Robert Francis Selkis

West Point, 1965

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Matteo D'Amico on May 16, 2016:

Bob Selkis and I first met several years ago at our local golf course. I was wearing a NAVY ball cap and Bob was wearing an ARMY golf shirt. We soon realized that we were both graduates of our respective academies; I graduated from the Naval Academy, Class of 1965 while Bob graduated from the Military Academy, Class of 1965. We also quickly learned that we had some other common links between our respective classes and thus began our friendship. We began to partner up in various team golf competitions within our Senior Men's Club. I would get to the golf course about one hour before our tee time and as I approached the clubhouse I would hear in the distance Bob's voice shouting for all to hear, "Hey Swabee, over here." Bob of course already had a cart and he was going to drive that day and most every day. Thus I proudly became "Swabee". If I arrived before Bob, I would get a cart and head to the practice area where Bob would eventually show up with a cart and would say, "Swabee, put your bag on this cart. This is a better cart." Yes! Bob always had to drive the golf cart. Each time we would play together we would continue a nonstop Army versus Navy verbal jousting over the next four hours. We both had served in country Vietnam, but we never discussed Vietnam experiences. I did however find out that Bob had been wounded in Vietnam and spent a considerable amount of time in various hospitals. He would admit that the Naval Hospitals were the best as he claimed that the Corpsman would come around daily with a "ration of grog". Our discussions in the cart were mostly about golf, Academy experiences and the latest Army-Navy athletic competitions. He truly loved West Point and was extremely proud to have been a graduate and to have been a member of the Class of 1965. He would always claim that it was much harder to gain admission to West Point than Annapolis. I would then ask, "How in the world did you ever get in?" He would say it was because of his good looks and athletic prowess. He also boasted that West Point was a superior academic institution versus Annapolis. I would respond by asking Bob, "How come you can't add the scorecard correctly". He would smile and say "that's why I have you here". Our Senior Men's Club's Team Championship is called the President's Cup and our very first year as partners we qualified to play in the tournament. We won both low net and low gross. We were able to pick each other up during the round, proving that although we were rivals on the athletic field we could be victorious as a unified Army-Navy team. Bob loved competition and he also had a very sharp tongue. If you came right back at him, he was your friend for life. He loved that give and take among friends. We had made plans to attend the Army-Navy Lacrosse match at West Point on April 16 and he was extremely excited about the soon to be played game. Both Army and Navy had good teams, were evenly matched and the winner could possibly become the Patriot League regular season champion. We never made it to West Point for that game as Bob left us two weeks before. I did however travel to West Point on May 3 to bid farewell to my good friend and to wish him "Fair Winds and a Following Sea" as he embarks on his new journey. Matt D'Amico USNA Class of 1965

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