James John Stettler

West Point, 1968

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Rolfe B Jenkins on June 21, 2006:

I was a classmate of Jim Stetler in Company A-2 at the USMA. Whereas Jim stuck it out and graduated, I left early in junior year and did my two years in the Army as an enlisted man. However, apropos my classmates in A-2, I remember them all. I especially remember June 11th, 1967 when I (now a PFC in the Army at Fort Sill, Oklahoma) met many of my former classmates while they were visiting the base on a first class trip. I volunteered to drive some of them some 70 miles up to Oklahoma City to see the movie "A Man For All Seasons." Pete Conner, Carl Witschonke and Jim went up with me all dressed in their USMA clothes. The show was very good but ran quite late and we were in a rush to get the three academy boys back to the post barracks on time. I was stopped on route 7 between Duncan and Lawton, Oklahoma going 75mph in a 55mph zone. A huge and intimidating state trooper stepped out to challenge me (the driver) and it seemed like the ticketing process would last forever. However, it was little Jim Stetler who stepped back to the squad car an requested relief so that the USMA cadets could get back to the barracks on time. It did not work and I still had to pay a $29 fine. However, I always appreciated the nerve of Jim standing up to that big guy for what he believed made sense. I know that I was not going to do it. It is only recently that I learned of Jim's passing. I am certainly saddened. However, I will always remember that little fellow standing up to that huge state trooper.

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