WP-ORG Main Image
View a eulogy for Malcolm Stanton Gilchrist, USMA '65, who passed away on February 9, 2015.

Malcolm Stanton Gilchrist

West Point, 1965

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Joseph Barkley on February 12, 2015:

Gil was my roommate for two years in E -- 2. He was my Ranger buddy. We were close for several years and then time and distance intervened a bit.

Gil was close to my parents who were stationed at West Point then. My mother wanted to adopt him. Frequently during firstie year he would show up at my parents' house at dinner time.

He was in our wedding. We still have and use the silver tray that he and his parents gave us as a wedding present. It is used on a regular basis when we entertain, and refer to it as "Gil's Tray."

We stayed with him on a few football weekends when he was assigned at West Point, and he and Martha visited us here in Newtown for an Army Navy game.

Gil was a color guard corporal and a color guard sergeant. It was a point of some humor between us that I had to help him get ready for parades. Gil would hang on the alcove rail and I would pull the dress white "trou" on him so that there were no wrinkles. Gil hated wrinkles!

He studied hard, often annoying me because the lights were still on while I tried to sleep. That probably explains why he was close to wearing stars and I was not.

There is probably not a week goes by that Diane and I have not reminded ourselves of some funny story about Gil when we were cadets. He was a big part of our lives at West Point and afterwards too. Even though there was so much time and distance separating us.

We share our birthday. At Benning in the fall of 1965 the break in Ranger School between Phase one and Phase two fell on our birthday. We went to the Steak Place at the circle at the end of Victory drive, along with our squad. We each ordered two "Ranger Specials." When we finished that we went to a bakery and bought a chocolate cake which we consumed in the parking lot.

Like too many of us, we quickly grew older and more apart, and had too much less contact. I usually called around the birthday. But the last time I called he had so much trouble talking and breathing that I knew he was not doing well. I did not call on this birthday, and I should have!

He was probably the most serious man I knew; one of the funniest I knew; one of the most loyal people I knew. He was dedicated to the Army. Of Gil the words in the Alma Marta ring so true; "May it be said Well Done. Be though at peace."

Joe Barkley USMA 1965; Company E -2



  Next Eulogy
admin

West-Point.Org (WP-ORG), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, provides an online communications infrastructure that enable graduates, parents, and friends of the military academy to maintain and strengthen the associations that bind us together. We will provide this community any requested support, consistent with this purpose, as quickly and efficiently as possible. WP-ORG is funded by the generosity of member contributions. Our communication services are provided in cooperation with the AOG (independent of USMA) and are operated by volunteers serving the Long Gray Line. For questions or comments, please email us at feedback@west-point.org.