John Bernard Foster

West Point, 1951

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Jose Andres "Andy" Chacon on August 29, 2004:

John Bernard Foster Born May 27, 1927 - Died June 21, 1964 "Jug" Foster was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on 27 May 1927. He attended the Georgia Military Academy for three years prior to enlisting in the United States Navy in 1944. It was during his service in the Navy that he developed the deep understanding of, and sincere appreciation for, the role of the enlisted man which continued throughout his later life. This broadening experience in the Navy strengthened his early resolve and determination to follow a professional military career. In 1946 he returned to the Georgia Military Academy for his senior year, achieving high honors and graduating with an honor school appointment to the United States Military Academy. While at West Point, John continued to mature and through a nice combination of applied industry and innate ability laid the broad base for his future Army career. During this period he developed a lasting love for all literature with a special interest in military history. In retrospect, he always felt that the experiences gained, the friendships cemented, and the knowledge acquired were basically the high purposes of the Military Academy. In June 1951 John graduated and was commissioned a 2d lieutenant in the Field Artillery. During his service in the Navy, John had met June Hagelin and discovered in her the high ideals and aspirations in which he so strongly believed. Their friendship had continued and deepened during the succeeding years, and they were married shortly after graduation. Following the basic Artillery course at Fort Sill, Jug served for a short time with an Artillery unit at Fort Bragg prior to receiving orders for Europe in 1952. The next five years, spent successively in Germany and Fort Riley, Kansas, with the 5th Field Artillery of the 1st Infantry Division, were indeed happy and rewarding. John's tour with this battalion was uniquely and appropriately highlighted by his selection to command "D" Battery, Alexander Hamilton's Battery, the oldest existing unit in the United States Army. In 1957 the Fosters left the 1st Division to attend the Artillery advanced course at Fort Sill and Fort Bliss. Following this military schooling, Jug was nominated for graduate schooling at the University of Arizona, in the field of nuclear engineering. He was able to utilize this specialized training immediately, for his next assignment was with the Field Command, Defense Atomic Support Agency at Sandia Base. John was then ordered to Korea in July 1963, where he was assigned as S3, and acting executive officer, of the 1st Target Acquisition Battalion. It was while there in Korea, in March 1964, that Jug was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Hospital. He had already received orders to attend the regular course at the Command and General Staff College. After a short but painful illness, Jug died of cancer at Walter Reed on 21 June 1964. Jug Foster was a very warm, human individual, possessed of a rare wit and an effervescent humor. He was certainly a positive person, endowed with boundless enthusiasm and high principle. He never avoided an argument or a controversial issue, nor was his considered opinion ever wanting. Truly, his loyalty and dedication to the United States Army was his way of life. In this regard, his high motives and basic sincerity were always above reproach. John was laid to rest in the cemetery at West Point on 25 June 1964, and the lasting tribute placed on his tombstone by is wife simply and poignantly marks his life as he lived it: "God never made anything better than a good soldier." A.B.A. The Artilleryman's Creed is a click away at Artilleryman's Creed ufa

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