Edmund J. Boyle

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NO. 17391  •  7 May 1928 – 15 July 2002

Died in Berwin, PA
Interred in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA

A few years ago, Ed was invited to West Point to make the presentation of the award annually given to the outstanding "B" Squad football player. In his remarks at the football team banquet, Ed told the cadets what a great privilege and honor it had been for him to attend West Point and play "B" Squad football. He told them that thefriends they would make as cadets would always remain their closest friends. Ed was right. No one in the Class of '50 had morefriends than Eddie Boyle. 

Edmund James Boyle was born in Providence, RI, to Arthur E. and Olga V. Boyle, the ninth of ten children. With two brothers and a brother-in-law in the Army during WW II, military matters were prominent in home life. Ed was an outstanding athlete and student. At Classical High School, Ed played football on two undefeated teams, competed in track, baseball, and basketball, and graduated magna cum laude. 

In 1945, Ed attended Brown University and played varsity football at age 17, and then worked in his father's foundry until entering West Point in 1946. Ed earned his numerals on "C" Squad football, and played three years as starting halfback on" B " Squad. During those years, the junior varsity only lost once. He also was L-1 cadet company commander. His proudest moment as a cadet came in the winter of 1950, when he played on the L-1 Company basketball team that won the brigade championship - a feat unheard of for a "runt" company! 

In the fall of his First Class year, Ed met Alice Muendell on a blind date after a parade in New York City. They were married in the Catholic Chapel at West Point in 1953 when Ed returned from overseas. 

Commissioned in the Air Force, Ed's early career saw him stationed at Lackland AFB, TX, and Lowry AFB, CO. In 1952, he was assigned to Misawa, Japan, with a fighter-bomber wing. Later, Ed joined the 51st fighter Interceptor Group at Suwon, Korea, where he served as group armament officer. Returning to the States, Ed attended M.I.T and, in 1955, was awarded a masters' degree in instrumentation engineering and elected to the scientific honor society, Sigma Nu. 

In 1955, Ed was assigned to Patrick AFB near Cape Canaveral, FL The ballistic missile and space program was in its initial phase, and Ed was in on the ground floor. He spent the next three years planning and establishing instrumentation sites throughout the Caribbean and the South Atlantic. In 1958, he joined the Thor/Delta launch team, and his expertise was key to the successful deployment of the first satellites for communications, navigation, and meteorology. During those years, Alice and Ed added their three children to the family: George, Susan, and Bob. 

Ed attended the University of Michigan prior to being assigned to the Department of Ordnance Engineering at the Military Academy in 1963. That three-year teaching tour was followed by selection to attend the Air War College. Ed was named a distinguished graduate at the completion of his course in 1967. For the next two years, he was a professor and head of the Avionics Engineering Department at the Pakistan College of Aeronautical Engineering in Karachi. Within a year of his arrival, President Ayub Khan was deposed. Anti-government demonstrations, rioting, and overall instability marked Ed's tour in Pakistan; when his immediate superior was forced to leave the country to save his life, Ed temporarily became head of the college. 

Returning to the States, he joined the Defense Communications Agency staff in Washington, DC, and then completed his military service as the chief of the management systems division on the Air War College Faculty. While there, he earned his master's in business administration from Auburn University. Ed retired from the Air Force with the rank of colonel in 1974. 

In retirement, Ed worked for Amtrak in Philadelphia and then for the Navy, designing computerized information distribution systems. Ed's final civilian position was the director of systems engineering at Analytics, Inc., where he was involved in the design of computers for the Army's Apache helicopter. 

In 1984, Alice died of Leukemia. In 1986, Ed married a family friend of long standing, Jean Galloway; Ed and Alice had been godparents to Jean's son, Michael, in 1963. 

After retirement, Ed continued to give of himself always more than he needed to, because service was a personal obligation. He was active in the local West Point Society and was a catechist for his church. In the last years of his life, Ed spent countless hours tutoring and mentoring inner city children in Philadelphia. 

Will Rogers once said, "I never met a man I didn't like." He must have been talking about Eddie Boyle. Ed had those qualities that we all envy; He was calm, quiet, never ruffled. He was brilliant and a strong leader. He was unassuming and modest, and he could laugh at himseIf. 

While teaching at West Point in the 1960s, Ed volunteered to coach the lightweight football freshman team. Eric "Red" Tipton was the head coach. No games were scheduled for the plebes, but at the end of the season Ed decided to hold an intra-squad game. All season long, he had told Coach Tipton that he had two really outstanding quarterbacks on his plebe team, offensive geniuses who could pass and run. So, Coach Tipton agreed to come to the intra-squad game and see for himself. 

It turned out to be a mortifying afternoon, and while it wasn't funny at the time, 30 years later Ed still laughed about it. While Coach Tipton watched with an increasingly jaundiced eye, the two great plebe quarterbacks battled to a
2-2 tie! Both teams scored one safety, and that was it! 

Ed Boyle truly was blessed. He came from a close-knit and loving family; he was fortunate in marrying two lovey ladies who shared almost 40 years of his life. Ed is survived by Jean; sons George "Butch" and Bob; stepson Mike; daughter Susan; and stepdaughter Sharon; and three grandchildren. 

He was a credit to his alma mater, to his class, and to his country. Throughout his life he was a leader; he volunteered when others couldn't or wouldn't; he was compassionate and caring; he truly was a lovely man. This nation is the poorer for his passing. 

All of us remember the great happiness and pleasure he gave everyone who knew him - as a husband, a brother, father, grandfather, and as a staunch and loyal friend and West Point classmate.

The' 50 Howitzer has the final word: "In short, no matter what the task, Ed Boyle was a man for anyone's team." 

- MJH

Walter H. Baxter

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NO. 17597 • 26 Jul 1926 - 10 May 2004  

Died in Fair Oaks Ranch, TX
Interred in Air Force Academy Cemetery, Colorado Springs, CO

Walter "Buz" Hope Baxter III spent almost 50 years as a pilot. With his "hand upon an aircraft throttle and his eye upon the wild blue yonder," no other career could have suited him better or made him happier.

Buz was born in San Benito, TX, to Walter and Olga (Arnold) Baxter. Buz grew up in nearby Weslaco, graduating from high school in 1943. He participated in sports, lettering in football his senior year. He attended the University of Texas, Arlington, until he reported to Keesler Field in Biloxi, MS, for basic training in January 1945.

Buz had always dreamed of becoming a military fighter pilot, but first he served as a fighter aircraft crew chief at Luke Field, AZ, and then he was sent to Scott Field, IL, for training as a B 29 bomber radio operator. Buz was a second alternate for an appointment to West Point and went to Amherst College to better prepare for West Point academics. He studied there until November 1945 when he was released from active duty but retained in the Reserves.

Returning to Weslaco, Buz invested his mustering out pay for part ownership of a vintage military trainer aircraft and flying lessons. He had achieved about 75 hours of flying time when he was informed of his West Point appointment (the principal appointee and first alternate had declined to attend).

On arrival at West Point he found he was well prepared for the military and athletic aspects and appreciated the value of his preparation at Amherst. What surprised him most was the awe in which other new cadets held him. Buz was a pilot who had flown solo and had been on active duty already. His classmates liked him, and Buz soon became a leader in the Class of '50.

During his cadet days Buz ran track one year, lettered in squash three years, and lettered in tennis as manager his final year. Upon graduation, Buz's class standing was high enough for him to select duty in the Air Force, the service that "flies and fights."

His first assignment was to James Connally AFB, TX, for basic flying training. Because of his previous civilian flying experience, he breezed through basic and picked Craig AFB, AL, for advanced flying training. He wanted a chance to fly the best of the WWII fighters, the P 51 Mustang.

Leaving Craig with silver wings, Buz completed gunnery school in Arizona and then was sent to Korea, where he completed 87 combat missions in the P 51 (now F 51). His operational assignments showed continued advancement and increased responsibilities on return to the States. At Clovis AFB, NM, he upgraded to jet aircraft, flying the F 86. Later, as a captain flying the F 100, he became a flight commander, assistant operations officer, and wing gunnery and bombing officer during a tour in England.

From 1958 to 1961 he taught military studies at the Air Force Academy. Buz then spent a year as a student at the Air Command and Staff College. Then it was back to flying duties in Training Command as a major-wing executive officer, director of plans, section commander always jobs of increasing importance. These assignments led to more duty overseas as a lieutenant colonel, with Buz becoming commander of the 22nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, a combat ready (F 4) unit in Germany. Next came a year at the Army War College.

In 1970, COL Baxter was back in combat, flying F 4s as vice commander of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing in Thailand. He flew 125 combat missions over Viet Nam. Back in the States he continued flying as commander of the 64th Flying Training Wing at Reese AFB, TX. In 1975 he picked up his first star as vice commander of Keesler Technical Training Center before duty called him back to Thailand to close American bases left over from the Viet Nam conflict. Duty followed on Okinawa, where Buz commanded the 313th Air Division and the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing, the unit in which he first had seen combat in Korea.

Back in the States as a major general, Buz became commander of the 24th North American Air Defense Command and 24th Aerospace Defense Command at Malmstrom. AFB, MT. After a year, he went back to Europe as air deputy, NATO Allied Forces Northern Europe, still flying fighters. His final assignment, as commander of the Third Air Force at RAF Mildenhall, England, was a fitting end to what he called a "dream career."

During his career he received many awards including the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, three Legions of Merit, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and ten Air Medals.

Buz flew a total of 8000 hours about 6000 in military aircraft with combat time totaling about 580 hours. During his career he flew 20 different military aircraft, the majority of them tactical fighters and trainers, and had spent more than 13 years overseas. When asked how he survived more than 30 years of military flying, Buz replied, "I was blessed with reliable airplanes, outstanding wingmen, and rotten (enemy) gunners."

Another reason for Buz’s long and successful career was his wife, Lila. In spite of his early preference for tall Texas girls, he met a not so tall young lady from Alabama, Lila Waldrop, and married her on 12 Jun 1954. Somehow she turned him into a "happy warrior with a contented smile" and made a family man out of a fighter. They were together for almost 50 years and raised two boys and two girls in a close knit family.

Buz retired in 1982 and went back to Weslaco, TX, to ease his father's workload at the Walter Baxter Seed Company. Six months later, after his father died, Buz became the head of a successful seed business. He sold the company in 1995 because he wanted the freedom and time to play golf, hunt, fly fish, travel, and fly.
Buz, old buddy, you did us proud!

- His Family and Classmates

Boyd T. Bashore

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NO. 17712  •  7 June 1925 - 17 May 2001

Died in Falls Church,VA
Interred in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA

Boyd Truman Bashore truly was a man for all seasons a soldier, student, author, family man, jovial companion. He enjoyed tennis, golf, handball, skiing, scuba diving, and especially boating. His soldiers and contemporaries from the 2d Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, where he'd commanded their renowned 2d Battalion "Wolfhounds" in Viet Nam, admired LTC Bashore as a "bon vivant, host extraordinaire, tactician, and theoretician," and respected his leadership as he distinguished himself in battle and by his penetrating analysis of those actions.

Born in Washington, DC, the son of a career Army officer, Boyd had happy reminiscences of Maine, Hawaii, and Kentucky. Graduating in 1943 from Manlius High School in Syracuse, NY, he enlisted in the Army, attended Officer Candidate School, and became a member of the 42d "Rainbow' Division. While at Amherst Prep School, he won a presidential appointment to the Academy.

Called "BT” or "Tiger," he soon made himself known. Roommate Ken Moll notes, "Boyd had been a paratrooper second lieutenant before becoming a plebe. He loved to get up on a table and yell 'Geronimo!, then jump off and do that shoulder roll thing. The rest of us cadets were in awe of him."

Ken was startled when Plebe Boyd left the Academy without permission. "He had a problem with a girl in New England and felt it necessary to visit her. As soon as BT got to his destination, he sent a telegram to the Commandant saying he had not deserted ... In a few days, Boyd came back ready to face the music. He walked the area in all types of weather for six months but never complained."

Two months before graduation, BT met Vassar student Judy Campbell of Billings, MT. Judy soon learned of his Plebe year troubles and adds, "That girl's father did not want his daughter to wait four years and marry into the military. Her loss was certainly our gain."

After his initial assignment to the 505th and 508th Regimental Combat Team, they married in September 1951. Boyd and Judy trekked to Ft. Benning and then to Mainz, Germany, where he commanded a company in the 42d Armored Infantry Battalion. Two sons, Brian and Steve, were born there. Boyd and Judy enjoyed many good times in the popular Wiesbaden Air Force Club, singing along as classmate Matt Henrikson played the piano for the group. BT`s roommate, Bolo Brunson, sometimes visited from Belgium.

Returning to Ft. Benning, Boyd commanded a tank company and attended the Advanced Course. Daughter Betsy arrived. Paul Braim recollected, "Boyd has a certain distinction among our group; he had written a story on airborne which was made into an RKO short subject, and also a much praised article, 'Sword of Silk,' about the father of airborne operations, German general Kurt Student."

BT foresaw international communist assaults in Southeast Asia and the need for American assistance. During 1956-58, he was aide to MG Joseph Harper, chief of MAAG Philippines. There, Judy and Boyd enjoyed the friendship of classmate Eddie Ramos, later president of the Philippines, and his wife, Ming. Sloshing through paddies and jungles with Filipino troops, BT developed a model for counter insurgency campaigns. His resultant article, "Dual Strategy for Limited War," appeared in Military Review, May 1960, and was republished in Franklin Osanka’s book, Modern Guerilla Warfare.

BT attended CGSC in 1959, and daughter Laura joined the family. He then joined the MAAG in Saigon to advise Vietnamese airborne forces and train infantry. He helped develop America’s first counter insurgency plan for the Vietnamese. Assigned to the Academy’s history department during 1960-64, BT wrote “Soldiers in Tennis Shoes.” It put a human face on the enemy in Viet Nam, as did his popular elective course, "Revolutionary Warfare." The birth of their youngest son, Charles, completed the family.

In 1964, the family went to Hawaii, where Boyd served with Headquarters, USARPAC, then joined the 25th Division in Viet Nam. Boyd entered combat in Viet Nam in 1966, earning a Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars, and five Air Medals. Headquarters, 25th Infantry Division, was in a Cu Chi field, the same place used by Vietnamese airborne as a drop zone into which Boyd jumped as an advisor in 1961. The area contained a great network of tunnels and a VC headquarters. BT’s classmate, Andy Rutherford, recalls: "I worked very closely with Boyd in Viet Nam. As the Hau Nghia province advisor, I accompanied Boyd on all his operations in the province. I was mouth agape witnessing him direct the operation, like playing a perfect piece on the piano." Upon his return from Viet Nam, Boyd served with Headquarters, CINCPAC.

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Boyd returned in 1967 as a colonel to the Army War College, then to Pentagon duty with Army Research & Development, and later with the Chief of Staff’s office. His expertise was in demand, but he found time to begin writing a comprehensive private manuscript on the Viet Nam War. Though never published, it became a treasure of facts and a strong rebuttal against leftist fictions. Boyd retired in July 1971, receiving a second Legion of Merit. The seven Bashores then boarded their classic 72 foot yacht, Wampeter, for a wonderful six week trip to the Bahamas.

BT subsequently worked as a volunteer with the Counsel on DC Affairs, Chesapeake Bay Yacht Club Association, and Southwest Waterfront Redevelopment. BT joined the office of classmate Jack Murphy, chairman of the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, and also worked on the Coast Guard and Maritime Subcommittee, and later with the Office of Coastal Zone Management, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Around 1981, Boyd began to suffer from Binswanger’s Disease, beginning 20 years of advancing debilitation. He endured this rare illness with his trademark patience and good humor. Throughout his distinguished career and adventurous life, he was a fun loving, kind, and wonderful husband and father. Family gatherings still feel his presence. Judy sums it up: "We had it all."

- Judy with classmates

Thomas A. Austin III

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NO. 17709  •  6 Oct 1927 - 25 Jun 2001

Died in Arlington, VA
Interred in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA

THOMAS ADAM AUSTIN III was born at reveille at Ft. Benning, GA, to COL Thomas A. Austin, Jr., and Hazel Hannah Austin. Growing up an 'Army brat', Tom had the Army in his blood from his early youth. In 1943, he attended the Florida Military Academy to complete the requirements for high school graduation. In 1944, he enrolled at Georgia Tech, and, in 1946, he was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy. In June 1950, shortly after graduating from West Point, he married Elizabeth Louise "Betty Lou" Alexander, his sweetheart for 42 years. He then began a 30 year career that took him all over the world, including Iceland, Spain, Viet Nam, and Panama (twice).

Following his graduation from Command and General Staff College in 1962, Tom became an enthusiastic linguist. He studied Spanish at the University of Madrid and, in 1963, returned to USMA as an instructor/ assistant professor in the Foreign Language Department. In 1966, he attended the Armed Forces Staff College and subsequently was sent to Ft. Bliss, TX, to study Vietnamese. Afterwards, from 1967 to 1968, he served as a Senior Province Advisor, III Corps, in the Republic of Viet Nam. In 1968, he commanded a battalion at Ft. Benning, GA, and in 1969 he was sent to the Pentagon for two wonderful years in the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.

After completing the Army War College, Tom returned to Panama as the military group commander to the Ambassador of Panama. He was acquainted with Jimmy Lakas, the President of Panama, and General Omar Torrijos, the dictator. He also worked with key American officials. Ambassador Robert M. Sayre, Governor David S. Parker, and GEN William Rosson, Southern Command, relied on Tom’s intimate knowledge of the Guardia Nacional. Tom was the right person at a critical time in Panamanian/U.S. History; he spotted a devious lieutenant colonel in the Guardia and warned U.S. officials to keep a close eye on him. That person, the infamous and notorious General Manuel Noriega, was deposed during Operation Just Cause in 1989.

In 1975, Tom returned to the Pentagon to work in the joint arena and the National Military Command Center. In 1978, he was assigned to Ft. Dix, NJ, as the post chief of staff and deputy post commander, an assignment he loved because it placed him with soldiers one last time.

In 1964, Tom received a master's degree from Middlebury College, and in 1972 he earned a second master's degree, this one in public administration, from Shippensburg University. His military awards included the Legion of Merit with four oak leaf clusters, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Vietnamese Cross for Gallantry, National Defense Service Medal with star, and the Parachutist and Combat Infantryman Badge.

Tom often boasted that he was an atypical Infantry officer because he never drank coffee, played golf, or fired a shot in anger. However, he was fiercely competitive and loved squash, handball, and racquetball. Intimidation was his ally, and he sometimes used his 6'1," 228-pound body to block his opponent’s vision on the court.

Everyone who knew Tom remembers his ever present 3"x 5" cards, on which he noted birthdays and special occasions, appointments, medications, and prayer requests. His priorities were God, country, and family.

In 1980, Tom retired as a colonel, and he and Betty Lou returned to their home in Alexandria, VA. Following open heart surgery in 1981, Tom began 20 years of volunteerism. He belonged to and met regularly with three men's prayer groups and was active in the National Prayer Breakfast, where his mastery of Portuguese and Spanish made him a valuable asset. He also served as a board member of the Ft. Belvoir Officer's Club. Tom visited the Oak Meadow Nursing Home weekly to chat with and read to the elderly shut ins. These visits, often with one of his grandchildren, brightened the day for everyone, and he continued them for nearly 20 years, bringing hope to many.

Tom's loyalty extended to his West Point classmates. He was program chairman for the monthly class luncheons in DC and the class scribe for several years. In retirement, he and Betty Lou also often visited their four children and 16 grandchildren at their various assignments around the globe.

After a valiant battle with cancer, Betty Lou died on 4 Apr 1992. In October 1994, Tom married Macon Fooshe, widow of classmate Jim Fooshe, and they were married until his death in June 2001. Tom cherished Macon and her children and learned a great deal about society and life in "Ole Virginia." Jim and Tom had been roommates at West Point, and Tom had served as a pallbearer at Jim’s funeral in 1976. He became the stepfather to Jim’s children, sharing with them his love for the Lord and his love of sports.

Tom brought joy to those who knew him and inspired loyalty in them. He added a sweet melody in this world. Wherever Tom worshiped, he sang in the choir. For years, he sang in the choir at the Post Chapel at Ft. Belvoir and then at Cherrydale Methodist Church in Arlington.

In addition to his wife Macon, Tom is survived by his four children: LTC (ret.) Thomas A Austin IV, ‘'75; Elizabeth S. Austin, R.N.; Nell Horn, wife of COL Carl Horn ‘'76; and LTC (Ret.) David Austin; and sixteen grandchildren. He is also survived by two stepchildren, Carter Fooshe Weeber and James Cabell Fooshe, and three step grandchildren. Additionally, he is survived by a brother, COL (Ret.) William H. Austin, USAR, and a sister, Hazel "Honey" Baker. The first chapter of Philippians says, "being confident of this very thing, that He who hath begun a good work in me will complete it until the day of Christ," and Tom's life exemplified those words. Well done, Tom, thou good and faithful servant! Death has been swallowed up in victory!

- His son