Sanders A. Cortner

West Point, 1951

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Louis Michael on November 2, 2011:

Ret. Col. Sanders A. Cortner, 83, of Carlisle, died Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011, at Cumberland Crossings Retirement Community, Carlisle. He was born Thursday, July 26, 1928, in Decatur, Ala., a son of the late Sanders A. Cortner Sr. and Inez (Teasley) Harris. He graduated high school from the Columbia Military Academy in Columbia, Tenn. and was a 1951 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York. He served in the U.S. Army from 1951 to 1981 and was a military manager at every organizational level to include battalion, corps and Department of the Army. He was a veteran of the Korean War and a two-tour veteran of the Vietnam War. Col. Cortner was awarded many honors for his distinguished military service. He earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Soldier's Medal, Air Medal with Valor (20 OLC), Master Parachute Badge, Combat Infantry Badge with one Star, Korea Service Medal with two Stars and the Vietnam Service Medal with four Stars. He graduated from the United States Army War College with the Class of 1972. His posts included the Faculty of the Infantry School in Fort Benning, Ga. and as Principal Staff Officer, G-1, V Corps in Frankfurt, Germany. He then returned to join the staff at the USAWC as an instructor with the Strategic Analysts and Study Group at the Strategic Studies Institute and as the Director of Operations Group. After retiring from the Army in 1981, Col. Cortner was employed for 10 years as the Deputy Director of Response and Recovery with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency where he was instrumental in the implementation of SARA, Title III, legislation concerning Pennsylvania's capability to respond to emergencies with hazardous materials. He was an active member of the USAWC Memorial Chapel and later a member of St. John's Episcopal Church, Carlisle. Col. Cortner was a private pilot, enjoyed traveling with his wife and was an avid golfer. He is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 39 years, Nancy (Daugherty) Cortner, three daughters; Catherine (and her husband, Mike) Anderson of Carlisle, Jennifer Cortner (and her husband, Bruce Scallon) of Alexandria, Va. and Laura Cortner of Owings Mills, Md., one brother, Hood Harris of Courtland, Ala., two sisters; Teasley White of Newton, Kan. and Susan Willis of Athens, Tenn., three grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, three great-great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Betty Jo Cortner, who died in 1971.

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