Posted by Bill Carey on April 30, 2005:

Wiley McCrea. What happy and sad memories his name always brings to mind. Of all of the hundreds of pictures I took at West Point, I have, in hand, only four. One of those is a 'jiggled' picture (the taker, laughing at the antics of Wiley, or Wiley 'goofing around'). It must have been in the spring of 1953, as he is dressed in FD Gray over white, his FD coat unbuttoned and pulled back over his shoulders, Tar Bucket pushed back - strap firmly in his teeth, cartridge case on his hip, feet crossed at the ankles, and leaning on his M-1 rifle - hand over the muzzle! Would that I had a more professional picture. Never the less, it always brings back happy memories: Wiley always smiling, always content, always proud to be at West Point. When we returned to the barracks from Buckner in August, 1953, Wiley looked pale. I vaguely remember that we needled him about spending all of his time indoors. I do not remember him complaining - telling us the real story of his illness. What a shock when I was told that Wiley had died. (I was to experience that shock again some ten years later). And then, the sadness. The practice for his funeral - (42 (about) steps per minute, instead of 60) - for his funeral. The march to the old Cadet Chapel, filling into the pews, and then my tears (the first time in my life I cried in public), his casket being lowered into the grave, three piercing volleys, and taps. Sad then; sad now. After the funeral, it was back to the task at hand. Largely, pushing Wiley to the bottom of the list of things to think about. However, he managed, and still manages, to come back into my conscious thoughts. If only. If only, I had paid more attention to Wiley, and other classmates; learned more about their lives. But I did not. So, as we approach our 50th Anniversary of Graduation, I know virtually nothing about Wiley's life before West Point. Butch Harbold told me last year that he went to Ogden High School, Utah, with Wiley, graduating in 1951. What do you remember? Bill PS How did 'Wiley' become the nickname for 'William'? From the Road-Runner cartoon?

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