John Herbert Karnes

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Walt Landers on July 14, 2003:

Jack was a warm, personable good friend to all of us in L-2. One of our favorite stories about him came from his first day in Beast Barracks. When asked by a grouchy and intimidating Firstie member of the Beast Detail, "Who are you, Mister?" Jack smiled broadly, extended his hand and replied, "Hi. I'm Jack Karnes from Galleon, Ohio. What's your name?" The rest of the encounter is best left to the imagination. Jack became interested in body building during his cadet career, and developed himself into a pretty good approximation of Arnold Schwartzenegger. During one of our automotive mechanics classes, it was necessary to move a heavy engine block that was to be used in a demonstration. The "P" asked for some volunteers for the task, whereuopn Jack single handedly picked up the block and moved it as requested. He later said words to the effect."I've been working for an opportunity like that for years." As a plebe, Jack was the best spit shiner in L-2. His shoes were a work of art that many tried to emulate, but could not achieve the same level of perfection. I remember one day when a Plebe Chaser at Dinner formation looked down and said, "Mr. Karnes, it's a pleasure every day to come out here and just look at your shoes!" Jack was always a cheerful, sunny presence during our four years as cadets, no matter what travails we were encountering along the way. Although I lost track of him over the years, I'll always treasure our days togeteher at the Rock, as I'm sure my fellow L-2 files do as well.

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