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<em>Robert Bryan Short</em> was born a Nebraska cornhusker in Norfolk in 1917 and an only child. His dad was a railroader and his mother, from whom Bob acquired many of his lifelong interests, loved outdoor sports—horseback riding, hunting, and fishing. Sadly, Bob lost both of his parents early in his life—his mother in a car accident while he was still a teenager and his father during his Plebe year. His favorite relative and lifelong buddy was his cousin Kenny, who made his eventual home in Montana.</p>
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Bob was an exceptional high schooler—captain of his basketball and track teams and second team all-state quarterback. His athletic prowess was matched by his academic skills, attested to by his election to the National Honor Society.</p>
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It was in high school that Bob met his lifelong “OAO,” Doris Marshall, when she was a freshman and he a senior. Theirs was a truly romantic love story. When the time came, she helped him with his train fare to West Point, and a year later, she followed him, working in nearby Newburgh during his cadet years. They married on Graduation Day, and their union was blessed with three sons—Bryan, Randy, and Mark.</p>
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Bob was a true “boot strapper” in his efforts to enter West Point. He spent a year at the University of Southern California on an academic scholarship, went back to the University of Nebraska for a semester, and then enlisted in the Army at nearby Ft. Crook. He attended the Corps Area Preparatory school at Ft. Snelling and finally achieved his ambition to be a cadet.</p>
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In the Corps, Bob stood in the upper echelons of academics, athletics, and leadership—a beloved fellow cadet, always cheerful, friendly, and helpful to the lesser endowed—a most welcome asset in our band of brothers. He starred as an intercollegiate pole vaulter and played basketball and football as a plebe.</p>
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Bob chose the Air Corps as his branch and, following the requisite training, joined the Eighth Air Force in England as a bomber pilot. On his 16th mission, over Munster, Germany, in October 1943, he was shot down. He languished as a POW until April 1945, interned in Stalag Luft III, the setting of the “Great Escape” movie. A classmate in the same POW camp characterized Bob as the epitome of our Air Force classmates who early went “up front.”</p>
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Rejoining his beloved Doris, he picked up the pieces of his career, initially at Wright AFB in the Flight Performance School, and then the first of two tours at West Point as an instructor—first in the Math Department and later in the English Department. Between tours at the Academy, he served at Mather AFB as a squadron commander.</p>
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After attending the Air Command and Staff School at Maxwell AFB, the Short family headed for Alaska over the Al-Can Highway, serving a year in Anchorage and two in Fairbanks.</p>
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Prize acquisitions of that tour were the birth of their son Mark and a Polar Bear hunting trophy that became the background for their new son’s baby picture.</p>
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Tinker AFB followed Alaska, from which Bob went to the Air War College on his way to a three year tour as the senior Air Force representative at the Army Signal School at Ft. Monmouth. During 1966-69, Bob served in two Fighter Wings, first in the 15th, which became a prelude to the 8th in Ubon, Thailand, in support of the war in Viet Nam. He returned from Thailand to the Tactical Air Command at Langley AFB and retired in 1970.</p>
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Bob then embarked on a 13-year second career as a math teacher and tennis coach at Hampton Roads Academy, a college preparatory school in Hampton, VA. Under his tutelage, the tennis team had two undefeated seasons. Bob characterized his teaching career as “rewarding to the soul, but not to the pocketbook.”</p>
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Bob reported in our 30-Year Book that “all summer I play tennis, and all winter squash,” and that “Doris keeps a half-packed suitcase and travel folders handy for trips to faraway places and reunions.” He was the Virginia senior squash champion one year. He once wrote in a letter that “I play tennis, fish, and travel—in that order.” They did make it to Europe a couple of times, as well as a few long treks around the United States.</p>
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Robert B. Short died in 1998 from complications of congestive heart failure. Fittingly, Bob’s urn interrred at Arlington National Cemetery is one of his many tennis trophies. We bid a fond farewell to Bob and are grateful that our paths were intertwined. Well done, old soldier!</p>
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<em>A classmate and a son</em></p>