William Francis Reichert

West Point, 1968

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Mike Trollinger on January 27, 2011:

Ace, It has been 40 years now since you were killed in Vietnam, and, of course, much has happened since then. We're all in our 60's now with grown children, and most of us with grandchildren. How I wish you had had the opportunity to experience what we have, but it was not to be. My thoughts yesterday as I was driving back to Brady from Uvalde were of the party we had at your parent's house on Long Island the night after we graduated. A lot of us had congregated to be together for one final time before we scattered to the winds. Our girlfriends (soon to be wives) were there, and we enjoyed one another so much. Your parents were so gracious to let us occupy the basement in their home that night to celebrate our "achievement" of having made it through West Point. Of course, that night, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles, but we didn't know that until the next morning. That morning, we all had breakfast together, got into our cars, and drove away to our destiny. You and I had Germany assignments before Vietnam, and we visited a couple of times during that short time in Europe. We thought we might get three years, but with the war winding down, the Pentagon wanted us to get our "tickets punched," so they curtailed our assignments after a little over a year. You came to visit Carol and I in Augsburg before you left to go to RVN, and we had a good time together for a long weekend. You wanted us to go with you on leave to Italy, but I had REFORGER coming up and couldn't get off. We said our good-byes at the train station, and you were gone. I have since found out that you met a young lady from Seattle while you were in Overseas Replacement Training at Fort Lewis before you left for Vietnam. She said you were such a gentleman and that you two planned to meet for R&R at the mid-point of your tour. Who knows, if you hadn't been killed, that might have led to something more serious. Of course, that's all conjecture because you didn't make it to R&R. As time goes by, Ace, we all get older, heavier, and more gray (if we have any hair at all). As we approach that final destination, I promise you that you will not be forgotten. You will live in our memory until we meet again. Your buddy, Mike Trollinger

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