Arthur Herman Lindeman

West Point, 1949

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Ken Lindeman on September 5, 2010:

How lucky we were to have you in the lives of our family and our nation. And this was doubled by Mary Lee. Rest in deserved peace. A resident of Jupiter, FL, since 1975, Curly Lindeman personified humble achievement and heroism. Born in Cincinnati, Mar. 19, 1927, he became an Eagle Scout, state discus champion, football team captain, prom king, Sons of the American Revolution Good Citizen, and by several accounts a "heckuva nice guy". In 1945, he entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he was a tight end on the national champion football team with the legendary Doc Blanchard and Glen Davis, won the intramural heavyweight boxing championship, and graduated in 1949. He then married the former Mary Lee Kenyon, a pioneering women's athlete and Kentucky thoroughbred. Bliss was short-lived: in four months he was sent to Korea to lead a First Cavalry infantry platoon. While trying to retrieve a fallen soldier, he was hit by mortar shrapnel and returned home with a Bronze Star for Valor, Combat Infantryman Badge, and Purple Heart. He completed Army Ranger and Paratrooper training and became an Honor Guard Commander at Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknowns with the Old Guard, Third Infantry. He was sent to Vietnam in 1968 where he served in Bien Hoa as Deputy Commanding Officer, II Field Force. Among many military decorations, he was awarded the Joint Services Commendation Medal and the Legion of Merit twice. In 1974, while serving at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, as a Lieutenant Colonel, he abruptly suffered a massive stroke with partial paralysis and the loss of speech. After almost a year in the hospital, he moved to Jupiter at the age of 48 as a disabled retiree. Over the next 30 years, he re-learned speech and other skills, and quietly kept busy, never feeling sorry for himself. He needlepointed and carpentered hundreds of useful items that became prized by friends and family. He never bragged about his past, voted moderate, and made memorable mint julips at locally known Kentucky Derby parties. His beloved wife, Mary Lee, passed away in 2000. He is survived by a son, daughter, and four grandsons. In later years, he fought through heart attacks, lung cancer, three hip replacements, an aneurism, pulmonary embolisms, diabetes, deep vein thrombosis, and foot amputation -- without complaints. His ashes joined Mary Lee in the Gulf Stream in late summer, 2010.

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