Robert Pratt Ronne

West Point, 1975

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by PATRICK VANSCHOYCK on December 14, 2023:

I knew Bob Ronne both as a cadet and in our home town of Tulsa, OK. Bob was a Vietnam vet when he got to West Point. He talked about going on long range patrols in Vietnam. He was very modest about his service and only told about his prior service when I asked him what the medal was on his dress gray uniform. Later, after he retired in Tulsa, Bob volunteered to help distribute the toys at a large center complex for the yearly toy drive. The drive usually took many long hours to accomplish. When he arrived early to the event, he observed it was completely in disarray and he mustered the volunteers to get organized and arranged the toys on tables to distribute them by age and sex very efficiently. The other volunteers were pleased to have his leadership and guidance and to get finished in a reasonable time. One summer, he was training himself for the long walk of the Appalachian Trail by wearing his backpack and climbing up and down the sides of the on-ramps of the local highways (Oklahoma is relatively flat) to get in shape for the trek. He experienced his first heart attack in the oppressive heat of the Oklahoma summer. He recovered and continued his active life but i don't think he did the Appalachian Trail. He was a realtor in Tulsa among his other activities. He was always in good spirits. He moved to Oregon to live on land he and his father acquired to enjoy the weather and fishing. I lost contact with him then. I remember Bob fondly and was sad to see he had died.

admin