Edward Allen Mendell

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Glenn Mendell on January 21, 2018:

In adding to my father's eulogy, he loved West Point and the army. He would often tell me, in his later years, that he didn't expect Army to beat Navy again during his final years, in their annual football game. Well, on this rare occasion he was wrong and he was very happy about it. Towards the end of his life, he often spoke of his 60th West Point reunion, in 2015. My sister and I attended with him. And although his health had started to decline, this was a huge moment for him that he never stopped talking about until his final days. The last time I was able to communicate with my father was on Christmas Day, 9 days before he passed. I brought him some cookies in a tin with two Scottish Terriers on the lid. He loved Scottish Terriers, including his dog Bonnie that he got right around the time he graduated from West Point. I also gave him some chocolate pieces in the shape of penguins. He loved penguins after his visit to the Galapagos islands and Antarctica. When I arrived at his room that day, he was of course watching his favorite movie, From here to eternity. When taps was played at my father's funeral, I couldn't help but to remember the part in that movie when Montgomery Clift played taps for his friend, and fallen soldier, Frank Sinatra. It also made me think of how much my father loved that movie, and the line from Montgomery Clift who said, "I love the army!" I have saved my father's West Point attire and his letterman's jacket. I will always cherish it. Graduating from West Point was not only an honor for him, but for our whole family.

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