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Thomas A. Ware, Jr. ’48 No. 16617 6 Jul 1925 – 19 Oct 2003 Died in Alexandria, VA Interred in Grandview Cemetery, Chillicothe, OH Thomas Allen Ware, Jr., was an athlete, soldier, leader, historian, teacher, and writer. He was a devoted husband of two beloved wives and father of four loving children. Tom had a rare talent for making friends and maintaining friendships over the years; his self-effacing humor and concern for others endeared him to all. Tom was born and raised in Chillicothe, OH, where his father, a World War I veteran, owned a funeral home; he had two sisters and a brother. Tom was fond of telling friends that Chillicothe, founded in 1796, had served as capital of the Northwest Territory and as Ohio’s first capital. Growing up there, Tom excelled in academics, played football, worked at the funeral home, and developed a lifelong interest in history, especially military history. As a high school junior, he volunteered for the Ohio State Guard. After graduating in 1943, Tom joined the Army, went through basic training, and was trained as a heavy weapons crewman when he left Ft. McClellan, AL. PVT Ware then spent several months at Cornell University, preparing for entry to the Military Academy. As a cadet, Tom boxed, skied, shot skeet, served on the Hop Committee, held the ranks of corporal and lieutenant, and built character as a “B” squad lineman during West Point’s gridiron heyday. In academics, Tom focused on English, government, and military history. Upon graduation, he chose to be commissioned as an Infantry officer, believing that branch to be the Army’s heart, soul, and sinew. For the next 30 years, Tom’s life (and that of his military contemporaries) was shaped by the Soviet threat to Western Europe and Communism’s advance in eastern Asia. From 1949 to 1952, NATO’s formative days, Tom served in West Germany as a platoon leader and then a rifle company commander in the 1st Infantry Division’s 16th Infantry Regiment, where troop duty proved to be his special strength. He admired, respected, and demanded the best of the soldiers he led, and they willingly followed him. In addition to his regular duties, Tom coached and played guard on the regimental football team and led the team from habitual loser to victory in the European Command championship. In 1951, he married Ann Spettel, daughter and sister of West Point graduates. During 1952–55, Tom earned his parachute wings and Ranger Tab. From there, he went to Ft. Knox, KY, and during 1955–59, he served in West Germany with the 13th Airborne Infantry Battalion, 3rd Armored Division. After that came Viet Nam. Tom’s three tours of duty in Viet Nam spanned three major phases of American involvement — hesitation, commitment, and withdrawal — and gave him a rare soldierlevel understanding of that unhappy conflict. From 1960 to 1961, as American leaders pondered what to do about Viet Nam, Tom served as an operations officer in the Military Assistance Advisory Group headquarters and as senior advisor to the Vietnamese Rangers (Biet Dong Quan). During this critical period, the BDQ were coalescing as a fighting force, and Tom was one of the first Americans to serve as an advisor. Tom saw a disconnect between the perceptions of higher headquarters and the realities experienced by troop commanders in the field. After returning to the States, he wrote a remarkably prescient analysis of the situation in Viet Nam. From 1967 to 1968, the peak of American military commitment to the Republic of Viet Nam, Tom distinguished himself commanding a battalion and then a brigade in the 25th Infantry Division. Always in the field with his soldiers, he won the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and the Combat Infantryman Badge. During 1971–72, near the end of the withdrawal of American ground forces from Viet Nam, Tom commanded the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, the last full U.S. division remaining in Viet Nam. Few had seen as much of Viet Nam as Tom. Tom’s last two assignments, with the Army’s newly formed Military Personnel Center and the Army War College staff and faculty, enabled the Army to benefit from Tom’s extensive troop duty and understanding of strategy. In 1978, COL Tom Ware retired after 30 years of distinguished service. In retirement, Tom devoted his boundless energy to matters that interested him. He worked for several years as a senior analyst at BDM Corporation, distilling strategic lessons of the Viet Nam War. Tom then earned an MA in history at George Washington University (in addition to his MA in international affairs from Auburn) and taught history at Northern Virginia Community College until 1988, when lung cancer intervened and cost him his right lung. Tom remained an active member of the Civil War Round Table of Alexandria and the Military Classics Seminar at Ft. Myer, VA. He also visited Civil War and European WWI battlefields, searched for relatives in Scotland, assisted with a history of the Civil War’s Battle of Monocacy, and served occasionally as president of the Class of 1948. For 34 years, Tom was a devoted parishioner of Alexandria’s Aldersgate United Methodist Church, a member of the choir, a board member, and the church historian. Ann Spettel Ware, Tom’s beloved first wife and mother of their four children, died of cancer in 1994. In 1997, Tom married Lee Johnson, who brought him love and happiness until his death in 2003. On 23 Oct 2003, when family, friends, and classmates gathered to celebrate Tom’s life, they agreed that, to a rare degree, Tom epitomized the ideals of “Duty, Honor, Country.” Survivors include Tom’s widow, Lee Ware, and her three children; his four children: Patricia Ware of Alexandria, VA; Carolyn Ware of Baton Rouge, LA; Virginia Ware, her husband Russ, and daughter Rachael of Seattle; and Thomas A. Ware III of Seattle. Also surviving Tom are his two sisters, Beatrice Evans of Richmond, VA, and Nancy Heath of Columbus, OH; and a brother, Charles Ware of Chillicothe, OH. Sid Berry ’48

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