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<p>"My name is<em> J Gordon McCormack</em>; not J. Gordon; not Jay Gordon. My first name is the letter J,” he would patiendy explain. But by the time the Class of 1955 Howitzer was published, he had grown tired of explaining; he is listed in the Howitzer as “J. Gordon.” But to me he will always be J, the quiet, unpretentious, treasured friend who died far too early.</p>
<p>J McCormack was born in Louisville, Kentucky on 13 November 1933, the only child of Dr. and Mrs. William McCormack. Dr. McCormack was a former army doctor. Mrs Bobette McCormack lived in Washington, DC and visited J frequently at West Point.</p>
<p>J entered the Academy in 1951 at the age of 17 with an Honor Military Appointment. He and I were both assigned to the 4th New Cadet Company. At the end of the summer, I was very pleased when J invited me to share a room with him and Larry Michalove as we moved into Company D of the Second Regiment. I began to appreciate his sense of humor; he made only minor attempts to amuse others but was very amused by things that most of us never noticed.</p>
<p>After Plebe Year ended, J again invited me to share a room, this time along with Al Bundren. The three of us stayed together for the next two years.</p>
<p>As a cadet, J improved his academic standing each year, made Cadet Corporal, and was briefly a member of the Rifle Team and the Pistol Club. But his real passion was for the golf team that he managed for three years.</p>
<p>J married probably the only woman who ever interested him, Mona Lee Rhodes of Sarasota, Florida, shortly after graduating 88th in a class of 470 and being commissioned in the Field Artillery.</p>
<p>J’s first assignment was to the 9th AAA Missile Battalion at Fort Baker, California where he was Captain of the Battalion Rifle Team that won second place in the 30th Group competition.</p>
<p>Next came Fort Sill in 1958, where he was a member of the USARADCOM Rifle and Pistol Team. J then attended the University of South Carolina for two years where his daughter Ashley Lee was born while he was earning a Mechanical Engineering master’s degree.</p>
<p>J’s next assignment turned out to be his last as he returned to West Point as an Instructor in Physical Geography and Astronomy. Two years later he was appointed Assistant Professor, directing the Physical Geography Course. MG Bennett, the Superintendent, wrote “His resourcefulness, integrity, and dedication to educating cadets made him a valuable staff member.” J instituted many outstanding technical and professional advancements, chief among which was the compilation and subsequent publication of an <em>Atlas of Landforms </em>which received high praise from civilian educators. For his work on the Adas, J received the Army Commendation Medal.</p>
<p>J was the Officer-in-Charge of the Cadet Astronomy Club. He and his wife, Mona, were very active in the West Point Players.</p>
<p>While working on a set for the Players about the time he turned 32, J experienced an unusual pain, which after many tests was diagnosed as an inoperable, malignant brain tumor. He died a few months later. After 30 years, I still find it hard to believe that he is gone.</p>
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