James Harrison Ramsden

West Point, 1958

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Stan Bacon on July 18, 2003:

It was our 35 reunion dinner/dance. The company was split between two large round tables. I recall Bacons, Schwars, Ramsdens and one or two other couples at our table. It seemed as though every other table there had gotten served but ours. Jim sat quietly for a while, listening to everyone else complaining about it. Then close to 10:00pm he finally caught a waitress' eye and asked her loudly "Are we going to get served here tonight? We have a cancer victim sitting at this table." Several waiters promptly placed our dinners before us, wondering why we were still laughing. He was the cancer victim! A couple of days earlier Jill and I were having lunch at the Park Restaurant by the main gate. There was a large group having a wild get-together in the rear area. Our backs were to them. They were obviously having a lot of fun. A voice said "Maybe Stan Bacon will take a picture of us." I looked around to see Jim, whose hair had grown back with a vengeance, thick and dark following his previous chemo session, and what looked like most of the Chemistry Deptartment, at least his entire adoring former civilian staff, all having a great reunion and paying homage to Jim and Rae.

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