Joseph Powel Franklin

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Bill Cheesborough '82 on March 10, 2017:

General Franklin was Commandant of Cadets for my last three years at West Point (Class of 82), and we could not have had a better Comm. Due to my disagreement with certain West Point rules I ran afoul of our regimental tac officer late in my Cow year, and wound up with a personal audience with Joe -- and it was a great experience. He was a voice of reason and understanding, probably because he took a real interest in cadets and soldiers. I think we talked more about my time as an enlisted soldier and my future branch choice than we did about the disciplinary problems, which was fine with me. I remember running into him and his wife Connie at the Old Oak Inn in Highland Falls during graduation week, and how friendly they both were to me and my date. General Franklin was also a classmate of my dad -- they were in adjacent companies in what we now call Old South, and knew each other fairly well. Dad always spoke highly of Joe Franklin, and it is easy to see why. I have seen a lot of my classmates posting comments on Facebook over the past two days, all with fond memories, with comments including "your actions and leadership kept me in the Academy" to "I still remember getting my diploma from him" to "Great Comm!" The Class of 82 will certainly miss Joe Franklin -- he was a great role model to all of us.

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