77
