Memorial Service for COL. (Ret.) Roger Conan Lee
Memorial Chapel,
Good Morning: Laura, Diane Barrett, Ginny Lee, Roger’s children and their families, Roger’s sister Lynnea and husband Jim Wheeler, Roger’s brother Steve and wife Mary, nieces and nephews, West Point classmates and friends of Roger Lee. My name is Bob Brogi. I had the honor and pleasure of knowing Roger for almost 52 years.
I have made the trip to the
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In the Fall of 1956, two young men
traveled to
Roger gained admittance to
As classmates, we shared much. Roger was well liked by all
who knew and associated with him. We
knew him to be a dedicated, warm, thoughtful and caring professional even in
those days. Roger was not a flashy person; he liked a simple life and simple
things. He was not successful due to anything that was handed to him; he worked
for all that he got and attained in life. Coming from
Most importantly, I remember as thought it was yesterday, the time that Roger and our other roommate, Mike Moore, spent grilling me in Mechanics of Solids and Electricity so that I could make it through mid year finals following the passing of my own father. It was a routine of blankets over the windows avoiding the watchful eyes of the Officer-in- Charge, staying up until the wee hours of the morning, using the walls as a chalk board and then erasing it all before the next morning. I made it through that year due to the combined efforts of Mike and Roger and I have always been eternally indebted.
As a cadet, I recall that Roger had his experiences with the
Tactical Department. They parceled out demerits and punishment tours on the
area to selected cadets, and while Roger did not spend a lot of time on the
area, he did get some room detentions due to a rather “innocent” act. You see, Roger was in the Electricity or
“Juice” Lab as we referred to it one day. Electricity was one of his less
favorite subjects; he knew that he could get fried there. Roger decided that he would try his own
experiment of plugging equipment into incompatible circuits and knocked out the
power for the lab and some of the post.
Roger always recalled this as one of his more ingenious stunts, but
those of us who knew him felt that it was not a planned event. As a result, the Tactical Department felt
that Roger ought to spend several weeks in his room thinking about the merits
of AC/DC and incompatible circuits.
Years later Roger saw what it was like to be on the “giving end” when he
served as a Tactical Officer at
Roger was fashionably known as a 5 year man at
The next 20+ years were marked by anything but normal duty assignment for Roger. We did not see each other frequently during this period as we were not fortunate enough to cross path in duty assignments other than when Roger was as student at C&GSC and I was here on the staff at CACDA. We were either in different areas of the world or at least in different areas of the county. Roger was dedicated to the Army and to the organizations in which he served. Whether it was the 5th Mech., an Advisor to a Vietnamese Battalion in the Delta, on the Staff of the Ranger School, the S-3, in the Americal Division in Vietnam, a student here at C&GSC, a Tactical Officer at West Point or later as the DCSRIM and the Acting Chief of Staff for Ft. Leavenworth, Roger was always most comfortable with and thrived on being close to the troops.
Fortunately, Roger and I were able to bond again on the
occasion of our
In 1988, Roger decided that it was time to retire from the
active duty here at
• As a 1st LT. Company Commander, I can see, as if yesterday, First Sergeant Skalsky, instructing me in the finer points of a training schedule. I can see my company on line, with over head fire, successfully conducting a live fire attack across the valley floor of the Yakima Training area.
• As if yesterday, I feel the loneliness of being dropped off by helicopter at Vihn Bihn where no one around me spoke English.
• I remember the inadequate feeling of “advising” MAJ. Throng as to the tactics of his infantry battalion in the Vietnam Delta when he had been fighting those tactics for the last 15 years. And I still feel the grief of carrying my fellow Advisor, SFC. Platta’s dead body three kilometers to an air evac.
• As the S-3 of
the 4/31, I can still see a hill called “LT. WEST”, around which we fought a 48
day pitched battle with 2 NVA Regiments called the battle of Hiep Duc. I can feel the dirt hitting my helmet, kicked
up by the rounds from the “Spooky” brought in within 10 feet or our perimeter.
Later, I remember the sense of relief, satisfaction and exhilaration in
extracting downed pilots close to
• I can still see the look of wonder on the faces of the instructors at the Finance Center- they were amazed that the Finance world would accept a LTC with 16 and a half years in the Infantry as a branch transfer. AND, they confirmed their doubt when I needed extra tutoring in computing travel vouchers.
These reflect the man that I knew and loved as a friend, and brother in arms.
At his retirement, Roger shed some light on his past
motivations. He was particularly guided
by the comments by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur in his
DUTY- HONOR- COUNTRY.
As General MacArthur said, “Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you OUGHT to be, what you CAN be, what you WILL be. They are the rallying Points: To build Courage, when courage seems to fail; to regain Faith when there seem to be little cause for faith; to create Hope when hope becomes forlorn.” MacArthur’s words went on concerning the teachings of Character, Strength, Braveness, Humility in Success, Pride and Unbending in Failure, and many more attributes. As GEN. MacArthur stressed, “Most importantly, these words teach you to be an Officer and a Gentlemen” and they guided Roger through his difficult times.
Roger made significant contributions not only to the Army, but also to the business world in the years that followed retirement. Whether it was as a systems analyst at TITAN Applications, the Director of Budgets at the Kansas City, Missouri School District, the Director of HR Applications at Payless Cashway, the multi-faceted person at Telehub in Chicago, or the generalist advising the Albanian Minister of Defense, he did them all well with pride. He showed compassion when essential, leadership ALWAYS, with a spirit of cooperation in getting “the job done.” Roger was ABSOLUTELY AMERICAN in every way and in the very details of what he did!!!
But, I can best reflect how I felt about this man who cared
so much for friends by mentioning that my wife and I came back to the Greater
Kansas City area in 1992 to accept a position here. I probably would not have
not done so had Roger not been here. He had been retired from the
military for about 3 years and was working at the
of Budgets. Shortly after my
accepting the position from the Superintendent and starting work, an article
surfaced in the KC Star about a “Leavenworth Connection”. The implication was one of improprieties
between selected members of the staff, specifically Roger, and myself. During
an interview, a reporter for the Star asked me, “Are you and Roger Lee
friends?” I responded that “No we were
not just friends, we were life long friends who would
each do our job for the benefit of the school district and the children of
There were things that Roger loved other than the Army. He loved his family, his children, his grandchildren, and very much treasured his relationship with his friends. It is difficult to know and understand the true relationship that one has with children, particularly from a far. But, my perception, over the years, was that Roger guided, nurtured and supported his children as best he could and as best as he knew how.
Roger was not enamored with some of the things that most men have a fondness for. He was not a car buff. He could take or leave fishing, but when it came to golf; there were “no prisoners taken.” Golf was Roger’s passion and he would go miles and lengths to play golf. Admittedly, he was not the best golfer in the clubhouse, but he was as avid as the next and more than most. His love for golf was not due to the aspiration of a “hole in one”, or a 68 although he would have loved a 68. It was because he loved being outdoors having the sun in his face, being with his friends or family and enjoying chasing that little white ball!!!! When we played, we did not get to talk much because he would hit down the right and I would hit down the left and meet at the green to reflect on “why” we did not do as well as we felt we could or should.
For similar reasons, Roger also really enjoyed our pheasant
hunts either to
I had the pleasure of talking to Roger on December 17th on his seventy-first (71) birthday. We always talked on birthdays. We talked about the family, our 45th reunion that had only occurred in late September and how good it was to see some of our classmates who we had not seen in a while. We talked about how many seemed to have gotten older, put on a few pounds or lost a few more hairs while we had not changed. We laughed!!! Roger was in good spirits, he felt that he had the diabetes under control and had taken a major step in getting off some of the medication that had become such a part of his life for the past year or more. He had talked about going back into the hospital on January 9th for shoulder surgery and felt that it was enable him eventually to get back on the golf course. We ended our conversation as friends, which is how we lived.
Roger faced some serious medical problems over the last several years. But he was a serious person and was determined to lick them. He always trusted in GOD and chose the “harder right rather that the easier wrong”.
I am sure that Roger is in a better place now and is probably looking down on us and saying, “Get on with it Brog.” SO, it is both warranted and necessary that I close with some words from the West Point Alma Mater:
…. And when our work is done
Our course on Earth is run
May it be said, “Well Done”
Be thou at peace….
Roger Lee, -- Soldier, Patriot, Husband, Father, and FRIEND. Well done!!!! We will miss you; I will miss you!
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Fellow classmates:
Several months ago, I was extremely moved by the stirring
report that Brian McEnany wrote concerning Wayne Downing’s Memorial at
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I hope that the below report gives others a feeling of being at Roger’s Memorial Service and interment while not being able to physically attend.
First, let me say that
The service was led by Chaplain (LTC) Steven Hokana, a Lutheran Minister stationed at
The Eulogy was my tribute to Roger and although it was longer than what many expected and thought they could endure, it was what I had to do to memorialize the man that I knew so very well for so many years.
Several of
Shortly thereafter, the procession of cars formed and was
escorted from the Memorial Chapel to the
The procession of cars snaked their way through the cemetery
winding their way up the hill to almost the top of the cemetery due to the fact
that military honors for cremation interments are held at a specially designed,
open sided outdoor building. As we left
our cars and made our way to the building, the wind was extremely brisk. I
approached COL. Bruce Reider, Director of Army
Leadership at
Following the Interment Ceremony and Military Honors,
members of the family, my wife, myself and our two grown children went down the
same hill we had come up to the grave site where the urn was to be placed. The
most significant aspect is the fact the Roger’s ashes are now resting at the
end of a row closest to and directly across from the
The Lee family hosted a reception at the
I would like to commend to ALL who may want to honor and remember Roger Lee to join with me in making a donation to:
Association of Graduates
ATTN: Class of 1962 Room Endowment
In Memory of
Col. Roger C. Lee, Class of 1962
Regards and Best Wishes for a better 2008.
Bob Brogi
1962
Company H-1