Engineer Memoirs
We left behind in Virginia two very good friends; one was Dick
and his wife Betsy and
Jim and Laura Bunch. Jim was from Oklahoma and had been at Goose Bay with me. He, Laura,
and his two daughters became and still remain among our closest friends. Bunch returned to OCE
some years later to run the personnel program.
also returned as a brigadier general to
head military construction while I was Chief of Engineers.
Anyhow, I returned to North Carolina from Korea to gather the family. During the short stay
Susan was hit by an automobile and John broke his foot on his new bicycle, so we limped off to
Carlisle with our dog and two wounded children. Both recovered nicely, fortunately. I was senior
enough to get quarters at Carlisle Barracks and was assigned a nice cottage in College Arms.
Small but satisfactory. Carlisle is truly a very pleasant environment, and you meet not only the
top people from other branches of the Army, but also key individuals from other services and the
State Department.
As I said, life at Carlisle was very nice, particularly for the family following the year's separation.
Our daughter got into the horse business and our young son was busy finding out what school was
all about. We were in the middle of the antique country, so we got into refinishing furniture.
Of course, I was there to learn what makes our military and U.S. government world go round and
how the Army and the other service departments work together. We had outstanding guest
speakers. The War College is an exceptionally fine educational experience.
The big exercise in my memory was writing a thesis on some broad subject. I chose the
Organization of American States. The crunch came in deciding when to do it. My adviser
convinced me that getting that thing done before Christmas would make for a happier holiday.
Otherwise, I would probably have to spend Christmas writing the paper, which was due in the
middle of January, as I recall.
The Vietnam War was warming up. Our deputy commandant was General [William] Train and
his son was one of the first officers killed in Vietnam. This was still 1961, 1962. That was an
impact event for the students and faculty.
I was actually promoted to colonel in the fall. Gerry and our children helped the commanding
general pin on the "eagles."
Another highlight was watching John Glenn orbit the earth. That was singular and outstanding
because the space program had quite a bit to do with our educational program. Our State
Department resident was John Liddy. The class of 1962 produced many future leaders in all
services.
Tulsa District
Finally, as the year drew down, the question of my next assignment arose. My classmate Bob
A:
was handling personnel assignments. He called me one day to ask my preferences. I said,
"I'd like to be a district engineer, but I think I'll ask for a group, an engineer group, troop
assignment."
He asked, "Why are you going to do that?"
I answered, "I think I'm too junior for a busy district, and the only ones I probably could get
would be Charleston or Wilmington, and I can't go to Wilmington, my wife's home. That leaves
Charleston, so maybe I ought to wait a while and go for a group now."
He indicated that in his opinion I ought to go for a district.
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