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<em>Herb </em>grew up in Darien, Connecticut, a mere 50 miles from West Point, so it was inevitable he would visit there at age five or six and see a dress parade. From then on, a career in the Army, if possible via West Point, was his sole ambition.</p>
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Achievement of this goal was helped by his parents’ willingness to accept sacrifices on their children’s behalf. His father had put himself through medical school and was keenly aware of the advantages of a good education.</p>
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When Herb graduated from Peddie School, he had no appointment, so he attended Yale University for one year, entering the Academy after gaining an appointment from Representative Schuyler Merritts.</p>
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After Beast Barracks, good luck came Herb’s way in the form of his roommate, Budge Bingham. Budge was older, mature, and fourth generation Army. His influence on Herb was profound. Their friendship lasted over the next 57 years; Bud emerged from WWII as the class war hero.</p>
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At West Point it soon became evident that Herb’s academic interests counted for little in a curriculum tailored to create engineers. Consequently, he settled on the modest goal of middle third of the class and found himself equally comfortable in first section history and near last section math.</p>
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During plebe year he earned numerals in cross country, fencing, and track and, later, minor As in fencing and modern pentathlon. The latter offered a unique opportunity; the Olympic Pentathlon Team was to train at West Point for the 1940 Games. In the 1939 competition, Herb earned third place and was elected captain of the 1940 Cadet team. Had the games not been cancelled, he probably would have made the U.S. team.</p>
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Many years later, Herb was quoted as saying that those who chose the horse cavalry were romantics living in a dream world. At the Cavalry School he won the cup for stadium jumping competition and, during two years in the 11th Cavalry, devoted most of his spare time to training and jumping horses. In mid-1942 this idyllic existence ended; the 11th was dismounted. Herb reflected: “The Army lost something when the horse was taken away; if a trooper bucked off and you promptly got on his mount, they thought you were wonderful, particularly if you got on a second time after being dumped once!”</p>
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After graduation from Parachute School, Herb joined the 517th Parachute Infantry, later was sent to the Mediterranean Theater and fought in Italy. During his three years with the 517th, Herb served as company commander, battalion executive, regimental S-3, and battalion commander. The 517th jumped into Southern France and participated in 6 campaigns. Near the end of the war in Europe, the regiment joined the 13th Airborne Division and was scheduled for early deployment to the Pacific. Hiroshima occurred while the 517th was in the mid-Atlantic.</p>
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Following WWII, Herb served with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, the 7th Division in Korea, earned a master’s degree at Harvard, instructed at West Point, and served on the Army Staff in Washington. As G-3 of XVIII Airborne Corps, he participated in the stability operations in the Dominican Republic in 1965-66 and became Deputy Chief of Staff on return to the U.S. He retired on completion of his second faculty tour at the Army War College.</p>
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While assigned to JAMAG Europe in London, Herb met Glencairn Bell and fell immediately in love. They were married in June 1951, lived in London for a year, and then Herb was assigned to Paris to be on Ambassador Draper’s staff. They returned to Washington, DC, in 1953. Glencairn and Herb kept horses in do-it-yourself hunt clubs at Fts. Campbell and Bragg and when they returned to Carlisle Barracks they lived on a farm that would be their home for the next 26 years. They were a most devoted couple, had an ideal marriage, and never exchanged an angry word. By nature Herb was reserved and even aloof, but Glencairn worked on him. He became more relaxed, even jovial, and enjoyed the role of raconteur.</p>
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For ten years Herb taught history at a nearby Penn State campus and divided his efforts between study and learning about farming and cattle. When his teaching career ended at age 62, he worked full-time with his Angus herd. Glencairn pulled her weight; frequently friends would arrive to find her helping herd and load cattle.</p>
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Once relieved of her duties as an Army wife, Glencairn took up dressage in a serious way and competed for a number of years. Later, when back injuries forced her to give up competition, Glencairn concentrated on her equestrian art—sculpting and painting—and became a member of the American Academy of Equestrian Art.</p>
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Herb and Glencairn had one child, a daughter Alex. Erik Ciel, her husband, proved to be a saint when Alex came down with severe multiple sclerosis at 35. Many times Herb told friends Erik had become the son he never had.</p>
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Herb and Glencairn moved to Carlisle in 1994. Unfortunately, the life of leisure was not to be. Herb came down with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), which he bore courageously and uncomplainingly until the end.</p>
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Herb was a good classmate and a good cadet. A sincere friend of impeccable character, Herb represented the finest qualities of what a West Pointer should be. He was a true gentleman who loved his country and who loved his days at the Academy. To him, West Point was not only a school but a way of life.</p>