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| David S. Meredith III
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| NO. 17772 • 26 Jun 1928 - 12 Nov 1998
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Died in Hobe Sound, FL
Interned in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
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David Sutton Meredith III was born and grew up deep in east Texas. He had his first taste of life as a soldier in high school, attending Kemper Military School in Boonville, MO. He earned his diploma and left with a love of military life that never waned for the rest of his days. He was a soldier's soldier.
Dave entered the Academy in 1946 to face the joys of Beast Barracks but took plebe year in stride, breezing through with a minimum of demerits - four years of military high school prepared him well for the rigorous discipline and the other pleasures of the 4th estate. Dave assumed a laid-back attitude regarding academics and neither excelled nor struggled. One course, however, fired his enthusiasm - Military History. Always an avid student of the American Civil War, he devoured everything he could find written on his favorite subject.
After graduation, Dave was commissioned Infantry and joined the 82d Airborne at Ft. Bragg. There he met and married, on 10 Feb 1951, the love of his life, a local belle, Anne Byrd MacArthur. Dave found himself Korea-bound in early 1952 for a tour with the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team. There he earned his first Combat Infantryman Badge, as well as a Bronze Star. Anne Byrd joined Dave in Japan, and they had a wonderful time traveling and
learning about Japanese culture, which fascinated them.
For the next few years, Dave had a number of stateside
airborne assignments, serving in the 504th Airborne Infantry Regiment and with
Headquarters, XVIIIth Airborne Corps, before being assigned as a Reserve
Officer Training Corps instructor at Dayton University. After ROTC, he attended
Command and General Staff College.
Next came one of his toughest assignments, the Naval
Intelligence School in Washington, DC, where he was given the formidable task
of mastering German. Not a linguist by nature, his classmates could detect the
toll taken on his usually sunny disposition by his intense study of German.
Dave finally mastered the language well enough to give lectures in German on
counter-insurgency, teaching at the NATO school at Oberammergau, the
familys favorite assignment. Next, Dave became an exchange officer with a
German unit, learning the art of mountain warfare in the cold, clear air of the
German mountains.
After Germany, Dave earned an MBA from the University of
Alabama, in preparation for a stay in the Pentagon. There, he prepared material
used by his bosses to testify before Congressional committees to justify
financing the development of new weapons systems for the Army and earned a
Commendation Medal.
In 1968, Dave was posted to Viet Nam, initially as a brigade
executive officer, later as a battalion commander in the 27th Regiment, 25th
Infantry Division. Dave caught a round in his right leg, which shattered
several bones and came to rest in his thigh, where it remained for the rest of
his life. He was hit while defending Fire Support Base Mahon, constructed by
Dave's battalion, at Cu Chi. The firebase had come under mounting pressure from
a large enemy force for several days, culminating in a massive night assault
that penetrated the base defenses. Although Dave was wounded while
leading his troops in the firefight, they repelled the
attackers, saving the firebase. The citation for his Silver Star stated,
"With complete disregard for his own safety, Colonel Meredith exposed
himself to the deadly hail ofenemy fire directed at him as he personally led
the counter attack against the insurgents." His wound dictated a return to
the United States with his well-deserved Silver Star, a Legion of Merit,
two Air Medals, a second Combat Infantryman Badge, and a Purple Heart.
After a year in the Pentagon, Dave attended the Army War
College, then returned to Germany, to the delight of the Meredith family.
Dave's daughter recalls her father, ever conscious of his obligation to care
for his troops, relieving the sentry at the Post gate on Christmas Eve, taking
the sentrys place so the soldier could enjoy the holiday. Dave's final duty
assignment was at Ft. Meade, where he served as Deputy Post Commander before
retiring in 1980.
Anne Byrd and Dave chose Hobe Sound, FL, for their
retirement home, selecting a house on a canal so Dave could pursue his interest
in sailing. He attended a school to learn seamanship and celestial navigation
but soon found that Anne Byrd did not share his love of matters nautical.
Because they liked doing things together, Dave did not find much use for the
handsome sailboat that sat moored to the dock behind their house.
Ever the lover of history, Dave discovered a former coast
guard facility in nearby Jupiter that had been taken over by the Navy during
VvViII (to play a vital role in combating German depredation of U.S. shipping).
The Navy operated a listening post that gathered naval intelligence by
monitoring German radio communications. Little was known about this activity,
but after some arm twisting, Dave persuaded the Navy to provide him with the
material, much still classified, upon which he based his book, S
py Station Jupiter: A History ofthe US. NavalSupplementag
Radio Stationjupiter, Flo?ida. When not reading or writing history, Dave served
as treasurer of the Florida chapter of the "Rakkasans," veterans of
his old Korean outfit, and participated in numerous Veterans of Foreign Wars
aflairs. Dave, his sense of duty alive and well, never stopped contributing.
No memorial to Dave Meredith would be complete without a few
words about the warm generosity that was so much a part of his character. He was
generous to a fault, as was Anne Byrd, and the hospitality they lavished upon
their friends had no peer. Many of us will always cherish the memory of their
company and the good times they invariably provided to those fortunate enough
to have been their friends.
- By his daughter Leland Livingston, and his classmate, Dick
Slay |
USMA 1950