Dennis Frank O'Block

West Point, 1964

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Peter Gleszer on March 7, 2024:

I first met Denny at the beginning of Cow year- after our class went through what is now referred to as a Scramble - all Class of '64 Cadets switched companies between Yearling and Cow years. Among my new company mates was this really old looking guy. Thinning hair and a worldly, "Been there, done that," attitude, and outspoken beyond my experience with anyone, much less a classmate. Those were my first impressions of Denny O'Block. And they were right on target: he not only looked and acted older than the rest of us, he was old (and experienced). I was born in 1943, he in the previous decade. He in the previous decade. I had gone from home and high school straight to USMA. He had been out on his own while completing school and eventually joining the Marines. I probably learned more about how to make it in the real world from Denny than from any other source. I really owe him a great deal and regret never even hinting to him the impact he had on me. While I was on leave after Ranger School, I had him over to my parents' place in Arlington. After that he would jokingly ask how Roland (my father, a Major General) was doing, or if Roland were involved in putting down the protests, etc. The last time I saw him was just before I left for my first assignment in Germany. I visited him while he was going through Marine Officers School and we went out on a double date - he of course arranged my date and the somewhat drunken evening the four of us enjoyed. He became a aviator and before he was deployed to RVN apparently spent time in the WDC area as my mother mentioned him in letters: "We had Denny over for drinks and went out to dinner.. ..he let me drive his Corvette this afternoon when he came over." In retirement we ended up just an hour away from each other - Denny in Pensacola and I in Fairhope, AL - but I never acted on my intention to drive over and see the Old Man again. A missed opportunity and a missing significant part of my life. Semper Fi, Denny.

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