Posted by Bob Olds on July 23, 2012:

Colonel B, It has been a few weeks since my youngest son, Jack, discovered your stone at West Point. Jack knew of your impact on my life and was very uncomfortable showing me what he stumbled across as I was in the buildling next to your resting place looking up classmate sites. I know that at the time I was not good company to you, caught up in my grief and feeling guilty that I had not kept in close enough touch to know that you had passed over the river. For that I apologize. My responsibility is now to help celebrate you and I will do that until the day I die. Today it has been officially over one year since your passing and in the true West Point Tradition, the gloom period is over and going forward I suggest we mention you only in celebration ! In a few weeks I will return to visit your resting place and promise to be better company. For those who know me, they know that I considered you and Bobbie a second set of parents for me and for my family. All of my sons have heard all of my Colonel B stories and have been subjected to having rituals passed down from you through me such as lighting fireplaces and lighting charcoal grills. As you always told me, I taught them about "the power of compound interest!" (you always were so practical!) Before sharing some of the memories, I wanted to give you an update on the quarters you, Bobbie and the kids lived in at West Point in the Lee Gate Area. Jack and I drove by those quarters a couple of weeks ago. I am happy to report that those race tracks worn deep into the soil on the edge of your yard by Duffy (those tracks depriving Bobbie of the coveted "Yard of the Month" awards) have grown back fully with minimal trace. At the time I always cursed that beautiful animal for dulling my spit shined shoes chasing him around. Little did I know that good old Duffy put me on the road to phyical fitness that probably saved my life two years ago after a heart attack! What a Mutt that to this day I still believe had better table manners at the time than Don Don. On the downside, those pock marks on the bricks on the rear of the house caused by pebbles being thrown at the back bedroom windows by various cadets to gain the attention of your fair daughters are still there. I suspect I could give the Post Commander a list of the miscreants who threw them but I was never one to tattle or self incriminate! My first memory to share was the day you made full Colonel ! I know that everyone was proud but I have to tell you that up to that point in my life, that was probably my proudest memory of all. Since then many things have happened but seeing you smile after Bobbie helped pin on those Eagles, well that is still a top 10 moment in my life. Next, I wanted to tell everyone what BG (Dean of USMA Academics) Smith said to me at a party at Fort McNair roughly 5 years after graduation....."Captain Olds he said, you would not be standing here today had not young Colonel Barlow convinced me to allow you a second chance after flunking your Firstie Sociology Paper. In all of my years as Dean, this is the one time I did anything like that and you should thank that nice Colonel every chance you get for saving your sorry butt from not graduating!" Trust me Colonel B, very few days go by without me thanking you for this. At my graduation you and Bobbie not only threw me a grand graduation party but you also paid for it knowing that my folks were of limited means. It never fails that when I return to Sabina, OH, someone who attended the party will ask me about you and Bobbie and I have always delighted in bringing them up to speed. When my mom was alive, she never missed an opportunity to pull out the West Point Yearbook and show everyone the picture on page 406 of her and Bobbie in the Supe's Reception Line at my Graduation Ball. You would have thought that with two moms giving me advice that weekend I would have turned out better but what can I say, I remain a work in progress! At that graduation party, my mom was so proud because I had graduated 686 in a class of almost 1,000. You laughed and agreed with her, much too kind to tell her that the class of 78 was the first USMA class to graduate alphabetically and that being born an Olds moved me up almost 300 slots in what she thought was class rank. She died without ever knowing the truth but if you run into her somewhere over there, it is OK that you tell her now. I passed the word of your passing to my class. As you probably never knew, my class always held you in the utmost esteem because you negotiated with the local car dealers and banks on our behalf to be able to buy our cars our Firstie Summer through the use of those lower than low interest loans. There were more Corvettes and high class cars per cadet than in any other previous class. As for me, with that money I was able to buy my brother's car that he could no longer afford when he lost his first job. Both that brother and my mom will be forever grateful to you. As for me, I packed all of my possessions into that car many times over as I moved from school to school from post to post! Like others who have written about you, it goes without saying that beside the word "Role Model" in the dictionary for things like Soldier, Husband, Friend, Father, Mentor and many others, there is your cadet picture.....I could write a book.... In my life I have lost soldiers on my watch, I have lost 23 West Point classmates, my parents, friends and family members. Very few of them have touched me as profoundly as you and Bobbie have. I am not as sure as GEN McArthur was about what is on the other side of the river but I somehow feel comforted knowing that you will be there when I arrive. Whenever I sing or hear The Corps, as I come to the line, "When our time on Earth is done, may it be said Well Done", I know that they wrote that line with you in mind. Be thou at Peace and keep the faith, there will come a time again when we beat Navy in football! When that happens I truly epxect that you will be one of those guys who manages to roll over! With deepest apprecation for being fortunate enough to have been able to have shared a bit of your life, Bob

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