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View a eulogy for Robert Murray Pomeroy, USMA '48, who passed away on July 24, 2022.

Robert Murray Pomeroy

West Point, 1948

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Dave Pomeroy on August 5, 2022:

Col. Robert M. Pomeroy (1926-2022) West Point Obituary

Robert ("Bob") Murray Pomeroy was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on April 23, 1926 and passed away on July 24, 2022. Destined to become a distinguished U.S. Air Force pilot and academic, he was the youngest of six children of Theodore and Julia Pomeroy. Bob grew up in Dalton, Massachusetts and for his senior year of high school, transferred to Peekskill Military Academy in New York. He was accepted at West Point, and graduated in the class of 1948.

Following graduation, Bob joined the newly-formed Air Force, spending a year in flight school in Texas training as a multi-engine pilot. On June 8, 1949, four days before her graduation from Connecticut College he married Carol Townsend Young, whom he met while attending Peekskill Military Academy. He attended flight school in Louisiana, then was assigned to Okinawa and the Philippines. He was in Japan on a photo mapping assignment when the Korean War began, and was quickly selected as a briefing officer for the Commander of Far East Air Force. At Clarke AFB in the Philippines, he assumed his first command, leading the 6204th Photo Mapping Flight. Bob transferred to South Korea and flew as a Tactical Air Control pilot in the Korean conflict, earning a Purple Heart and two Air Medals.
During his assignment in the Philippines in 1951, Bob and Carol's first son, Robert Murray Pomeroy, Jr., was born. 1953 brought the birth of daughter, Diane Katherine Pomeroy (now Griffin), at Shaw AFB in Sumter, South Carolina, where Bob became a tactical reconnaissance pilot.

Bob' service as a reconnaissance pilot continued via a tour of duty in Germany, and then was transferred to Naples, Italy, to serve as Aide-de-Camp to the Commander and Chief of Allied Air Forces for Southern Europe (NATO). While stationed in Italy in 1956, their third child, David Warren Pomeroy, was born. The family returned to Shaw AFB in South Carolina, where Bob resumed a role in tactical reconnaissance and flew the RF101. Next, they moved to Colorado for a stint under the Commandant at the US Air Force Academy, serving in the Department of Military Studies.

Heading overseas, Bob's involvement with academia continued, first for a year as a student at the Royal Air Force Staff College in Andover, England. This was followed by a two-year assignment teaching with the War Studies team at the Royal Air Force Academy in Cranwell, England, focusing on military history and operations. These two British tours of duty provided Bob and his family with an opportunity to explore most of England and Scotland and to make a few trips across the channel to other portions of Europe.

In 1964, the family returned stateside to Alexandria, Virginia. Working at the Pentagon, he was Deputy Executive Assistant to the Undersecretary of the Air Force, earning an Air Force Commendation Medal and Legion of Merit. Bob earned a Master of Science in Business Administration from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Virginia, followed by a tour of duty in Vietnam in 1971-72 with Headquarters 7th Air Force, as Chief of Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare. For his service in Vietnam, Bob was awarded another Air Medal and Legion of Merit.

Next, Bob was on the faculty of the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, earning a Meritorious Service Medal. Bob's final tour of duty with the Air Force was as US National Military Representative at NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium, earning a Defense Superior Service Medal before retiring in 1979 as Colonel after 31 years of active duty.

Bob and Carol returned to Alexandria, Virginia, and he took on the role of Assistant Director of the Air Force Aid Society through 1986. At that point, they relocated to Portsmouth, Virginia, where their daughter Diane practices law and now serves as a judge. Their oldest son, Bob Jr., also an acclaimed lawyer, has been living in Colorado since 1976. Dave moved to Nashville in 1977, and has had a successful career as a studio musician, songwriter and performer. Since 2008, he has served as President of the Nashville Musicians Association, AFM Local 257. Bob and Carol celebrated their 73 years of marriage in 2022.

In addition to their three children, Bob and Carol's progeny include seven grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren who live all across this great country of ours. May God watch over all the people of our nation, and raise up many to carry on Bob's legacy of dedication and devotion to protecting our freedom!


 
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