Harry Milton York

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Bill Axup on July 19, 2003:

In the context of our time at the Point, I was Mick's "wife" for four years. Apparently our relationship never made it to the grade of soul mate for I only communicated with or saw him twice after graduation. The first time he and his wife Marilyn hosted my future wife Anna on her visit during airborne training at Ft Benning. The second time was almost thirty years later when Anna & I entertained him while he was attending school at the Rock Island Arsenal, IL. So I must leave it to his friends in the Signal Corps and others to fill in that gap. Perhaps it was because we were two odd balls that we stuck together. I suspect I got the better of the deal. Some of his extra curricular skills in sewing and leatherwork rubbed off on me. One other interest we shared was going camping on weekends. In order to partake of that privilege, we had to belong to the fishing club. And so we did, but that was about the extent of our fishing interest. He gained considerable notoriety in the Corps doing custom tailoring of cadet uniforms with his sewing machine. I expect the company tactical officer was a bit frustrated at not finding where he hid it. Considering how busy he was with that activity, I don't see how his personal picture in our Howitzer showed him as a "sack rat". Mick wasn't exactly at the other end of the physical fitness spectrum from the mesomorph "muckoids", and obstacle course gurus; and he had occasional concerns with the way the PE Department regarded him and his girth. But he held his own quite well during our infrequent grab a-- sessions and certainly was no slouch when it came to boxing. I could never understand why a guy with his smarts liked boxing. On the academic side, Mick didn't seem to sweat it. It always amazed me how he could supposedly be studying while listening to something other than music on the radio. It was probably through working with horses during his early years, that Mick's easy going nature developed. It undoubtedly gave him an edge on reading people too, and getting along with just about any one.

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