textpalmerjohnleemilitary.html

G2 Memorial Wall of Honor
John Lee Palmer
Class of June, 1958
(USE THIS .HTML VERSION WHICH SUPERSEDED AN .HTM VERSION).

Research done by Claradell Shedd, webmaster

John came North in a hurry and hasn't slowed down a bit, nor does he show signs of stopping. Coupled with his ability to analyzer situations quickly lies an area of perfection which prevents his remarkable energies from being wasted. Patience, sometime a virtue but never a handicap, enthusiasm, and determination have marked him as a leader at West Point and cannot fail to serve him well in the years ahead.

John Lee Palmer

Year	x	Rank	x	Status

June, 1958	x	Graduated	x	Company G2. Cullum 21740
June 4, 1958	x	Branch/2nd Lt	x	US Army; Infantry
date	x	Family	x	Married Barbara Keegan, Concord New Hampshire.
1959	x	Family	x	Daughter Kathleen A. born.
1960	x	Family	x	Daughter Gretchen E. born.
1963	x	Family	x	Son David L. Palmer born.
1973-1982	x	Assigned	x	Department of Engineering, USMA
1982	x	US Army	x	Retired with rank of Colonel.
1983-1987	x	Employment	x	S&F, University of Southern Alabama
1987-2002	x	Employment	x	Professor, Chair, Associate Dean, Deparment of Mechanical Engineering, Mercer University (Georgia)
2002	x	Family	x	Moved to Glenwood Springs, CO.
2002-2020		Employment		Taught at Colorado Mountain College.
December 17, 2023	x	Family	x	Deceased. Succumbed to injuries incurred in Vietnam. Repeated exposure to the toxid exfoliant Agent Orange resulted in Parkinson's Disease and severe PTSD.
aft December 17, 2023	x	Family	x	Buried.

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This space kept as spaceholder. These are from Fred Easley's bio page. August 13, 1961 At Checkpoint Charlie


Fred Easley in lead tank w/crosshairs on Soviets

Fred Easley had a front row seat when the border was closed on August 13, 1961. His tank platoon stood face to face with ten T-55 tanks, shown here at Checkpoint Charlie. Most of us in Germany had orders home cancelled. Field exercises were accelerated. It was a tense moment for all.

Update from 1968 10th Reunion Directory
Get photo from family.
Barbara Keegan. Concord, New Hampshire. Kathy (1959); Gretchen (1960), and David (1963) Robertsdale, Alabama 1958--Graduation, wedding, Fort Sill, Fort Bliss; 1959--Camp Gary. Kathleen Anne, Fort Lewis; 1960. Good work, new friends. Gretchen Elizabeth, transfer to Ordnance-- 1961: Purdue University. new work, good friends. 1963: USMA; Ordnance Department, great work, great friends. David Lee, 1966. Vietnam, 1967. APG; 1968--on to the next ten...

Update from 1988 30th Reunion Directory
Get photo from family.
The first 30 have passed much too quickly, but they have been good... The best memories are of family and friends. We number many of you among the latter and owe much to you for your prayers and deeds. May the next 30 treat us all kindly...
From 2008 50th Reunion Directory:
From 2008 50th Reunion Directory: Having grown up on a farm in LA (Lower Alabama), the opportunity to attend West Point was a gift with considerable appeal. At that point in my life, almost anything looked better than milking cows, planting potatoes, and stacking hay. Indeed being allowed to sleep in until 0550 and getting paid for going to school struck me as too good to be true, so I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. I never did, and I spent the next 28 years enjoying the adventure. I was blessed with help from countless people along the way; classmates who pushed and pulled me in academics and on the friendly fields, NCOs who tolerated my inexperience and taught me things that still aren't in the books, senior officers who gave me opportunities to grow and mentored me at the risk of failures that could have embarrassed them, and professors who helped me learn how to learn. Above all, I am indebted to Barbara, who teamed up with me on the day after graduation and has hung in there with me for 49 years, blooming wherever she has been planted. Somewhere during company and battalion command assignments, senior advisor duties in Vietnam, Master and Ph.D degrees, R&D work, C&GS, AWC, and USMA faculty tours, the two of us raised three children into responsible adults who now have eight children between them. As they were departing the nest I was invited to join the startup team for an expansion at Mercer University in Georgia. Leaving the country's oldest school of engineering on the banks of the Hudson, I took on department chair and associates dean duties at the country's newest engineering school. During the 15 years Barbara and I were there, we were privileged to participate in a wonderful adventure that not only saw the school mature into a unique and respected college, but also allowed her to complete both undergraduate and graduate programs. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Candier School of Theology and Emory University and was ordained in 1999. In 2002 we packed our things one more time and made our 29th move, coming to rest on the banks of the Colorado River with beautiful mountains and forests around us. We're taking life one day at a time and enjoying each one of them. As must be the case with every other classmate who is looking back at what has happened to us since 1954, I am amazed at what flowed out of my time at West Point. If anyone had told me, as I was digging potatoes on that Alabama farm, that the things listed above were in my future, I simply would not have believed them.

1988 Update. Easley material below to be replaced by appropriate Lawton data.

		Left: Scott, Joanne, Margaret, Fred, Rick
		Fred writes: "After 22 years of socialism, I'm quite fond of capitalism. Because I was a gypsy, Uncle Sugar was very good to me: assignments in Berlin, Buenos Aires, Ankara (Turkey), and Seoul come quickly to mind. The two boys were born in Turkey, and my daugher was born in Austin, TX (that makes two Turks and a Texan). I got my Masters Degree from the University of Texas, then two grand years in southern South America. After leaving the Army, we settled in Santa Barbara, CA; to date it's been as idyllic a setting as I know of in the continental U.S. Have made good money as a Personnel Recruiter. Joanne has had great success as a Media Consultant. I married her when she was a well-known TV newscaster in Boston (my mother-in-law assures me had we not married, Joanne would now be Barbara Walters). Life has been good! No earthquakes at this moment in sunny Southern California, but remember what Santayana said: "Everthing in nature is lyrical in its ideal essence, tragic in its fate, and comic in its existence." Here's to '58 -- in 1958, or any year, an extremely admirable group of men!"

San Antonio 2004 and San Francisco 2005 Mini Reunions

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John and Barbara Palmer wedding; June 5, 1958		In 30th year 1988 directory

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John and Barbara Palmer wedding; June 5, 1958		In 30th year 1988 directory

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John Palmer Family: photo appearing in 1968 10th West Point Yearbook
Front row, L-R; David, XX, Gretchen. Back Row: John and Barbara

Front row, L-R; George, Olivia (on George's lap), Annika Miller, Luke Van Hout, Brian Martin (newphew) Mary Jane. Rear row: David Colin (on Susan's lap), Susan Miller Dutch, Lars (on Dutch's lap), Mary Ellen Nwils (on Mare's lap) Van Hout, Kev

Memorial Tribute to John by himself and/or family.

John Lee Palmer's "living memorial" entry

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Fort Sill, Fort Bliss, Fort Benning; Fort MacArthur, Fort Gordon, Seattle University

John Lee Palmer Colonel Ordnance Branch United States Army

(Get correct list of medals from George.) Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal w/1st OLC, and V (valor) device, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Air Medal

From 1958 Howitzer
John Lee Palmer
"John"		G-2
Robertsdale, AL		Congressional
John came North in a hurry and hasn't slowed down a bit, nor does he show signs of stopping. Coupled with his ability to analyzer situations quickly lies an area of perfection which prevents his remarkable energies from being wasted. Patience, sometime a virtue but never a handicap, enthusiasm, and determination have marked him as a leader at West Point and cannot fail to serve him well in the years ahead.

Rifler 4; Lacrosse 4; Track 3-2-1; Cadet Chapel Choir 4-3-2; Skeet Club 4-3; Ski Club 4-3; Golf Club 3-2-1; Dialectic Society 3-2-1; Debate Council and Forum 1; Portuguese Language Club 1; Cardinal Newman Club 1; Corporal 2; Lieutenant 1.

References
John Lee Palmer's G2 memorial page: http://www.1958g2.com/pages/memoriam.html John's obituary: http://www.1958g2.com/pages/palmerobit.html Eulogy by his family and companymates WP.org Cullum 21740	pic

John and Barbara Palmer lived in Glenwood Springs, CO. John died December 17, 2023.

Music: "You Raise Me Up"