Class of 62 Memorial Articles

The time has come for the Class of 1962 to give some consideration to their own Memorial Articles.  In past years, these have typically been written by people with whom we served, Classmates, friends, relatives or Spouses.

Our 45th Reunion is a good time for all of us to ensure that our own Memorial Articles are either finished or, at least, started by each of us.  All that will be needed to complete the MA by a friend or family member after our death, will be a closing summary of place of burial or any personal input.

Here are two tools that each of us can use to start the process:

• The AOG has an excellent form which can be found at http://www.aogusma.org/Class/Handbook/memorials.htm

• The Information on that form is as follows:

  Self-Written Memorial Article Form

  Name
  Class	Cullum #
  (Note: Please do not be restricted by the space provided for information being requested. The format is being provided only as a guide.)
  1. LIFE BEFORE WEST POINT
  a. Date of Birth	Place of Birth
  b. Family background (military connection and/or lifestyle that helped prepare you for West Point)
  c. High School	City & State
  d. Prior College	City & State
  e. Why did you want to attend West Point?
  2. CADET LIFE
  a. Special achievements or incidents as a cadet that tell more about you as a person
  b. What significant values, experiences, or instruction were carried over to your life after graduation?
  3. ACTIVE DUTY PERIOD
  a. Branch	Assignments (If answer to b. below is yes, disregard.)
  b. Is Register info current and complete?  Yes   No If no, the following should be added:
  c. Significant assignments and achievements
  d. Date you left military service	Did you retire?  Yes   No Place of retirement
  4. CIVILIAN EMPLOYMENT (after military service)
  a. Career Field(s)
  b. Post Graduate Schools attended, degrees attained
  c. Position(s) held, significant achievement(s)
  d. Date you left civilian employment	Did you retire?  Yes   No
  Current address (City & State)
  5. FAMILY LIFE
  a. Date and place of marriage
  b. Name of Spouse	Names of Children
  c. Children attending/attended West Point (names and class year)
  6. LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT
  a. Interests, hobbies, pursuits, and accomplishments
  b. Reflection on your life, you as a person as you want to be remembered
  7. FAMILY MEMBERS, CLASSMATES, OR FRIENDS who would be the best source of information about you and your life
  8. PHOTO ENCLOSED  Yes   No   Use Howitzer photo  Yes   No
  9. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS not covered above
  Preparing memorial articles can be a difficult task. Providing the information requested above will go a long way to assist your loved ones and friends with writing the final tribute to you.

The two sources above should be start points for us.  Use for the format above or make up your own.  You can print the form and fill in the blanks/boxes with information that you would like to see in your own Memorial Article.

If you have questions or problems with any of the above, please contact Tom Simcox at bazooka6@tds.net for assistance.

One last note is that we plan to include a copy of this with the final Reunion mailing.