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View a eulogy for Bruce Alden McKinley, USMA '64, who passed away on January 27, 1983.

Bruce Alden McKinley

West Point, 1964

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Bob Wright on August 27, 2004:

Bruce and I were roommates during the first semester of Cow year - he coming from Company M-1 and I from K-1. I was on the football team and, without his academic help in that very challenging year, I don't know how I could have made it through the rigors of "Juice", nuclear physics, organic chemistry and the like. Bruce became a true and valued friend during those last two cadet years... we even roomed together when we had the opportunity to choose during First Class year. On our First Class trip to Fort Benning, I was among a few of us who bussed up to Atlanta to meet his parents, then living in Sandy Springs, and attend his sister Lynn's wedding ... one heckuva weekend! After graduation, we went our separate ways but managed to make contact in 1968 in Vietnam, shortly before he rotated home after his first tour. I remember he called my wife, Carolann, when he returned to CONUS and related our meeting to her - they spent a few hours on the phone. He was very upset with Cliff McKittrick's accident, related that to Carolann and, for the remainder of the war and many years thereafter, Carolann wore an MIA bracelet with Cliff's name on it ... we had met and spent time with Cliff in early 1967 at Fort Bragg. The last time I saw Bruce was in 1982 when he called me at our home in St. Louis and told me he would be passing through the local airport. I rushed to Lambert Field, we had a few drinks, a few hugs and a few laughs ... and he went on his way to his home and wife, Brenda, in Tulsa and a new job in nuclear engineering. Less than a year later, his dad called and told me Bruce had passed away. I lost a good friend who I knew, in spite of physical separation, was always there. Be thou at peace, old buddy.

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