John Thomas Goorley

West Point, 1963

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Brig. Gen. RM Ong (Ret) on May 21, 2017:

John Goorley and I met each other at the start of Yearling Year during our summer training in Camp Buckner. Initially, we had some difficulty in understanding each other's English accents, so he obligingly switched to Spanish, which was easier for me to understand. It turned out that he spent several years growing up In Argentina. We became close friends and our closeness continued the rest of our 4 years at the Academy. We belonged to different Companies, but our barracks were close to each other, so we did see each quite often. In fact, we even found ourselves in the same classroom on occasions. John helped me out of a jam one day. My girl friend had a sister who wanted to date a Cadet. As a favor to me, John finally agreed to be her blind date for the weekend. I guess no sparks flew during that encounter, as the two never saw each other again. On the other hand, that girl friend became my wife, and her sister became my sister-in-law for the next 54 years. John and I parted ways after Graduation Day and we never saw each other again. We did reconnect after our retirement via our Class 1963 Forum. I was always interested in reading John's opinions and ideas on class topics. It came as a shock to learn that he had passed away. Hasta la vista, amigo mio! And now, my final salute ... Ray Brigadier General Ramon M. Ong (Retired) Armed Forces of the Philippines USMA 1963

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