John Franklin Passafiume

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Daniel Dugan on May 3, 2012:

John I have posted much of this at other locations, but it bears repeating on your West Point Eulogy page. You were close by E-1 in our Cadet years, but I didn't really get to know you as well until we both chose the Armor Branch. You did, however, perform your duties well as an Usher at our wedding on Staten Island in December, 1955. Ft Knox was the place for all of us 55ers in Armor and we attended both the Basic and Career courses together. You were unmarried for most of those years, but finally won the hand of Linda. I had a very small part to play in your courtship by flying you up from Ft. Hood for a weekend in Colorado Springs so that you could pursue her. It finally worked! Our trip back dodging thunderstorms was a memorable experience which we did not want to repeat. You ended up going Signal Corps eventually while I chose the Transportation Corps to get closer to Army Aviation. We also ended up as Classmates at C&GS and were housed a few doors away in Kansa Village. We were not stationed together after that, but picked up ties later. I did get to visit you and Linda in 1998 at your lakeside place on Lake Keowee. That was a short, but very nice weekend. We kept up a running e-mail correspondence right up through last month or so. Rest in peace, John. You fought a long and hard fight and never lost your sense of humor. Your best buddy, Dan

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