William Fredrick Hecker

West Point, 1991

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Glenn Hermiller on May 29, 2017:

Major Hecker (Always "Major William F. Hecker the 3rd" - said with a British Accent) was my professor for Advanced Composition, EN302 in the Spring of 2005. As I recall, my first writing assignment garnered me a big red "F" for grade on the front page. I was devastated. I resolved to remedy my grade and writing ability (which I thought was pretty good) and spent countless hours of additional instruction, "AI" in his office. Sometimes I had a plan or idea to run by him, sometimes I was down to the wire and didn't have an idea of where to start for a paper and trying not to sound too desperate or ill informed during our AI sessions. Gradually, I worked my way up from "F" status, earning a solid "A" on my next-to-last paper and an "A-" on the Term End Examination (TEE), clawing my GPA back to a solid B (3.0). As humorous as that trial is now, MAJ Hecker was a tough, but honest broker! He succeeded in stretching my good abilities and making them better. I credit him for being a better writer today. I remember being stunned, after hearing the news of his passing in January 2006. I think he was the first real loss I felt, especially having just met him and worked with him! It really was a wake up call to me of the realities of war, the fragility of human life, how short a time we (might) have, and the loss and loneliness that friends and loved ones feel in the vacuum of their absence. It was also a reminder to treasure your relationships and value each experience, because you never know what God's plan is for us. It was thereafter, that I began keeping a memory bracelet for each person I'd lost due to combat, illness, training accident and the like. They are a daily reminder to me of the selfless service others have laid down for me, that I might be privileged to continue the legacy of the Long Grey Line. In honor of his time in the Glee Club, I know it would be appropriate to mention the following, from the closing credits of "We Were Soldiers". I had the pleasure of singing this with the Glee Club during my four years with them. Mansions of the Lord Ronan Tynan "To fallen soldiers let us sing Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing Our broken brothers let us bring To the Mansions of the Lord No more bleeding, no more fight No prayers pleading through the night Just divine embrace, eternal light To the Mansions of the Lord. Where no mothers cry and no children weep We will stand and guard though the angels sleep Through the ages safely keep The Mansions of the Lord." --"Well Done. Be Thou at Peace."

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