George Edward Menninger

West Point, 1965

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Tom Kovach on November 15, 2012:

I remember George Edward Menninger as Ed. We were classmates at West Point and graduated in June 1965. I did not know Ed well during our cadet days but we became good friends in Germany as we, along with John Alger (another classmate), were assigned to the same Airborne battalion in Mainz as our first unit assignment after Ranger and Airborne schools. In December 1965, my wife Marilyn and I were the first of the three couples to arrive in Mainz. We were assigned the last available officer's quarters - a three-bedroom apartment generally reserved for majors. John and his wife Martha arrived a couple weeks later. Since no quarters were available, they moved in with us until they were assigned their own quarters. At about the time they moved out, Ed and his wife Joan arrived. Same story - they moved in with us. About eight months later, I was reassigned to division headquarters in Bad Kreuznach. Four months later, I received my orders for Vietnam. In February 1967, we moved out of our quarters, stayed overnight with Ed and Joan, and then they drove us to the airport the next day. At the time, Ed and Joan were moving out of their quarters since Ed was being reassigned to division hq to replace me. Ed and Joan moved into the quarters in Bad Kreuznach that we had just vacated. At the time, they were expecting their child. Jeffrey Scott Menninger was born June 21, 1967 shortly after I departed the U.S. for Vietnam. On March 25, 1968, Joan passed away. I do not know the timing of the next events, but Ed returned to the U.S. with Jeffrey to lay Joan to rest at West Point. I returned from Vietnam in June 1968 and went to Ft. Benning GA. One weekend, Marilyn and I went shopping in Atlanta. We returned to find that Ed had been at Ft. Benning over the weekend looking for us. Ed was headed to Vietnam and had left Jeffrey with a relative. The next we heard of Ed was that he was killed in Vietnam on March 21, 1969 - almost exactly one year after Joan passed away. Ed was the 24th of 25 classmates lost in Vietnam. Marilyn and I always thought that Ed had left Jeffrey with Ed's sister in Texas. Only later did we learn that Ed had left Jeffrey with Joan's brother Ed Butler and his wife Nancy. Ed and Nancy adopted Jeffrey and he now is Jeffrey Scott Butler. Ed and Joan, our time together in Germany is a lasting fond memory for both Marilyn and me. But it was too short. Rest in Peace. Your classmate Tom

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