Posted by Bill Murphy on February 17, 2025:

I first met Pete on 5 July 1960 when we were assigned to the same new cadet squad as plebes at West Point. In the 1964 Howitzer there is a picture of us learning how to March After Beast was over he was assigned to company k-2 and I to neighboring I-2. We walked daily to classes. We were in many classes together. We also discovered that we had a shared affinity for the outdoors fishing and hunting. Finally our years as cadets were over We both requested to be commissioned into the U S Air Force. There were 12 coveted flying slots and we each got one. While our classmates who were in the Army were playing around in the muck we were sleeping between sheets and having the time of our lives flying. Upon receiving our wings we both went off to fly B-52 aircraft. Next we were assigned to go to Vietnam to be Forward Air Controllers.After Vietnam he resigned from active duty and joined the Wisconsin Air National Guard. He rose up to the rank of Brigadier General Over the years we stayed in touch. After the advent of the internet we maintained contact more often. We both loved to hunt birds. He with his beloved Black Labradors and me with English Setters. I last saw him when I visited him in the back woods of rural Wisconsin. He had turned his dads hunting cabin into a year round lodge We talked daily into the wee hours trading war stories and laughing Our emails ran the gauntlet of subjects. We both loved flying and Pete really loved flying th A-10 We both loved dropping bombs, shooting rockets, and strafing with the guns. We also had a shared sense of humor We constantly traded stories about politics, hunting, fishing, and the changes we were seeing in the military. In fact his last post to me was in the month before he died My good friend, classmate, and fellow aviator has slipped the earhly bounds and is now soaring with the eagles in heaven. I feel extremely blessed to have had him as a friend for over 64 years

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