Engineer Memoirs
A:
Yes. He was a very capable guy. He was very bright, and he believed in getting things
done. He had served with all these people. He had worked for Jadwin in World War I.
Then, as time went on, the Chief of Engineers was somebody who was his
contemporary, and then as time went on further, the Chief of Engineers was somebody
who had worked for him.
Q:
That's right.
A:
I guess it is a measure of his relations with them that all of them admired his ability, the
fact that he was a bright guy, and that he had the faculty to think these problems
through.
I remember even after World War II when he was older, these people coming--often
on Sunday--to visit with him and talk over what they were going to do about things.
I remember one West Point classmate who came to seen him. This was before the war.
That was [Major] General [Allen W.] Gullion, who became the Judge Advocate
General of the Army and then later the Provost Marshal of the Army. At the time he
was worried about whether he was going to be appointed Judge Advocate General, and
he came to see my father to talk over what steps he should take to assure that he got
this appointment.
They went over together who General Gullion knew and who he didn't know and the
members of Congress and the executive branch that might possibly be involved. I don't
remember the details, but that was a typical sort of discussion that people would have
with my father about things they were trying to do. They would go over together how
these things are decided.
Q:
Kind of an elder statesman?
A:
My father was not really a cynic, but he was very much a realist about why people do
things. He recognized that people don't always do things for the reasons stated. They
have some interest that may not be one they advertise, but when you are dealing with
somebody, you need to think through what motivates that person.
Q:
That's right.
A:
And try to appeal to that.
Q:
Now, he was born in 1880. So he was 44 when you were born.
A:
Yes. That's correct.
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