Posted by David B Kuhn Jr on May 12, 2023:

I got to know John during Beast Barracks, when we roomed together. Then, when the academic year started, we both were assigned to Company C-1, and again were roommates for the first semester. John and I were both on the track team for four years and our friendship grew. John was from Yonkers, New York, and proud of it. He was an expert in Rock & roll, particularly East Coast Doo-Wop, and we used to try to stump each other. I had to learn who sang "Trickle, Trickle," which I never even heard of in California (it was the Videos). John was known to love his rest and hated any light when he was in bed. As a consequence, he became known as "The Mole," a nickname that stuck with him through the years. John was a great distance runner in track and was named captain of the cross-country team in our senior year. We were both very proud of our record against Navy in Track and Field, having beaten them seven out of eight times while we were cadets. We were always upset we didn't make it eight out of eight!! John came and visited us on his way to Panama when my wife and I were stationed in South Carolina. That is when we first met the love of his life, Diane, who would later come to be known as "Dr. DeDe." We had the good fortune in later years to become pretty close neighbors after John left the service and lived in Southern California. We got to know his children, John Jr. and Jennifer, of whom he was so proud. Later, John and DeDe left California and moved to Atlanta, which John hated and called Hotlanta, and then on to Pinehurst where John learned to love golf. John was a good friend who will be sorely missed, and we hope The Mole is having a good time playing the Back Nine in Heaven.

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