James E. Bigelow

West Point, 1964

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Brig. Gen. RM Ong (Ret) on May 31, 2016:

May 30, 2016 -- Memorial Day in Scottsdale, Arizona where Mrs. Ong and I are visiting our son and daughter, who are residents here. The morning sky is blue, the Sonoran Desert air is crisp, and the sun's early rays are mildly warm on my weathered wrinkled skin -- it is a great day to be alive! Today is also a good day to remember my late companymate Jim Bigelow who served his country well. Jim and I were squadmates together in Company E-2, US Corps of Cadets at West Point for a couple of years. He was my underclassman, one year below me. I remember him as an all-around nice guy, except that one winter day -- after a heavy snowfall -- when he and some Plebes in the Company grabbed my sleeping form and tried to throw me out the 2nd floor window and onto the snowbank. Only my prodigious strength, exceptional agility and indomitable fighting spirit thwarted their evil scheme! Otherwise, Jim was a regular guy, a team player and a hard worker, always studying, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. But he was triumphant in the end, because he graduated on schedule with his classmates, after 4 years of battling the textbooks and the Academic Department. My fondest memory of him is that this Plebe gave me the biggest pain in the neck when I was chewing him out. This was probably because I had to yell at a face that was vertically located at least a foot higher than mine. Yes, Jim was always the tallest Cadet in Company E-2! Our paths never crossed again after Graduation Day. Jim served his country and I served mine as career officers. In retrospect, I like to think that he may have learned something from me on how to be a good soldier. Be thou at peace, my friend. Brigadier General Ramon M. Ong (Retired) Armed Forces of the Philippines USMA 1963

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