<p>When <em>Moody Echol “Eck” Hayes</em> was about 20 years into his 30-year Army career, his teenage son asked Eck why he had joined the Army in the first place and, what’s more, why he had chosen to make a lifelong career of it.<br />Eck replied simply, “Because I loved parades when I was a boy and always wanted to march in them,” and that was all the response his son would get that day. Eck Hayes’ life and career in the Army was more than just parades. It was one of a dedicated professional soldier.<br />Eck’s military life started five years before his commissioning as an Army officer. A valedictorian at Murphy High School (Mobile, AL), Eck was just 17 when he graduated, so he spent a year at Alabama’s Marion Military Institute readying himself for the U.S. Military Academy. At Marion, Eck played varsity football, finished first in his class academically, and was named “Best All-Around Cadet” in 1951.<br />He reported to USMA later that year and proceeded to enjoy reasonable success as a cadet. Believing he was too light to play college football, Eck took his athleticism indoors and became a four-year letterman in gymnastics. He was also studious, graduating 30th in his class of 470 cadets. Upon graduation, Eck elected to go Artillery because, in his own words, “I couldn’t build a bridge worth a damn.”<br />The Officer Basic Course and Ranger School quickly followed, after which he was assigned to the Second Armored Division in Baumholder, Germany. There, Eck met the love of his life: a pretty German girl named Kitty Ploetz. Within a couple of years they were married at Fort Hood, TX.<br />The remaining components of Eck’s family life—his son, Gary, and his daughter, Leslie—both arrived during a teaching assignment at his alma mater, West Point.<br />Eck Hayes twice served his country in Vietnam. From ’64 to ’65, he was a military advisor and participant in counterinsurgency operations about which he once wrote, “Ranger training really paid dividends.” He returned for another year in 1970, commanding the Second Battalion of the Army’s 35th Artillery.<br />Education was a lifelong pursuit for Eck. He earned a master’s degree in Spanish at Middlebury College, studied Vietnamese at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, and rounded out his military credentials at the U.S. Army War College.<br />Naturally, a language expert will be summoned into the field of diplomacy, and so Eck was: first in Military Assistance with the USMILGP at the American Embassy in Uruguay, later commanding the USMILGP at the American Embassy in El Salvador, and ultimately representing the U.S. military at the Inter-American Defense Board in Washington, DC.<br />Eck’s combination of field experience and classroom work also landed him various operational and strategic assignments. He did time at the Pentagon as a staff officer in the Army Operations Center, assisted with the modernization of Saudi Arabia’s national guard, and served twice as a force-planning chief at USCINCPAC in Honolulu, HI.<br />During his long, varied, and often stressful career, Eck Hayes was always the consummate family man. He and his beloved wife, Kitty, were just about to celebrate 55 years of happy marriage at the time of his passing. He was intimately involved in his children’s upbringing and development, continuing to offer welcome advice and moral support decades after they had left the nest.<br />Thirty years after graduating from USMA, Eck left the service and embarked on an active and happy civilian life with Kitty in Honolulu; Lake Tahoe, NV; and San Diego, CA.<br />The first years of retired life saw Eck try his hand at teaching and, later, tax preparation and financial planning. Gradually, however, family, friends, and travel laid exclusive claim to his time and energies. Finding this new arrangement eminently agreeable, Eck abandoned all second-career aspirations to become a full-time grandfather and staunch member of E Clampus Vitus, a local fraternal organization.<br />Heart problems and Parkinson’s disease cursed Eck’s last years, but not even these maladies could diminish his dignity and good humor. Once asked what he was going to do about his Parkinson’s condition, he deadpanned, “I’m going to stay alive until they find a cure for it.”<br />The little boy from Alabama who loved parades was enshrined with military honors and a 21-gun salute at Rosecrans National Cemetery on June 4, 2013. Eck’s final resting place lies near the home of his beloved Kitty and overlooks the activities at U.S. Naval Base Point Loma—exactly how a devoted husband and professional soldier would want it.</p>