Joseph Lee Sites

West Point, 1951

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Gerry Hendricks on September 22, 2015:

Joe Sites I want to say goodbye to our wonderful classmate - Joe Sites. A loving husband & father - my lifelong friend & a good friend of everyone who knew him. I want to say goodbye on behalf of our West Point Class & on behalf of our Co. M-2 - that no longer exists since the expansion of the Corps of Cadets from 2 Regiments of 12 Companies each to 4 Regiments of 8 companies each. At our 50th reunion there were 11 M-2 classmates & wives - now, with Joe's passing there are still 10 wives but only 3 of we M - 2 classmates left - Phil Gwynn, Bunker Elmblad & myself. M - 2 was a "Flanker" Company - tallest of the 2nd Regiment - way back when we were assigned by height & could still march! Our company was also known as being a fairly civilized, relaxed & pleasant environment for plebes - compared to the more "Runt" sized companies. I never roomed with Joe - nor did I serve with him - because I went Air Force & Joe went Army/Artillery. However, during reunions & particularly after retirement here in the Washington Area - Bobby & I came to know & love Joe & Lee quite well. I have not researched his military career but I remember some of the highlights he used to talk about. Two of them were; - being good at languages & having attended an Italian War College - Joe had very interesting experiences serving as an interpreter at high level meetings - trying to be accurate without offending, embarrassing or misleading! He has also told me that one of his greatest experiences - besides meeting & marrying Lee his wonderful life-long wife - was personally meeting the Pope - in Rome I believe. Sorry Joe missed our recent visit by the Pope - He may have had a better view than a lot of us. After retirement Joe was very involved in managing quick reaction solutions to critical Army Problems & helped organize & start the BRTRC - of which our outstanding Rhodes Scholar Class President Andy Remson is still fully employed (one of the few still in that category) as a Senior Analyst. Joe was also a member of our Class Executive Committee as our Scribe or Secretary. Joe was a very kind & considerate person & always helped our class & his classmates in anyway he could. He & Lee are very fortunate to have a wonderful son & daughter-in-law & a terrific 17 yr old grandson - all of whom are of great comfort to Lee. Everyone who has known Joe will miss him! However we will all also always remember our wonderful classmate, husband, father & friend - Joseph Sites, Co M-2, Cl-51! Goodbye for now Joe - Gerry Hendricks

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