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| Robert Sprague Beightler, Jr. |
| No. 13252 • 12 January 1922 – 6 February 2003 |
| Cremated, to be buried in West Point Cemetery, West Point, New York |
 SO HERE IT IS 50 YEARS LATER and, thinking back, I’ve got to be one of the luckiest guys on earth. Career-wise, I never set the world on fire, but did serve all over the world for 30 years, the last eight as a full bull, and never had an assignment I didn’t like. Some were truly choice: right off the bat, I found myself a platoon leader in the 511th Parachute Infantry — along with four classmates. It was a tough, bloody war in Leyte and Luzon: two combat jumps and a Presidential Unit Citation later, only Tom Mesereau and I came back home alive.
Many challenging tours through the years, then a real plum: Treasurer, USMA. Living on post at West Point was like Camelot! Culmination of my career came in 1970: I had an airborne command in Latin America (became master parachutist) and was chosen to organize and lead the American Relief Expedition to Peru following a catastrophic earthquake in the Andes which killed more than 66,000 people. For this action I was decorated with the Peruvian Cross and U.S. Legion of Merit.
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Originally published in January 1943 50th Anniversary Yearbook |
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| memorial articles | class of january 1943 | classes | aog home |
Family life: bachelorized by Helen in 1961 (but it hadn’t been in vain — we produced four fine sons), and in 1964 got really lucky and married Marilyn, acquiring a lovely daughter in the bargain. It’s been a womderful life. I am so glad I went to West Point and so proud to be a member of the Class of January 1943.