WP-ORG Main Image
View a eulogy for William Edward Whittington, USMA '45, who passed away on May 3, 2011.

William Edward Whittington

West Point, 1945

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Julia Whittington Walton on May 29, 2011:

William Edward Whittington III
Newt
Dad
Grandfather
September 11, 1923 -- May 3, 2011

I've written this talk for the grandchildren. As I thought about it, I realized my own children really have no idea what my Dad's early life was like, and what it was like to grow up in the Whittington Family in the 1950s and 60s and neither do, probably, the other grandchildren.

We were, first and foremost, Christians and Army "Brats."

- We didn't find it unusual to move every three years, to new homes chosen by the Army Personnel Department and which we had never heard of, let alone chosen.
- Until 10th grade I never really knew anyone whose dad didn't work for the Army. Our idea of diversity was that our Dad was infantry and Mikey's Dad was artillery.
- When Dad was a "field grade" officer -- that would be a major or Lt. Colonel -- we thought everyone lived in a duplex with covered car-port, which is what the Army gave field grade officers.
- And we thought civilian clothes were just for Sundays, since every other day Dad's choice was "fatigues" (the ones that looked like trees) or "Class A's," the green suit with tie.

I've thought about what Dad would want his grandchildren to know about him. And I start with what he himself would say was important to him, which were three things:

- God
- Country
- Family

Period.

So, I decided to give a very brief history of Dad's life, and I will try to use that to tell you what he would find important. God. Country. Family.

Dad's grandfather, William Edward I, was from Pocatello, Idaho. He lived to the age of 104. He was 14 when the Spanish-American War broke out. You had to be 16 to join the Army but you could join at 15 as a bugler. So he claimed to be 15 and joined as a bugler.

Dad's maternal grandfather was a Wall Street lawyer.

Dad's father was born William Patrick Whittington but was teased as "Willie P." by his older sister "Birdie," and changed his name to William Edward II. He graduated from the US Military Academy, and split his career between the Army -- when wars were on -- and the telephone company -- when they weren't.

Dad grew up in New Jersey. His family had a city house, in Nutley, and a so-called "farm," in Montclair, where they had their own private lake and where his mother hitched horses up to a buggy for rides. Dad has an older sister, "Puntie," who married a West Pointer, Bill White.

In high school, Dad left the family for boarding school at Northwoods School, in Lake Placid, NY, where he played football and hockey and ran track.

When he graduated in 1941, his dream was to go to The Academy, of course. He didn't get in, so he had to "waste" a year at Harvard until he could apply again for an appointment to the 1942 starting class. This time he made it. He would run track and skate for the famous "Black and Gold." And Dad would surely want me to remind you that in 1944 -- Dad's final year, the score of the Big Game was Army: 23, Navy: 7.

When he entered West Point as a "plebe" -- that's a first year cadet -- in 1942, the U.S. had just entered the War, and the Army needed trained officers. So the decision was made to have the cadets go to school year-round so they would finish the four-year program in three years, and would end up being the class of 1945. But things changed. The class of '44 had been graduated and hurried to war in the European theater, and many young men were lost. By early 1945, it looked like the War would be won anyway, and the decision was made not to send the '45s there. Instead, Dad -- who was now age 22, single, and very anxious to meet ladies -- was sent to a two-year tour of duty to rural Korea. This was two years before the Korean War and Korea was definitely not exciting to a 22 year old lieutenant.

The good news is that in 1948, now 25 and still anxious to meet ladies, he was assigned to Ft. Bragg, NC. Here he served in the prestigious 82d Airborne Division. Yes, he jumped out of airplanes, and he was proud of it. And you know what? He met Ginnie Mace, daughter of Colonel Mace, and it just so happened that Ginnie was impressed with dashing young lieutenants who'd been around the world and regularly jumped out of airplanes.

In this time Dad lived in a house with three other young officers and best friends -- Hal Bruckner, Hank Hankins, and Hal Moore, all of them pursuing Army daughters. Their "deal" was that the first to get married would get the house, and the others would move out. The "winner" turned out to be Hal Moore. Of the friends, Hal Bruckner would be killed in action in the Korean War, Hal Moore would become a four-star general and subject of the movie We Were Soldiers, and Hank and his wife D.A. would continue to be very close friends.

Not long after Hal Moore won the "house bet," Dad persuaded Mom to marry him. He was 26, and she was -- Whittington girls cover your ears! -- 19. They were married at Ft. Bragg, NC, in a military wedding. Hal Bruckner was Dad's best man. Dad wore his dress uniform, and they exited the chapel under an arch of West Point sabers. A year later they had their first child, a very handsome, bright boy, whom they named William Edward IV.

Army life was tough. In 1952 Dad experienced his first "unaccompanied tour." Now for the non-military here, "tour" doesn't mean "vacation." This means you go to a faraway place without your family for a year. So while Mom and that handsome one-year old went to Germany to be with her parents, Dad was sent to that "tourist" destination of rural Turkey where he was an advisor to the Turkish cavalry. Yes they actually rode horses. He learned two words of Turkish with which he later would dazzle us. "Ben Turk," "Ben Turk," he would say -- meaning "I'm a Turk" -- which he most certainly wasn't.

In 1953 at age 31 Dad was reunited with his young family, at Ft. Monroe, VA. Here they had their first home -- military housing. They got their first dog, Winkie, a cocker spaniel. And in 1954 they had a beautiful and bright daughter, Virginia Louise -- "Lukie."

The other very significant thing about Ft. Monroe is that Dad and Mom had a life changing experience. Through a model Christian officer and his wife -- Ira and Helen Palm -- they decided to become Christians. Now, unlike many of you who have grown up in Christian churches, this was a huge change for him, at age 31. He became a regular at military chapel. He went to house Bible studies every week. He stopped drinking and smoking, in a culture where this was pretty unusual. And this commitment would dominate the remainder of his life.

1955-59 brought Dad his first civilian assignment, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Here he was a Professor of Military Science in the Reserve Officers Training Corps. He taught college students how to become officers. Handsome and bright son, Robert Mace, was born (1958), and beautiful and bright daughter, Julia Marie (1959). Dad and Mom attended the Garfield Avenue Baptist Church, where they deepened their Christian commitment through an adult Sunday School class taught by Vic Olsen, a young doctor who would spend a career as a medical missionary in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. He's written some well-known books about Bangladesh.

Next came four years in Germany, 1959-63. This was the "Cold War" period, and Dad's job here was to protect the border between communist East Germany and free West Germany, especially the infamous "Fulda Gap" where it was thought the Soviet tanks might rumble through. I remember a very nervous couple of weeks when Dad rushed off and we practiced going into a basement shelter. I later learned that this was the Soviet blockade of Berlin from the west, which had to be solved by the famous Berlin Airlift.

From 1963-66 Dad commanded a battalion of new Army recruits at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. Every eight weeks he'd get a new group of 800 privates. They'd shave their heads, run them into shape, and teach them how to shoot an M-16. And then -- they'd be soldiers. He'd run right along with those 18-year olds and he could always keep up.

In 1966, age 43 and now a lieutenant colonel, Dad started to think that as a career Army officer he hadn't done enough to protect American freedom. So he volunteered to go to Viet Nam. While the family moved to San Antonio -- again near Mom's parents -- Dad went to Nha Trang, Viet Nam for 18 months. He worked in so-called "moral development" or "winning the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people." This was dangerous duty. After the infantry would clear a village of Viet Cong (the enemy), Dad's teams would helicopter in and teach the villagers about hygiene and work. They were never sure who was friendly and who was disguised Viet Cong. He had a burden for the Vietnamese people that would continue when he returned.

Dad's last assignments were in Oklahoma City, where he was an advisor to the Oklahoma National Guard, and Korea, where he defended the hostile border between North and South Korea. He then returned to Selfridge Air Base, north of Detroit, where he retired with 28 years of service to the Army.

He wasn't content to retire, and he spent the next ten years as a financial aid officer at Detroit Bible College and then as a records custodian at Hutzel Hospital.

OK, so what sticks out about my Dad? Three things he said were important.

First, to God

As long as I can remember, if I saw my Dad between 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning, he had his Bible open. (Yes, he was often asleep but I'm sure God counted the intention and not the number of pages read.)

His most significant engagement outside of work was the Officers Christian Union, OCU, now Fellowship (OCF), which ran home Bible studies for officers and their wives. Often there would be just my parents and one other person, but they never missed. We even took vacations to OCU conference centers.

When he met visiting officers from other countries, he'd bring them to church on Sundays and then home for dinner and, always, a talk about why we were Christians.

And in old age, when he could no longer go out, it was his great joy on his 87th birthday to be taken to church.

He was 100% true to his faith, right to the end.

There is not a truer summary of his life than the last line in your programs today, "A Follower of Jesus Christ."

Second, to Country

Dad identified himself as a soldier, and the image he was proudest of was himself in fatigues, in the field, leading his men.

He valued freedom, and he believed freedom came only with sacrifice. He willing accepted the sacrifices of military life, and he never "worked" or "had a job" -- he "served."

In retirement he became a active supporter of the Veterans and he was well-known for collecting for the veterans every Memorial Day through the "poppy program."

If he was traveling he'd always manage to find other veterans.


Third, to Family

He loved his wife and children, and he wanted his kids to be like him.

I think we had exactly two choices of colleges to consider -- Wheaton College and West Point.

He taught what was important by example.

He was much loved in Texas Train -- he could be counted on to try his hardest and still lose to the grandchildren.

And his finest moment with our family was when he and Mom met us on short notice in Disney World and paraded around our hotel wearing 5-foot high balloon hats with their grandchildren.

At Fort Whittington -- the Whittington respite in northern Michigan -- if you got up real early you could usually see Dad with a gaggle of young grandchildren standing at attention and raising the flag while he played "Reveille" on a make-believe bugle.

Among his proudest moments were when he pinned on my 2d Lieutenant bars and, a few years later, Rob's. And Ted, I can tell you that he was just as proud when you enlisted last year.

So, what he cared about was God, Country, Family.

What was his style? He was gentle, kind, helpful, and humble, never showy.

He was uncomfortable letting anybody carry his luggage or do anything for him.

He never paid for anything he could do himself.

He liked really old clothes the best.

He liked John Phillip Sousa or hymns, not opera.

He liked running, not golf.

(By the way, did anyone here ever see him play golf? He was always wandering around in the forest or was up to his ankles in the water hazards, but if you asked him how he had done, he'd say, "had a good day, plus 2" or "not so good, minus 5." "Plus 2" meant he had found two more balls than he lost, and "minus 5" meant he lost five more than he found.)

His offices were always in the basement.

He liked flags, uniforms, parades and sabers.

He was helpful, useful, and gentle.

He had dignity, kindness, and class.

I'm proud to be his son.

  Next Eulogy
admin

West-Point.Org (WP-ORG), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, provides an online communications infrastructure that enable graduates, parents, and friends of the military academy to maintain and strengthen the associations that bind us together. We will provide this community any requested support, consistent with this purpose, as quickly and efficiently as possible. WP-ORG is funded by the generosity of member contributions. Our communication services are provided in cooperation with the AOG (independent of USMA) and are operated by volunteers serving the Long Gray Line. For questions or comments, please email us at feedback@west-point.org.