William Thomas McCreary

West Point, 1965

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Tadahiko Ono on April 1, 2019:

Bill was a dear friend. We were in B-1 as plebes and yearlings and stayed good friends since. When we were plebes, Bill protected us little guys from the upperclassmen with his intimidating stare, backed by a will to take them on behind the barracks. No upperclassmen was willing to take Bill on. We played tennis together as cows and firsties. My Mom and I met his proud parents during graduation week. We were in the same Ranger and Airborne classes. During Airborne, Bill came over for dinner a few times and managed to eat a quart of ice cream at one sitting. Bill loved to eat. We got together again after Vietnam when Hiro and I visited him and Roberta. Bill just wanted to fly but the Army wanted him to be a Signal Corps officer. Bill got out, went to law school, together with Roberta, began a beautiful family and a great business providing health insurance benefits to employees of smaller companies in Florida. He had clients all over the state, so he decided he needed his own plane to cover his clients (at least, that was his excuse). He and Roberta bought a beautiful piece of property in northern Georgia which they used to host friends and religious retreats, a very important part of their lives. Hiro and I had the pleasure of spending several enjoyable days with Bill and Roberta there where they served us elk stew with meat Bill brought back from one of his hunting trips to Colorado with his boys. Even though he really didn't play golf, Bill took me to a nice course so I could enjoy it. That's how Bill was: generous, sincere, genuine, warm and true. A great husband, father, grandfather and friend. He didn't have to say much for you to know how he felt. It was a heart to heart kind of thing. I respected and loved Bill as a man and friend. Thank you, Bill, for your love and friendship.

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