Posted by XXXXXX on May 18, 2008:

Keith Alden Boss NO. 16707 CLASS OF 1948 Died 29 January 1973 at Portsmouth Hospital, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, aged 47 years. Interment: Family Lot, Sagamore Cemetery, Portsmouth, New Hampshire KEITH WAS BORN in Portsmouth on 4 August 1925, the only child of G. Victor Boss and Delia Millette Boss. He progressed easily through the public school system, graduating in 1943 from Portsmouth High School. He immediately entered the University of New Hampshire where his abundant energies were only partly consumed by the demands of his curriculum. His poise and sparkling wit landed him an extra-curricular job as an announcer and disc jockey on the local radio station. That experience was to stand him in good stead during his cadet days, enabling him to conduct captivating conversations on any subject from the latest styles in fashion to the number one hit tune of any recent period. His appointment to the Military Academy was a source of great satisfaction to Keith. Coming as it did in a time of serious challenge to his country, he relished the opportunity it offered to render a lifetime of service in the profession of arms, and he saw at West Point a marvelous opportunity to prepare himself best for that service. His classmates probably remember him best for his unfailing good humor. Never one to let the demands of cadet life dampen his spirits, he was the source of countless stories, jokes and yarns that served to restore the flagging spirits of his classmates when their problems seemed to take on the most onerous dimensions. That was a gift that he graciously gave to all around him, and the evidence of how thoughtfully it was received is the ready recollection of that generous trait by all of his friends. Graduation was followed by another year of training at the Ground General School and the Artillery School where Keith confirmed that he had made the right choice in electing to be an artilleryman. It was a good thing because the Korean War provided him ample opportunity to exercise his skill in fire support. He served as a battery officer and a battery commander in the 555th Field Artillery Battalion, a part of the 5th Regimental Combat Team. His next assignment as Assistant Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Harvard University was one of the most pleasant for him because it was his first opportunity to be with his wife, Ingrid Ullrich. They had been married in San Francisco on 4 August 1949 just as Keith left for overseas, and the extended separation resulting from the outbreak of the Korean War had been a difficult time for both Keith and Ingrid. Succeeding assignments in Continental United States and Europe shifted his emphasis to air defense artillery. He held both command and staff assignments in field army air defense units, and later served in headquarters of the Army Air Defense Command at Colorado Springs. After completing the Command and General Staff College, Keith was assigned to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, where, tragically, his health began to fail. Never one to give in to any potential limitations, he continued to push himself even though the complications of high blood pressure and an overly rapid heartbeat worsened as a result. No longer convinced that his physical condition would permit him to render the full measure of service about which he felt so strongly, Keith resigned in 1965. He returned to Portsmouth where he lived very quietly, trying to recover the vigor and energy that he missed so badly. He never lost his abiding interest in the many things that his active mind and fertile imagination brought to his attention. Keith was a good soldier. He would not want any more eloquent epitaph than to be remembered that way by his fellow soldiers. To those of us who were privileged to know him along the way, he will be remembered as a dear friend who could bring a laugh and a fresh perspective to things when we needed it the most. That, too, is an eloquent epitaph.

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