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“Griff,” the son of Lionel and Agnes Griffiths, was born <em>Kenneth Charles Griffiths</em> on June 28, 1916, in Downs, Kansas. He remained in Downs long enough to graduate from high school, and afterwards enrolled at Wentworth Military Academy, Lexington, Missouri. He was graduated from Wentworth in June, 1935, as the Honor Graduate of the year. That same summer he entered West Point.</p>
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When Griff passed through the South Sallyport in July of 1935 he packed his memories of home, the flat plains of Kansas and the hills of Southern Missouri into a recess of his mind, but he never fully reconciled himself to the close confines of the mountainous cascades. However, he found no difficulty in absorbing the military pattern of West Point because of his days at Wentworth, and promptly set about to take his rightful place in the life of the Academy.</p>
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Griff was never a slave to the Academic Department. His ability to learn quickly and his industrious application to the more serious sides of cadet life left him much time to devote to his varied outside interests and activities. The Choir Master soon learned of his ability to sing, and athletic coaches were not long in discovering his prowess in basketball and track. He won the Monogram in these two sports both Yearling and Second Class years. Griff’s mind was deep and he spent many hours thinking and reading. His interest in poetry, and appreciation of it, were profound. His keen awareness for the small things in life made him an inquisitor for more knowledge.</p>
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Griff was a quiet, unassuming man and consequently few men enjoyed a happier Plebe Year than he. He went through Yearling and Second Class years with clean sleeves, but as a First Classman he was rewarded when the “Make” list was published and he donned the chevrons of a Cadet Lieutenant.</p>
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Griff enjoyed all company, as did most cadets enjoy his presence, and his most enjoyable pastime was philosophizing in the midst of a friendly group whose own thoughts he stimulated. His ideas and expressions were clear and untainted by prejudice, cynicism or selfishness. He was also a good listener who could and did learn something from every man he associated with. It was easy with Griff’s unfailing friendliness to make everyone he met feel immediately at ease.</p>
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At graduation Griff was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Field Artillery. Two weeks later, June 27th, he married Sarah Ann Aull of Lexington, Missouri.</p>
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On September 1, 1939, Griff and Ann sailed on the old “Grant” for station at Fort Stotsenburg, in the Philippines, where he served with the Philippine Scouts until the outbreak of the war.</p>
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Griff’s happiness was eclipsed in May of 1941 when, with the increasing tension in the Far East, all families were ordered back to the States, and Ann returned to her home. Duty and preparation for the coming war were paramount to Griff and he applied himself with an unequaled devotion to his profession. The test that came in December found Griff and his unit fully prepared in mind and training to do their assigned jobs.</p>
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A daughter, whom Griff never saw, Ann Quarles, was born to Griff and Ann on December 3, 1941. Griff did not receive word of the new arrival until almost a week after the war had started.</p>
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Griff went into combat with the 2nd Battalion of the 24th Field Artillery of the Philippine Scouts, under Colonel (then Lieutenant Colonel) T. R. Wilson. Colonel Wilson writes of him: “Griff was a young officer who had his feet on the ground, met people wholesomely, and was smart enough to take charge of any situation. For actual experience he was beyond his years. He was loyal, capable, trustworthy, had excellent judgment, was energetic, and after all, was my real ‘right arm’, so far as my command was concerned. I rated him as a superior officer”</p>
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Griff took surrender on April 9, 1942, as any soldier would. It was a keen disappointment to him to suddenly realize he was out of it.</p>
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Few of us took to the life of a Prisoner of War with the calm determination that Griff did. He accepted it as fate and busied his mind with plans for when he would be home after the war.</p>
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Many of us enjoyed sitting around in Griff’s company in the evenings after supper speculating on when the war would end, discussion of families, and the never ending subject of food and favorite recipes.</p>
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At no time did Griff forget he was an officer, and always lived up to his high sense of values and personal standards.</p>
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While others were idle and concerned only with themselves, Griff was offered and accepted the command of a work company of two hundred American enlisted men. They and their well-being were his only considerations, and for a job well done he was commended by Colonel Guy H. Stubbs, an Assistant Camp Commander.</p>
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While performing these duties at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp, Griff was stricken with cerebral malaria. He fought it off as best he could in the absence of any medicine, and continued his work.</p>
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On the evening of August 21, 1942, after the usual evening gathering. Griff went to bed, feeling well and in good spirits. He died in his sleep about five o’clock the next morning.</p>
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We all grieved the loss of Griff—those of us who knew him and relied on him. It made the dark days seem even more so.</p>
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Griff was buried in the Camp Cemetery outside the prison compound. Permission was secured from the Japanese to have his classmates and close friends accompany him there, where a short and simple service was held.</p>
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Throughout Griff’s service he lived by the high traditions West Point had intensified in him. He was devoted to his family, his friends, the Army and his Country. All have been keenly away of his loss and all are the poorer for It.</p>
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<em>—Two Classmates</em></p>
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