Posted by BG RM Ong (Ret) on May 18, 2013:

Today is Memorial Day, 2013 and a good time to reminisce about my good friend and classmate, Tom Harman. Tom and I met during our first day at Beast Barracks (1959) and we maintained a close friendship for the next 4 years, perhaps because we always saw each other eye-to-eye. This means we were both vertically-challenged, but the politically correct terminology at that time was to refer to us as "runts." We began as members of the "Iron Platoon" of the 4th New Cadet Company. Tom and I marched together, ate together, drilled together, got yelled at together and all but roomed together. Yes, my roommates were other runts. At the end of Beast Barracks, Tom and I went our separate ways -- into different Cadet Companies -- but still within spitting distance from each other. I wound up in E-2 while Tom became my neighbor in F-2. Tom and I rarely saw each other in the same classroom, because we were arranged according to academic standing, and the difference in our grades usually meant separate classrooms. It was in PE class, that we were destined to sit together, swim together and compete against each other in almost every sport. I always liked boxing and wrestling against Tom, because we were of the same size and evenly matched in agility, speed and strength. Sometimes I beat Tom and sometimes he beat me -- but not by much. Anyway, we were sure to get good grades, especially if we splattered the environment with visible amounts of blood, sweat and tears. In that order. Well, maybe not so much about the tears. Tom had his difficulties with the Academic Board, but somehow, he survived miraculously at the end of each semester. He graduated on schedule with the rest of us, and he received a huge ovation from his Company-mates, when the USMA Superintendent handed Tom the diploma on our Graduation Day. Tom and I said our goodbyes to each other on 5 June 1963 and we never saw each other again. He served his Army and I served mine. We did have a chance to meet when we found ourselves posted to Vietnam at the same time, but unfortunately, our paths never crossed. I was saddened to learn about his death a few years ago. Be thou at peace Tom! And now, here is my final salute to a long-lost friend. Ray Brigadier General Ramon M. Ong (Retired) Armed Forces of the Philippines USMA 1963

admin