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<em><span lang="EN">William "Bill" Allen Davies </span></em><font size="2">was born on Mar 2, 1933, at Fort Riley, KS, the second son of John Frank Davies and Minnie Elizabeth (Wright) Davies. His father trained Cavalry recruits and later ran the base’s print shop, retiring as a Warrant Officer. Bill graduated from Junction City, KS, high school in 1951 and joined the U.S. Air Force as a weather observer.</font></p>
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<font size="2">Bill immediately began competing for an AF appointment to West Point, which he received in 1953. During his days as a cadet, Bill’s companymates remember him as one of the more mature, jovial members of the class, who was quick to point out his personally perceived faults in any system, be it academic, organizational, physical, or conceptual. He usually expressed his thoughts in a unique, poetic, humorous limerick. He once received a "Slug" for making chicken tracks on the bottom of a Juice exam. His <i>Howitzer</i> entry describes him as "the Corps’ only intellectual, the opinion of the Academic Departments notwithstanding." Point of fact: he did end up one file ahead of a future Chief of Staff of the Army. </font></p>
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<font size="2">After graduation, Bill attended the Basic Infantry course at Fort Benning, GA, and stayed on for Parachute and Ranger training, both of which he completed. In June 1959, he married Cynthia (Cindy) Hobart, whom he had earlier met at an Army football game at Ann Arbor, MI. From Fort Benning, the Davies’ were assigned to Fort Bragg, NC, where Bill served in the 82nd Airborne Division. They then went to Berlin, Germany, where Bill was assigned, first to the 6th Infantry Brigade, and later in Berlin Brigade Headquarters. He was present when the Berlin Wall was first erected. They later returned to the Infantry School at Fort Benning, where their son, Hobart was born, and Bill was assigned to the 11th Air Assault Division.</font></p>
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<font size="2">In 1965 he deployed with the 1st Air Cavalry Division to Vietnam, where he once was erroneously listed as KIA. For several years, others would "go white" when they saw him, thinking they had seen a ghost. He returned to Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, AR, where he was the Assistant Professor of Military Science. In 1968 he returned to Vietnam for a second tour, this time in the J-2 Intelligence section of MACV Headquarters. While he was away, his second child, Melinda, was born in Detroit. He was then reassigned to 5th Army Headquarters at Fort Sheridan, IL, for one year before he, Cindy, and their two children went to Fort Leavenworth’s Command & General Staff College. It was there that their third child, Jennifer, was born.</font></p>
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<font size="2">In 1971 Bill and family were off to Hawaii, where he served three years on the CINCPAC staff. This turned out to be their favorite tour as a family. They then returned to Fort Bragg, where Bill worked on the Airborne Communications and Electronics Board. Not bad for one who had been an academically challenged cadet. Then, it was back to Berlin, where Bill was charged with overseeing the surveillance activities in East Berlin. Bill certainly cherished his two tours in this historically significant city. Finally, for his last Army assignment, Bill was an advisor to the Wisconsin Army National Guard. He retired in 1985, with 31 years of service.</font></p>
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<font size="2">The Davies family moved to Cynthia’s home town of Grosse Pointe, MI, where Bill worked at South High School and served as a deacon at the GP Woods Presbyterian Church. He struggled with and overcame prostate cancer. After Cindy’s death, he moved back to West Allis, WI, to be closer to his family for the last year of his life. After a long and valiant fight, Bill finally succumbed to emphysema on Jun 9, 2004. He rejoined Cynthia as his ashes were spread with hers in the Grosse Point Woods Presbyterian Church memorial garden.</font></p>
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<font size="2">He is survived by his son William Hobart (Cheryl); daughters Melinda (Robert) Jakubczak and Jennifer (Peter) Langkamp; and his grandchildren: Mackenzie, Eliza, and Rhys Davies; Marley Jakubczak; and Cynthia and Nicholas Langkamp. </font></p>
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<font size="2">Bill, your jingles are still running through our minds and we will long remember your jovial wit as we worked together through our cadet days and the many, shared Army assignments. </font></p>
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<font size="2">Well done, Bill, Grip Hands and Be Thou at Peace.</font></p>
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<font size="2"><i>— Bill’s company L-1 classmates and son</i></font></p>