Robert Winthrop Newton

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Carl H. McNair, Jr; Friend, Classmate and Fellow Aviator on September 22, 2012:

Farewell, dear Robert, friend to all whom have known you and served with you over the years. You, your many achievements and contributions to our Army and our Alma Mater, will be long remembered by us all. Upon your passing, I have reflected on our years in Cadet Grey and Army Blue, especially our assignments together in R&D and Army Aviation, but remember most fondly your attendance at my own retirement at Fort Monroe in 1987, 25 years ago this month. Our friendship bound us even closer together during our two years in graduate school at Georgia Tech as we studied Aerospace Engineering which would take us further into our chosen spheres of Army service in Army Aviation. Having learned the discipline of study as cadets at USMA, six years earlier, we then learned anew at Tech in 1961, an entirely new way to concentrate in study, with two little ones at our knee. Thankfully, you could call on Linda to take yours in tow at an early hour and Jo Ann assisted me in the same fashion as you and I studied deep into the night, calling back and forth comparing notes and assisting each other through the 600 level courses in rotary wing dynamics, to rise early at 5:00AM for our three man carpool into Atlanta. Unlike USMA where our studies were sometimes compounded by extra-curricular activities such as girls, dating, trips and an occasional weekend, it was all study as a "Rambling Wreck" where we both set a fast pace among our fellow students and earned the respect of our civlian peers and professors. AND we also cheered on the Yellow Jackets to defeat the #1, undefeated Alabama team with Joe Namath as QB-what a thrill that was - considering Alabama had been undefeated for almost three years, that was the greatest moment in the football history of Georgia Tech that Saturday afternoon - AND WE WERE THERE. Our many flights together flying Beavers and Birddogs out of Third Army at Fulton County Airport, maintaining our proficiency and earning our incentive pay during those two years, late at night, low on fuel, ceiling falling, as we closed on Atlanta, built a kinship that some may never experience. And the weekend L-19 cross-country RON to Davison AAF, Fort Belvoir, where we stayed with your folks who were then assigned to Washington. As freshly minted Captains, we had our first visit to branch in the old Tempos A,B,C, you to Field Artillery and me to Infantry, seeking info on our next assignment, you to Fort Rucker after having served in Iran, and me to Korea after having served in Taiwan - go figure that one, guess they knew we would both be going to Vietnam after those assignments. I could go on and on, but our years in the Pentagon and liaison between R&D and Fort Rucker assignments over the two decades that followed, seemed to map our careers in those developing years, at which time, herculean efforts like yours contributed to the establishment of the Army Aviaton Branch and the finest, safest aircraft and survivability equipment of any Army in the world. Well done, my friend, few have done so much and none more. You have truly lived the life of a warrior, a proud American soldier, surrounded by a loving and caring family, thus it is only fitting to conclude this eulogy with the words of the famous poem, High Flight, by John Gillespie MAGEE: "Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth On sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of -------- And while with silent, lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God." May you now rest in eternal peace and comfort in the arms of our Almighty God - until we meet again. Happy Landings. Faithfully, Carl McNair USMA, Class of 1955

admin