Posted by XXXXXX on May 2, 2008:

William R. Bandeen ’48 No. 16591 11 Oct 1926 – 2 Jul 2004 Died in Brinklow, MD Interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Suitland, MD William Reid “Bill” Bandeen is remembered as the finest man his wife and children ever knew. Following his death, his family, colleagues and friends characterized him as a hero and role model; an enormously generous and honorable man who unfailingly put the needs of others before his own; an individual whose life characterized the “Duty, Honor, Country” creed of his beloved West Point; and an accomplished yet modest man, who never broadcast his achievements. First Class year roommate Les Carter remembers him “as a person of the highest character who excelled in an institution that placed great stress on the development of that trait. He had high principles and conducted himself in such a way as to be an example to all who associated with him.” Bill was born in Escanaba, MI, the younger son of Orren and Jeanette Guthrie Bandeen. Growing up in Flint and Midland, MI, he devoted himself to music. While in high school, he reveled in being a clarinetist and saxophonist in the renowned Midland big band, Freddie Blackhurst and the Blackout Blasters, emulating his favorite musical artist, Benny Goodman. Coming of age during WWII, Bill’s planned enlistment in the Army Air Corps was pre-empted when he joined the Class of ’48. There, he was known as a man of extraordinarily even disposition, earning him, from his E-2 company classmates, the nickname “Nails.” Bill was also dubbed “Quasimodo” by virtue of the cold winter nights spent trudging up from barracks to serve as Chapel Chimer. He displayed interest in virtually every musical organization in the Corps and ultimately directed the Glee Club. As the 1948 Howitzer attested: “Bill, the Corps troubadour, was born with a song, and he has given forth with it... ever since. His arias immediately after reveille were particularly loved by those awake to listen. A piano under his touch gave forth honky-tonk or rhapsody equally well... His ambition—to compose commands to be sung. As he has in everything else, Bill will succeed at this approach.” Upon graduating, Bill completed Signal Corps training at Ft. Riley, KS, and Ft. Monmouth, NJ. Thereafter, he served in occupied Japan, where he directed the 7th Division Signal School at Sendai Jinmachi and Yokohama. When the Korean War erupted, he joined the 7th Division there, ultimately earning the Combat Infantryman Badge for his participation in battles along the 38th parallel. Providentially, he was recalled from the Chosin Reservoir three hours before the Chinese attack on the night of 27–28 Nov 1950. Following Bill’s return from Korea in 1951 and two subsequent years at Ft. Gordon, GA, he seized an opportunity to pursue his science interests, earning a master’s degree in meteorology from New York University in 1955. Now a captain, he served in the Meteorology Branch, Signal Corps Engineering Laboratory, Ft. Monmouth, NJ. Deployed to Ft. Churchill, Canada, he and his colleagues employed rocket-launched grenades to measure winds and temperature in the upper atmosphere during the International Geophysical Year (1957–58). In 1959, after President Eisenhower founded NASA, Bill’s group moved to Washington, DC. There, they participated in the design of the Vanguard II satellite instrumentation. Meanwhile, Bill continued in the Army Reserve, and in 1967, he retired as a major. For 30 years after joining NASA, Bill was integral to the meteorological satellite program at the Goddard Space Flight Center, rising to associate director of Space and Earth Science. He led the development and 1960 launching of the first Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS), whose spectacular cloud pictures represented the beginning of satellite meteorology, and subsequent TIROS. Thereafter, he was a key leader in the development of the NIMBUS and GOES satellite series that produced wide ranging advances in space-borne observations of the earth and its atmosphere. Among his achievements was the first published analysis of the global earth radiation budget. David Atlas, Bill’s friend and the Laboratory for Atmospheric Sciences Director from 1977 to 1984, graciously notes: “While I would have liked to take credit for the considerable success that the laboratory achieved, Bill is at the top of the list of those who made it possible.” Bill published many papers in the field of atmospheric radiation and was elected a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal and Goddard’s Exceptional Service Award. Bill was the beloved husband of Joan (Sleeper) Bandeen, whom he married in 1960, and who remembers him as “my prince and soul mate, and the light and love of my life.” He was an exceptional father to his children, Kevin, Keith, and Karen, and son-inlaw William Roche; and a devoted uncle to his six nieces and nephews. He had tremendous affinity for animals, overseeing numerous poodles, cats, ponies, and other creatures in his family years. He sustained his passion for music throughout his life, sang tenor in his church choir for nearly 35 years, performed in a Washington-area jazz group in the late 1960s, and periodically contributed his clarinetist talents in his daughter’s grade school band concerts. His improvisational piano playing regularly enriched his Class of ’48 reunions through the 55th in 2003. On 2 Jul 2004, Bill died suddenly at his home. He was 77 years old, in apparent good health, and looked vigorous to the end. From his 1989 NASA retirement until two days before his death, he continued to work three days a week as a consultant at the Earth Observing System Project Science Office at Goddard. “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, what so ever things are just. If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” These words of the apostle Paul characterize the way Bill lived his life. Bill is profoundly missed by his family, friends, and colleagues around the world. Bill’s family, with thanks to David Atlas and Les Carter

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