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View a eulogy for Harold James Kaufman, USMA '64, who passed away on November 19, 1967.
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Harold James Kaufman

West Point, 1964

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Jack Price on August 18, 1998:

Hal and I were company commanders together in the 173rd where it was posted to the base camp at Dak To, near the intersection of Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos, in the fall of '67. He'd had an earlier tour with the Vietnamese Airborne and was a master of his trade.


Dak To reminded me of a 'last stand' location when we flew in with our C130s. Small airstrip surrounded by tall mountians and ridges. We were to fight our way through miles of those slopes and bamboo thickets before it was through.


When we would rendevouz at nightfall we would spend a moment together talking about cadet days and the fortunes of our deployed classmates. Mike Kiley was soon to join the battalion.


The following month brought Hill 875 and some of worst fighting of the war. Both Mike and Hal were killed that day, after I had moved on to III Corps.


Not many of us in a class come to terms with life and death as an infantryman, dying in a flurry of shrapnel, grenades, and bayonets. I honor him. I miss him.


Jack

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