In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

307 Acknowledgments It was graduation week at West Point in 2011, and at the invite of our good friend General Edward Rowny we attended seventieth reunion festivities for the West Point class of ’41. We were quickly awestruck by class members we met—by their close camaraderie, their remarkable stories of service, their vivacity and humor. This was a unique group of men, we knew, and together with General Rowny, we immediately set about making sure their stories would not be forgotten. To General Rowny for helping us launch this West Point ’41 book endeavor, we are forever grateful, and we are honored to have him as a mentor and friend. Thanks to Herb Stern, for countless hours helping us fine-tune the manuscript and leaving us with treasured stories of humor in the midst of war. Charlie Fletcher gave us a commander’s keen candor that was always refreshing, while usually wrapped with wry wit. Charles Canella was also no-holds-barred. And Joe Reed, what can one say about this one-of-a-kind officer who was at once brilliant and incorrigible—except thank you for sharing. Special thanks to Henry Bodson for an education in missiles and his meticulous attention to detail, and to Paul Skowronek for allowing us to live life in the fast lane vicariously. Colonel La Rocca . . . it took us two years to find him, but he was worth the wait. And Walter Woolwine’s endeavors in creating the Normandy American Cemetery touched us in ways that words cannot express. Our deep gratitude goes out to James Forsyth; we were humbled by the quiet dignity and kindness of this fine officer. We will also treasure the eternal skip and hop in George Johnson’s voice. Additional thanks go to Mike Greene, Stan Ramey, and Windsor Anderson for sharing their recollections of West Point life and service. Other moments shared with ’41ers were fleeting, but we were honored nonetheless for time with Ace Bailey, Robert Edger, and Jacob Towers. Our gratitude goes to ’41 wives who continued on in their “service” contributing to this book, namely Johnnie Fletcher, Dottie Harris, Evelyn Canella, and Eileen Greene, and we are thankful for assistance from the families of Peer de Silva, Jack Murray, John Norton, and Spec Powell, among others. West Point ’41 would also not have come together without our exceptional literary agent, Andrew Lownie, who believed in us and guided the honing of our literary skills. Thanks as well to our good friend and talented personal editor, Marci Baker, whose advice on numerous projects helped bring us to the authorship point we have reached today. And an enormous thanks to Boots Butler—just because. We’d also like to acknowledge the important work of Dr. Ron Dawe with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Lastly, our appreciation goes to Brigadier General Michael Meese (ret.) for his astute assistance assuring the accuracy of certain campaign excerpts. Thank you also to Stephen Hull at University Press of New England. His remarkable historical knowledge helped West Point ’41 further shine. Kazel-Wilcox - West Point.indb 307 3/19/2014 5:40:19 PM Kazel-Wilcox - West Point.indb 308 3/19/2014 5:40:19 PM ...

Share