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2 Apr 2002: As I approached the Viet Nam Memorial from the Mall, I first saw outlined through the trees a dark shadow starting low on the left rising to a pinnacle then falling off to the right. I knew I had reached the most sacred site where my brothers have been memorialized forever. The name, Terry Lee Ketter, is carved into Panel 10W, line 12. Stark, simple, and forever remembered.</p>
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Terry was born in Canal Fulton, OH, to Robert Ketter, a father who was a soldier, and Lela. Both became teachers. Family, education, and a faith in God influenced his youth. Sensitivity was his hallmark. His sister Roberta remembered when his pet beagle was killed, Terry carried him home and buried him. While constructing a cross, a neighbor’s dog began to bark. “Terry instructed me to go out and put my ear to the ground over the grave and listen to be sure it wasn’t our dog. After he was convinced he hadn’t buried his dog alive, we had a funeral. Terry read from the Bible, and I cried.”</p>
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In 1959, the family moved to Exeter, CA, where he would attend high school and spend one year at the College of the Sequoias. In high school he excelled academically; he participated as an athlete in football, basketball, and swimming; he was a student leader at school and in the local Methodist Church. His teachers and fellow students recognized his leadership skills and allowed him to hone those skills in the student council, the California Scholastic Federation, and Boys’ State. He considered several options for his life’s work. Becoming a pastor and a teacher were among his primary choices, but his appointment to West Point in the spring of 1963 would settle the matter.</p>
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He was creative, which manifested itself in sketches and exquisite photos. The 1967 Howitzer read, “Terry’s collection of pictures tells the story of a frustrated artist with an abundance of talent, but with no time to work. He knows what he wants and has the competency to get people to do exactly what he wants them to do. We’re all proud to know and work with Terry.” Terry’s gifts were many, but his concern and love for people shone through every action. Whether it was in the classroom, the barracks, or the playing fields, he gave 100 percent of himself.</p>
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In the spring of 1965, he would meet the love of his life: Fran Burzymowski, a Vogue Modeling School graduate from Trenton, NJ, who came to West Point through the auspices of her uncle, a staff sergeant assigned to the Academy. They met and the search for love was over. “We didn’t date anyone else, either one of us,” said Fran.</p>
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Terry’s bent for drawing and his drive to understand God and the Bible beckoned him to The Pointer and to the Protestant Chapel. His journalistic talent led him to be designated the editor of The Pointer in his First Class year. For four years he participated in Chaplain James Ford’s Protestant discussion group and taught Sunday school. Chaplain Ford wrote to his parents after hearing of his death, “We knew Terry so well and thought so highly of him. Surely he was unique and gifted, and he made such a marvelous contribution to our Sunday school. He had a ‘feel’ for the little children and they responded to him. We had several long talks about philosophy and religion, and his comments were a great inspiration to me. I thought of Terry as a friend—one who was sensitive to the needs of people.” Bob Lenz and this writer considered him as our best friend, and we still do. He radiated confidence, respect, and eternal friendship.</p>
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Terry married Fran on 8 Jul 1967 in Trenton. After a honeymoon in the Poconos, they headed for Ft. Benning, GA, where he experienced Infantry Basic School and earned the coveted Ranger Tab. His first assignment was to Ft. Davis in the Canal Zone, where he later commanded an Infantry company. Kelly Lee Ketter, their daughter, was born in Panama. Fran remembered Terry’s delight with the birth of Kelly. “He was just very excited about her. I can remember him walking Kelly all around outside as she got a little older and would say ‘tree, grass, flower.’ That’s just the way he was, and if you read his letters, all throughout, he always focused on the smallest of things, always the little things, never the big things.”</p>
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As it did for most of us from ’67, Viet Nam called. Fran and Kelly went home to New Jersey, and Terry reported to the 2/7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, where he would be assigned to command E Company. MG Edward Trobaugh ’55, his battalion commander, wrote a letter to Fran describing the action: “I was really pleased to have him in the battalion and, on 15 Apr 1970, during the attack on Fire Base Atkinson, he quickly proved that he was an outstanding soldier.”</p>
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MG Trobaugh continued: “Terry was killed [10 May 1970] while extricating a squad that was pinned down. His platoon leader, LT Jim Stokes, was gravely wounded and was forward of the remainder of his platoon. Terry moved forward, established a base of fire under which LT Stokes was recovered and then maneuvered the remainder of Stokes’ platoon to assist the squad that was pinned down. He had just moved the squad back when he was mortally wounded.” Terry was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for valor, the Purple Heart, the Air Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.</p>
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Fran told me how she would like us to remember what he meant to her: I will remember Terry most for his LOVE. He showed it. He said it. He wrote it. He loved me as a friend, as a girlfriend, and as a wife. He loved his daughter, his family, his friends. He loved his slippers, his pipe, and his popcorn. He loved to read the Bible, Shakespeare, and Charlie Brown. He wanted to be a journalist, a minister, an artist and a photographer.</p>
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What Terry wanted to be, he was!</p>
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On 6 May 1970, one day before the 1st Cavalry moved into Cambodia, Terry wrote his last letter to his beloved Fran: “I love you much, and I can’t wait to come home to you every evening. Buy you flowers every now and then. Taking you and Kelly out to eat once in awhile. Eating supper with the two of you. Working on the budget. Cutting the grass. Making bookcases. Buying a couple of books now and then. Even reading a few of my books. Listening to the stereo. Popping popcorn. Does Kelly like popcorn—she better!</p>
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Love you two, much!</p>
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Terry”</p>
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Terry, we all love you. Thank you for your life.<br />
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