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Hand in hand, come gather every one,</p>
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Ere we part when kaydet days are done...</p>
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As the last notes or taps echoed and reechoed over the hallowed ground of Arlington Cemetery, a worthy son of West Point, <em>Carlisle Visscher Allan</em>, was laid to rest. Many friends and comrades gathered at the grave-site and, with bowed heads, reverently stood motionless in richly deserved tribute.</p>
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Carlisle Allan was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on 23 January 1896. His paternal great-grandfather, James S. Allan, a stouthearted Scotsman, pushed westward over the central plains, settling in Nebraska about 1850. He founded a Scotch Presbyterian mission near Bellevue for the Indians who roamed the Missouri Valley and often visited that small village. The paternal grandfather, James T. Allan, established an outstanding hostelry in Omaha known as The Herndon House. Carlisle’s father, Donald Allan, was an official of the Union Pacific Railroad whose headquarters were also located in Omaha. Carlisle was proud of his Scotch ancestry, and, at his personal request, a bagpipe contingent played appropriate music at the graveside ceremonies.</p>
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His mother, Corlynn Visscher Allan, was a direct descendant of Dutch settlers who arrived in New Amsterdam in 1637. The Visschers were prominently connected with the development of the early American colonies and owned extensive properties in central and western New York State. A Colonel Frederick Visscher was one of the many in that family who participated in the Revolutionary War. He particularly distinguished himself for gallantry in action at the Battle of Oriskany.</p>
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Carlisle received his early education in Omaha, graduating from Central High School in 1914. He was a member of the high school cadet corps and applied himself enthusiastically to his preliminary military training. In the fall of 1914 he entered Illinois University, majoring in architecture. He still retained his interest in the military, however, and when the opportunity arose, in March 1917, he arranged to take the entrance examinations for West Point. Uncertain as to the outcome of those examinations, and when Germany declared war on the United States the following month, he applied for and was accepted as a student at the first officers training camp at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, in May 1917. In a matter of weeks he was notified that he had successfully passed the Academy’s entrance examinations and on 12 June 1917 he entered with the Class that was to graduate in 1919.</p>
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Carlisle promptly attracted the admiration and respect of his classmates during plebe year. He was unanimously elected as the class president, and held that office for the rest of his life—an indication of the high esteem in which he was held by his comrades. Special bonds of friendship are created at West Point where the kaydets share the traditional vicissitudes and tribulations of plebe year. Carlisle’s Class graduated early because of World War I, and understandably there was dubious acceptance of its members as full-fledged alumni of the Military Academy. However, Carlisle Allan pridefully referred to his Class on every appropriate occasion, pointing out its distinguished record in the service of the country.</p>
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In the summer of 1919, Carlisle’s Class, now 2d lieutenants, was sent to Europe on a tour of observation and study of World War I battlefields in France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy.</p>
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Back in the States in September 1919, Lieutenant Allan reported as a student to the Infantry School at Fort Benning. He graduated in July 1920 and was assigned to the 29th Infantry, the demonstration regiment for the school. In addition to duty with troops, he was also named to be aide-de-camp to the commanding general of the Infantry School, and served in that position for two years.</p>
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Carlisle always had an insatiable curiosity, with a particular interest in the historic development of peoples and governments. It was only natural, therefore, that he should request and be given the coveted assignment as a student at Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in history and English literature for two years. His master of arts degree in English literature, awarded at this time, was for original research concerning the brief and explosive military career of Edgar Allan Poe. During this time when he was attending Columbia Carlisle was also serving as an instructor in the English and History Department at West Point. Among the cadets and his fellow faculty members, Carlisle’s deft humor, his sense of the dramatic, and his wonderful command of the language, all served to mark him as one of the most popular and effective instructors at the Academy.</p>
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In 1926 he was ordered to the 15th Infantry, then in the Philippines. There he continued to teach English and history at the University of the Philippines after completing the daily routine military duties with his regiment. He traveled extensively while in the Far East, and when his tour ended in 1929, he returned to the United States by way of the Suez Canal and Europe.</p>
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His next assignment was in the office of General of the Armies John Pershing in Washington. During the period 1930-33 he helped to ghost-write General Pershing’s Memoirs, and it is worthy of note that those Memoirs won a Pulitzer prize. Over a period of many years he contributed popular and provocative articles to <em>The Army magazine, The New Yorker,</em> and <em>The American Mercury</em>.</p>
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In 1933 he was assigned as an aide-de-camp to the commanding general at Governors Island, remaining until 1936. He was sent then to the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth as a student and graduated in June 1937.</p>
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Recognizing the ever-increasing importance of air power, Carlisle requested assignment and was sent as a student officer to the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Alabama. After graduating from that school in 1938, Carlisle, now a captain, was assigned to duty with the 35th Infantry in Hawaii and remained there for two years. In October 1940 he returned to Washington for an assignment with the General Staff, was promoted to the rank of major, and became the liaison officer between the Chief of Staff of the Army, General George C. Marshall, and the members of Congress; it was considered to be one of the most challenging and responsible positions on the General Staff, requiring great tact and broad professional knowledge. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, as a lieutenant colonel, Carlisle was appointed Assistant Secretary of the War Department General Staff.</p>
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In April 1942 he was promoted to the rank of colonel, and important wartime assignments followed: organizing and commanding the 410th Infantry Regiment of the 103d Infantry Division at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana; assisting in the organization of the XV Army Corps, and finally, assignment to that corps headquarters as assistant chief of staff for Operations and Training.</p>
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The XV Corps moved to the Desert Training Center in California where, with consummate skill, Carlisle directed the training of over 300,000 troops during the period July to November 1943. In December of that year he was sent to northern Ireland to assist in planning for the overseas training of the XV Corps. He participated in the campaigns at Cassino and Anzio, Italy, and then returned to Ireland to continue his work on the plans for the critical cross-Channel operation and the Normandy invasion.</p>
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Colonel Allan crossed the Channel with his unit early in July 1944 and served throughout the remainder of the war in Europe as assistant chief of staff of the XV Corps under Generals Patton and Patch. For his skillful planning of the operation that resulted in the surrender of the German Seventh Army at the Falaise Gap he received the Legion of Merit. He was awarded a second Legion of Merit for planning the operation resulting in the capture of Strasbourg. He received the Air Medal for flying aerial reconnaissance under heavy enemy fire over the Siegfried Line. He was also awarded a Bronze Star for his outstanding contribution in planning the Rhine crossing of the XV Corps.</p>
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Several requests for Carlisle’s release from his Corps to fill positions of greater responsibility were refused, and these refusals undoubtedly prevented his promotion to the general officer rank which his outstanding record fully justified. Paradoxically, he was penalized instead of being rewarded for his superior performance of duty. The XV Corps considered him indispensable. Carlisle was keenly disappointed, but he realized that many of his deserving classmates and friends in the Service had had a similar experience.</p>
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In addition to his many awards and decorations from his own government, Carlisle was honored by several foreign countries: Chevalier of the Legion of Honor (France); Croix de Guerre with two Palms (France); Officer of the Order of Leopold (Belgium); and the Cross of War Merit with Crown (Italy).</p>
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Upon his return to the United States in September 1945 he was assigned as Director of Information in the Military Intelligence Service on the War Department General Staff in Washington, D.C. In this post he had charge of the military attache system, and was also given full responsibility for the supervision of Army intelligence training.</p>
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Carlisle recognized the increasing importance of training military personnel in foreign languages, and it was his farsighted program that resulted in the establishment of the excellent foreign language school in Monterey, California.</p>
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In May 1947 he was ordered, as military attache, to the American embassy in Berne, Switzerland. The Swiss capital was particularly important as a focal point of world strategic intelligence. The following year Carlisle Allan closed his distinguished and constructive career by retiring voluntarily from active duty.</p>
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Smoke from our last sunset gun</p>
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Drifts across the Plain, my comrades.</p>
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There were to be new fields of endeavor—challenging, interesting, and remunerative. Almost immediately after his retirement Carlisle joined the International Products Corporation of New York as executive vice president. His operational base was in Asuncion, Paraguay, and for more than five years he actually lived and worked in remote jungle areas visiting the other South American countries whenever he had an opportunity to do so. His expertise in financial and economic matters and his knowledge of the volatile political developments in the countries south of the border proved invaluable to his organization. But the shadows were lengthening, and he and his gracious wife yearned for their homeland. Accordingly he resigned from International Products Corporation in 1954 and became assistant to the president of the Wayne Pump Company whose headquarters were in Washington, D.C. It was now possible to renew his associations with old friends and comrades.</p>
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In 1959 Carlisle Allan was elected president of the West Point Society of Washington, succeeding General of the Army Omar Bradley in that position of honor. He was a member of the Chevy Chase Club of Maryland, the Army-Navy Club of Washington, D.C., a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity, a Son of the American Revolution, a member of the St. Nicholas Society, and of the Society of Colonial Wars. Golf became his principal source of recreation and he excelled at it; he especially enjoyed the camaraderie at the 19th hole with his service and civilian friends.</p>
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In 1932 Carlisle married Emma Louise Stone, the granddaughter of H.O. Stone of Chicago and the widow of W.S. Bouvier of New York, by whom she had had one son, Michel Bouvier. Carlisle had one son, Donald Aspinwall Allan, by a previous marriage. There were no children by his second marriage. He and “Emmy,” as she is affectionately known, were completely compatible, and their thirty-three years together were extremely happy, marked as they were by deep affection and abiding faith. He was most sensitive to Emmy’s devotion and her appreciation of his many fine qualities of mind, spirit, and character. Both, in turn, proudly shared their impressive range of talents and achievements. Together they were guided by unselfish hallmarks of compassion for their fellow man. Carlisle and Emmy, without fanfare, helped many classmates and their widows whenever they experienced misfortune.</p>
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The relationships which he cherished with his own son, Donald, and with his stepson, Michel, clearly reveal his sympathetic understanding and wisdom. Donald had a deep respect and affection for his father. Carlisle was proud of his boy who flew 47 missions in General Twining’s 15th Air Force during World War II. Don’s plane was shot down by enemy flak in 1944, and he spent one year as a German prisoner of war. His valiant service was recognized by the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart with two clusters. Donald graduated from Stanford University in 1946. Shortly thereafter he married and is now the proud father of five children. He had had considerable experience as a foreign correspondent in Madrid, Paris, Brussels, and Rome. He now lives in New York City.</p>
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The following, an extract from a letter written by Carlisle’s devoted stepson, Michel, is a remarkable and obviously richly deserved tribute:</p>
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I do vividly remember that when Dad married my mother, I was 12 years old and scared to death of him. My own father had died when I was nine, and he had always been very lenient. How would this new military man react to a kid not noted for cleanliness, candor, and neatness? Dad was severe with me in such a way that I never realized he was being severe. Every situation was handled with such understanding and humor that the underlying reprimand was lost in my willing compliance with his wishes. He exposed me to integrity, demanded personal economy, and, by example, made me aware of the feelings of others—and all this effort expended on a stepson. I hope that his hard work will somehow make me a better father to my sons; this, I am now sure, was one of his aims.</p>
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Michel, a lieutenant in the 10th Armored Division during World War II, has recently relumed from South America, where he had been in business since 1945. The Bouviers have two children and are now living in Bonn, Germany.</p>
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Carlisle is also survived by a sister, Mrs. Alvin Goeser, who lives in Omaha, Nebraska.</p>
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Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another. Carlisle Allan was told by his doctors that he would live but three months. He approached the end of the trail as he traveled it—bravely, uncomplaining, considerate of others. He was a man of strong convictions and defended them courageously—but never with arrogance. He required no pills to reinforce his faith in man and God; no nostrums were necessary to dispel fears or to remove doubts concerning his philosophy of life.</p>
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We all are thankful for good men who have faithfully lived and triumphantly died. We, Carlisle’s classmates, are especially grateful and hold in fond remembrance his gift of wisdom, loyalty to friends, and dedication to principles.</p>
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Stand a moment while we look before;</p>
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Give again the pledge we gave of yore-.</p>
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DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY, CORPS!</p>
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Till we meet again.</p>
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<em>-A.C.W. ’19</em></p>