Posted by Terry Powers on December 26, 2022:

Born at home in Steubenville, OH, William Roth Lambert grew up with his sister Betty and his parents, whom he admired greatly. His father was a successful registered pharmacist, but the Depression wiped out his assets. His mother, a wonderful wife and homemaker, shielded Bill and Betty from the dire financial situation. Not a naturally gifted student, Bill complained about homework but studied hard. At the age of twelve, he heard about West Point, where he could earn a college degree and become a man - all for a $300 uniform deposit. Attending the United States Military Academy ("USMA")at West Point, New York became his goal. Graduating from high school in June 1942, Bill was an alternate nominee to West Point. He registered at Ohio State and spent the summer laying ties for the Pennsylvania Railroad to pay for books and a year's tuition. He roomed for $14 per month and waited tables for his meals. Still intent on attending West Point, Bill took the civil service test again but was again designated an alternate. Bill was subsequently drafted and underwent infantry training at Fort Benning, GA. At the same time, Congressman Lewis tired of Bill's taking the civil service examination and awarded Bill a principal appointment. Bill looked forward to completing the war-shortened, three-year program at West Point and marrying his high school sweetheart in June 1947. Bill began preparing for USMA at the prep school at Cornell University until Army medics detected a cardiac arrhythmia. Ironically, this condition led to Bill's assignment to the 106th Infantry Division in June 1944, 10 months before he would turn 21, the maximum age for a new cadet. In October 1944, Bill deployed to Europe, serving as platoon runner, 3rd Platoon, A Company, 1st Battalion, 422nd Infantry Regiment. On 13 Dec 1944, three days before the Battle of the Bulge began, the 106th Infantry Division advanced into the Ardennes Mountains. On 19 December, Private First Class ("PFC") Lambert was taken prisoner of war, completing one of the shortest combat careers on record and beginning four and one-half hungry months as a German Prisoner of War ("POW"), mostly in Stalag IV B, Muhlberg am Elbe. Bill set his sights on becoming possibly the only West Pointer who had been a prisoner of war before becoming a cadet. Back in the States, Congressman Lewis nominated Bill again, and Bill entered the Academy in July 1945, incapable of passing the physical fitness test. However, he soon discovered Billy Cavanaugh and the varsity boxing team. Though Bill never mastered boxing, he became very fit, and intramurals became the highlight of his cadet life. He played football, soccer, lacrosse, and tennis. Knowing he would have been cut from Plebe baseball, he waited until Yearling (Sophomore) year to try out for junior varsity baseball. Bill spent Yearling Spring happily chasing balls for the varsity team. Arnie Galiffa and Frank Hinchion tried to teach Bill how to throw a baseball, something Bill was, inexplicably, unable to do. The lessons did not work, but Bill did not get cut from the team. From 1936 to 1945, Bill's main goal had been West Point. Once there, however, he was determined to marry Jeanne Morrow, his high school sweetheart, whom he had met shortly before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Moreover, the Class of 1948 was no longer war-shortened and was re-designated the Class of 1949. Waiting the extra year to marry Jeanne nearly became too much for Bill, and he considered resigning. Fortunately, she convinced him otherwise. She and Bill were married on Graduation Day at 6 p.m., the soonest time he could arrange. While visiting West Point, the then Chief of Staff for the brand-new Air Force, told the Class of 1949 that there were abundant opportunities in the Air Force for non-rated officers. Consequently, Bill (who was color-blind) decided to select Air Force rather than return to the foxholes of the United States Army. Following graduation, he embarked on a very satisfying career, beginning as a supply inventory control officer - a dashing, self-described "Lee's Lieutenant" or "Napoleon's Marshall." In June 1961, as a Captain teaching Mathematics at the United States Air Force Academy ("USAFA"), Bill was assigned as the Air Officer Commanding ("AOC") [equivalent to a USMA Cadet Company Tactical Officer] of the newly-formed 22nd Cadet Squadron. He was the first non-rated [i.e. not a pilot, navigator or military aerial observer] Air Force officer to serve as an Air Force Academy AOC. Bill did much more than play cops and robbers with the cadets. He became recognized for his innovations. He left the Academy in 1965 as a Lieutenant Colonel. Next, Bill was assigned to the Pentagon, Washington, DC, his other favorite assignment. Bill had been assigned in Germany, Korea, and Viet Nam. He viewed his last assignment, commanding the Air Force Data Services Center, however, as the very best job available to a non-rated Colonel in the Air Force. He retired in 1977 with his eldest son, USAF First Lieutenant ("1st Lt") David Lambert, USMA Class of 1974, reading the Retirement Orders. According to Bill, the Air Force band did not have the right arrangement for "Bubbles was a Cheerleader," but they did play Bill's requests for "The Girl I Left Behind Me," "The Official West Point March," and "Auld Lang Syne." Bill's whole life was devoted to his sweetheart Jeanne from the moment he met her on her sixteenth birthday. They were separated only when Bill was at Ohio State and West Point and when he was serving in WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam. They were very proud of their children: David William Lambert, Peter Douglas Lambert, and Kristi Anne Lambert, but Bill often wondered whether his children excelled because of or in spite of his eternal lecturing. At his USMA class's 50th reunion, Bill dined with his I-1 comrades, deciding that "he really did like those guys," and remembered, in particular, his roommates John Mione, Court Davis, Bobby Nulsen, Virg Millett, Dave Arnold, and Lou Benzing. Thinking about them and West Point, he concluded, "Maybe those four years were sort of okay after all." Based on an autobiographical article written by Bill Lambert and published on the USMA.org Class of 1949 Internet page at defender.west-point.org/service/taps.mhtml?s=d&g=usma1949.

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