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| Theodore Anderson Seely, Jr.
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| NO. 17579 • 13 August 1928 - 29 March 1978
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Died in San Francisco, CA.
Interred in Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, CA.
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Ted Seely, the son of Ted Sr. and Eugenia Bentley, was born at Tripler Army Hospital in the Territory of Hawaii. Ted's father, a Regular Army officer,
received his commission from the University of
California. An "Army Brat," Ted Jr. spent his early years living in
such exotic places as the Philippines, Japan, China, Georgia, Minn esota, South Carolina, and Louisiana. When Dad
went to war, the family moved to
California, where they lived with grandparents in Los Altos.
Ted really
found a home there. He attended Mountain View Union High School and did well in his studies. He lettered in track, made
many friends, and developed a love of music --- especially
swing and jazz. Graduating in 1945, he
attended Sullivan Prep School in Washington, DC,
and earned a Presidential appointment to West Point, joining the Class of '50
in July 1946.
From all reports, Ted survived Beast
Barracks in reasonably good style and made his home in Company F-2.
Bill Pogue, Ted's roommate for 3 years, had this to say: "Ted, John
O'Brien and I became roommates in F-2 our yearling year. Ted brought
to us a certain sophistication and worldly knowledge that an 'Army
Brat' brings to cadets from New Hampshire and Alabama. Barracks life
came easily to Ted. 'Spoon' was natural for him, and he taught John
and me a lot about spit and polish.
He was the organizer of our room routine. So barracks life flowed easily
for us."
"Academics
flowed easily for Ted, too. Although he
studied and made good grades, the records don’t reflect his real
intellect."
"Music was one of
his driving interests. He provided our room with a combination
radio/phonograph, including all the latest records. He always knew what was
popular and had it.
"Late one afternoon
in May 1950, Ted and I walked from the lost ‘50s to one of the iron benches
along the edge of the Plain near the Supe's quarters. The Superintendent, MG
Bryant E. Moore, was walking home and stopped to chat, 'Thinking it over, are
you?’ he asked. We explained that we were roommates, and our cadet days were
almost over. He said. 'Savor the moment. There will not be another like it.'
Ted was commissioned
into the Infantry and went to jump school at Ft. Benning before reporting to
the 82d Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg. A rumor circulated that, while on
graduation leave, be visited his family in Japan and, when the Korean War broke
out in late June, he went over and became one of the first KIA. It was another
LT Seely, but when Ted reported to Ft. Benning, several classmates thought they
were seeing a ghost!
After serving in the
325th AIR and the 508th AIR at Ft. Bragg and Ft. Benning, Ted went to Korea in
1952 with the 223d Infantry of the 40th Infantry Division as a commo officer
and company commander.
Returning to Ft. Bragg,
he was a company commander in the 325th AIR and on the division staff as G-3
Air. He attended the Advanced Course in the Infantry School and stayed on as a
tactics instructor.
ln 1959, he began an
attachment with the Spanish language and all things Latin. After a course in
the "mother tongue" at Monterey, he went to Madrid, Spain, to attend
the Spanish equivalent of the Command and General Staff College, followed by a
tour in Honduras as advisor to the Honduran Military Academy. He returned to
his second home, Ft. Bragg -- this time with the Special Warfare
Center --- and then back to Latin America, as a member of the
U S Military Group in Costa Rica.
By 1967, Vietnam was
beckoning, and he served an extended tour there as G-2 of the Big Red One
and with the Support Command in Qui Nhon. Again, be went back to Central
America on the staff of the School of the Americas in Panama and as an OAS
observer in the hinterlands of El Salvador and Honduras in the aftermath of the
1969 Soccer War between the two countries.
After yet another tour at Ft. Bragg with the Special Warfare Center, he
retired in 1971.
Ted went on a tour of
the Pacific and the Far East from October 1971 until May 1972, traveling by
freighter and other small ships, visiting such ports as Majuro, Ponape, Truk,
Saipan, Koror, Guam, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Penang, Singapore, Port
Kelang, Brisbane, Sydney, Port Kembla, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Freemantle,
Perth, Papeete, and Honolulu. He settled in the San Francisco area, remaining
there, except for a few trips, until his death.
From 1972 on, Ted led a
quiet life with a close circle of friends, including old high school buddies
from Mountain View and Los Altos and several USMA classmates. Working for a
while as the vice president of a trash compactor distributing company, he was
making plans to go to graduate school at San Francisco State. He had a serious
heart attack in January 1978 and spent two months recuperating at Letterman
Army Hospital. Out of the hospital a week, he appeared to be on the mend, when
he had a relapse and died in his sleep at home. Buried at Golden Gate Cemetery,
he was joined a few years later by his mom and dad.
Although Ted never
married, he was loved by many --- his family and friends. He
had a remarkable personality that allowed him to connect with people
everywhere. His sense of humor and positive outlook on life were features that
everyone always remembered about him.
Ted was dedicated to the
Army and to all it stood for, from the day of his birth until he died. He is
sorely missed.
- His brother, William B. Seely
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USMA 1950