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Charles Edward Duke
West Point, 1959
Be Thou At Peace
Posted by Ludvig J Aamodt on March 14, 2005:
One week after we graduated Chuck Duke was in my wedding, one week later he was in the hospital. When we arrived at Ft Sill, he had died. One of the first of our class to leave us. As I look back 50 years I still see him as the enthusiastic, dedicated and religious young man who I first met as a roommate as we entered H2.
Chuck was one of the brightest of our class. As roommates, we would always wonder how he could pick up a book and put it down 10 minutes later finished with his prep for the next day's classes while we struggled for hours to do the same. Chuck loved his time at the Academy whether it was with the glee club, his Christian fellowship meetings, or helping his roommates with academics.
Many of the memories we had together are still fresh in my mind. The celebration dinner with his parents after we beat Notre Dame in South Bend. The pleasant weekend days at the beach at Camp Buckner with the girl he introduced me to who would become my wife. The opportunity to meet Billy Graham at one of the meetings Chuck took me to. The many others memories of events we shared to get us through the grey cold winter days and the warm spring summer weekends. Chuck lived every moment of life to the fullest during those four years as if he knew that he had to get it all in before his time was up.
Many people touch our lives, Chuck was one of those who touched mine as I am sure he touched many others. That he left us just when it seemed we were emerging into a wondrous challenging time seems such a loss. Perhaps because his life was so short, when we think of him, we think of him still as a cadet, and it reminds us of those days we shared together during those four years that have so profoundly affected all our lives. I sure that in God's plan there was a reason he left us so soon. He is still sadly missed, but will always be remembered.
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