Posted by Joe Barkley on November 24, 2021:

Doug Gibson -- My roommate and Oldest Friend Doug Gibson was my oldest friend from West Point and my roommate. I met Doug on "R Day." He was down the hall in the 49th Division and we were close from that time on. Because our birthdays were close, we joked about being brothers. His parents always included me in events with the family and when my parents got to West point in 1964 they included Doug too. We were roommates Yearling year along with Terry Carlson. He was always an example of an excellent cadet, living up to the high standards. I can still see him striding across the Plain on 2nd Regiment Parade days in the fall of 1964; he was a master at "the Adjutant's Walk," forming the regiment for the Parade. Even after the dispersal of the "Cows" to other companies we remained close. Often through Cow and Firstie year we would "drag" together. I can still hear his "booming" voice saying "Hey Cadet" as he greeted friends in the Area. He had a unique presence. It seemed as if Doug knew everybody. Doug was in our wedding after graduation. We stayed close with Doug even though we went to different parts of the Army and world. At Ft. Benning in the winter of 1970 I literally bumped into him in Infantry Hall as he was preparing to go to Vietnam after three years in Argentina. We got caught up. We were disappointed to hear him say that he was going to leave the Army after he returned from Vietnam. Doug always seemed to have so much potential and be so "gung -- ho." Interestingly, I saw him twice in Vietnam as we were both in the 173rd Abn Bde overlapping by a month or so. He had already submitted his papers then but was still "hard charging" and dedicated to the last duty. After that he and his family visited us a couple of time when we were in Scranton and we visited them in Chatham a couple of time. My kids still remember him well. In the 56 years since we graduated I probably saw Doug only eight or nine times, including up in Maine and at the 50th reunion. But we talked and kidded and caught up as if no time had passed. Mechanically, he was one of the smartest and most adept people I knew, and he often suggested how to fix some things, even remotely. After about the year 2000 we talked at least once a week. As his health began to decline after 2017 those call became even more important to both of us -- to encourage each other; to listen to each other; to help each other; to just stay connected. Even now, I look at the phone waiting for him to call. His number is still on the contact list. Doug Gibson was a part of mine and my wife Diane's life, even remotely, for those 56 years. I have lost a "brother." "Be thou at Peace, Brother."

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