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<p><em>James Patrick Yuengert </em>was born on January 23, 1957 at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, TX to Louis and Regina Yuengert. His father was a career Air Force noncommissioned officer who retired in Hampton, VA, where Jim attended Kecoughtan High School. Jim was an outstanding student (National Honor Society) and was a member of the acapella choir and French club. He also played on the school’s tennis team. Jim decided to go to West Point after graduation and received his nomination from Congressman William Scott. </p>
<p>On July 8, 1974, Jim joined the Class of 1978 “Proud and Great” at West Point. For his plebe and yearling years, he was a member of Company G-4 (“Guppy 4”). As Kevin Jackson, Grant Short, and others recall, “A true Guppy, Jim was always involved with us for rallies, RFs (i.e., messing up another cadet’s room as a prank), camping, and Rhode Island and Daytona Beach trips. His infectious smile will always be with us. Jim could always be counted on for a game of ball on the Plain or after taps celebrations. Most importantly, Jim was a friend of compassion with a gentle spirit of faith.” After the class shuffle, Jim joined Company D-2 in the fall of 1976 for cow and firstie years. Kevin (Beamer) Jackson, Jim Nagy, Ted Thomas, Steve Anderson, and other classmates remember a particularly excellent spring break trip with Jim to Daytona Beach. Lots of sun and suds!</p>
<p>Upon graduation, Jim was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers and served from 1979 to 1981 in Germany for his first assignment in the 16th Engineer Battalion, 1st Armor Division. He later attended the Engineer Officer Advanced Course and then served from 1982 to 1985 in the 864th Engineer Battalion at Fort Lewis, WA, where he commanded Charlie Company. In 1984, the 864th deployed to Honduras, where Jim’s heavily reinforced engineer company constructed a C-130 capable airfield near the Nicaraguan border. Jim acted as the area commander in his zone of operations in Honduras alongside classmate Dick Thompson, who also deployed with his reinforced Bravo Company. Jim and Dick changed command within days of each other and then spent a few weeks in Australia traveling via USAF Space-A flights seeing most of the country. </p>
<p>After serving as best man in Dick’s wedding in Tacoma, WA and earning his master’s degree in civil engineering, Jim served in the Corps of Engineers District Korea from 1987 to 1988 (he joined Dick and his new bride, Cindy, for a Hawaiian honeymoon dinner on the way to Korea). Later, when Dick and Cindy’s first child was being born at Fort Ord, CA, Jim’s older sister, Mary, delivered their baby boy!</p>
<p>While serving in the Detroit office of the Louisville Engineer District from 1988 to 1990, Jim met and fell in love with Teresa Ann Ventimiglio. They married on May 19, 1990 in Detroit. Over the next two years they welcomed two children, Amy in April 1992 and Andrew in June 1994. Jim taught at the Engineer School at Fort Leonard Wood, MO from 1990 to 1992 and attended Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS in 1992. After serving at Fort Stewart, GA in the 92d Engineer Battalion, 24th Infantry Division from 1993 to 1995, Jim was requested by name to serve in the Albuquerque U.S. Army Corps of Engineer District until his retirement from the Army in 1995. </p>
<p>After retirement, Jim worked as an engineer at ManTech until 2000. Jim always said that he “knew what side of the negotiating table it was best to be on!” So, Jim went out and landed the very competitive position of cost estimating engineer for the U.S. State Department for all U.S. embassies worldwide. This included Baghdad, Iraq, where he playfully commented that he might have spent more time there than any of his classmates!</p>
<p>Jim left the State Department in 2004 to assume another highly competitive position as the construction project manager of the Smithsonian Museum. When Jim retired from the Smithsonian in 2020, he stepped away from a senior position overseeing the $1.3B refurbishment of its Air and Space Museum. </p>
<p> Mike Tobin, another classmate who served with Jim in the 864th Engineer Battalion, had the good fortune to have lunch with him in 2021 after a hiatus of some 40 years! They lunched right across the street from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Jim and Mike discussed how not all of members of the class got the advancements and promotions that they wanted in their careers and how, at times, classmates struggled with this circumstance. Mike told Jim that his leaving the Army when he did was the best thing that could have ever happened to him! He just flashed that big Jim Yuengert smile, and they both laughed until the tears came. Jim’s story was an inspiration to Mike and a story he retold many times (with Jim’s permission), including to cadets when Mike taught at West Point (2022-23).</p>
<p>Jim was a gentle, kind, upbeat, positive soul that was always just a joy to be around. He was an excellent officer and engineer. We were all very proud and happy to have called him our friend. Jim led a great life and is now with God and His Angels.</p>
<p><em>— Mike Tobin, Teresa Yuengert, and Classmates</em></p>
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