David Eastwood Wheeler

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by WILLIAM H WARD on August 26, 2024:

It was in the Spring of 2005 when I was at West Point for the Induction of "Coach K", Class of 1969, as a Distinguished Grad. At loose ends, I went to the "O-Club" for lunch and was invited to take a table with an older grad who identified himself merely as David Wheeler. We had a good time at lunch and afterwards decided to "give ourselves a tour" of the "technical" departments, particularly focusing on the Dept of Mechanics, at which time my own classmate Kip Nygren was Dept Head, and in which Col. Wheeler had himself once been the Department Head! We had a great tour and visit with Kip, and afterwards Col. Wheeler invided me to accompany him at a Class of 1955 Reception at the (New to us) Hockey Rink, where I got to meet (again) MG (Ret) Trobaugh (My Plebe Boxing instructor) and his classmate Art Follett, who I had once met in D.C. I'll say this about Col Wheeler: His visage as a distinguished,older grad was impressive and markedly different from his Cadet Photo above. In my own late-blooming career as an attorney, I now have the ability to "look people up" anywhere in the U.S. In the Fall of 2023, I tried to find Col. Wheeler only to learn he had passed in September of that year. May he rest in peace with the knowledge and satisfaction of a life well-lived and a distinguished career!

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