2023 Proud and True Award 2023 Presentation to LTG Carpenter
Presentation of the 23 Proud & True Award
Four members from the class of 1972 (and one spouse) made the trip to Whitefish, Montana to present the “PROUD AND TRUE” award to LTG William Stanley Carpenter Jr, Class of 1960. Shown in the picture above from left to right is Ray Ritacco, Steve Presley, Cathy Dufault, Jeff Dufault, and Larry Aubrecht.
The Proud and True award 2023 to
William Stanley Carpenter Jr. class of 1960
The Proud and True Award is given to an individual that our class feels has shown exemplary leadership and compassion for Soldiers, and selfless service to the U.S. Army and the Nation
William Stanley Carpenter Jr. class of 1960 Let me tell you a little about the amazing man. Born in Woodbury, N.J. 1937 His father was a semipro football player and a car salesman. His father was drafted into the army in 1944 at the age of 36. He died on April 11, 1945, by a German artillery round, just 1 month before the end of the WAR.
He grew up in Philadelphia and was a tremendous athlete who was pursued by a score of colleges He was 6’2” 200lbs and could run the 100 yards in 9.9 sec. Luckily, he was already an Army fan and admired Blanchard and Davis. At Army, he played with the ’58 undefeated team and was named captain of the ’59 Team
He was known as the “lonesome end” because he would not go into the huddle but the QB would signal the play to him as he stayed flanked out near the sideline, He set career records for the first Army receiver to go over 1000 yards and 65 receptions. Against Oklahoma, he caught 6 passes for 67 yards and ran back 4 K.O. returns for 65 yards, while playing with one hand strapped to his side because of a dislocated shoulder.
He was named first-team all-American in football but also was named all-American as a defensive player in Lacrosse his senior year although he was never playing the game before because of spring football. At Camp Buckner before his senior year, he said to his best friend Bob Anderson, you see that girl over there I’m going to marry her. His name was Toni Vigliotti and she was a model from Central Valley and currently dating a Plebe. True to his word, they were engaged the day before Graduation and Married on the 2nd of January 1961.
Besides being a great Athlete, he also became an awesome soldier As a 2Lt and platoon leader at Fort Campbell the 2-star division commander asked him to play on the base football team and Carpenter refused. A change of command was on the horizon so the general did not push it. However, the 2-star that followed him did. He ordered him to give up his command and join the base football team. Carpenter was furious. He ultimately yielded to the brass but vowed never to do it again. Sure enough, the following spring he was ordered to give up his new command and rejoin the team. He called his assignment officer at the infantry branch in D.C. It was a cushy job but he wanted no part of it. I will quit the Army if you make me play football. Where do you want to go? Anywhere that I don’t have to play football. How would you like to go to Vietnam?
So, in the spring of 1963, he went to Southeast Asia In 1964 he was an adviser assigned to an airborne brigade of the “Army of the Republic of Vietnam.” The unit came under heavy enemy fire immediately after being inserted by helicopter into a sugar cane field. He was wounded in his arm while changing his magazine and another round hit his radio and spun him around. He threw 3 hand grenades left-handed and emptied his carbine while eliminating the source of the enemy fire by knocking out a bunker. He was awarded the Silver Star the Army’s third highest award for valor in combat.
In 1966 he was back in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division as they maneuvered to relieve the 1/327th infantry. Having surprised Charlie they had their way for the first 15 minutes of the firefight, but soon after that, things turned. He heard 50 cal rounds and mortar fire raining in on him. Soon realized he was facing a regiment of Vietcong, not just a few stragglers Carpenter: " They" in real close to us. They" in among us." Spotter" I have two birds on station. If you have a target, we can bring it in.
Carpenter acted instinctively, popped some yellow smoke heaved it 15 meters in front of him, and dropped to the ground. Bring it right in on the yellow smoke. At the time he didn’t know what ordinance they were carrying – it turned out, to be Napalm. The napalm canister tumbled end over end from the jet into the bamboo thickets, into the yellow smoke, exploding in one apocalyptic roar of wind and fire—whoosh! —as flames sucked the breath out of the jungle and crackled through the burning bamboo tops. "The world turned orange,"; Hot and orange," Carpenter said he had no choice – he had wounded that he wasn’t going to leave them - and his company was in the process of being overrun. After the napalm hit there wasn’t a round fired for 15 minutes. This left time for his company to tighten its defensive perimeter until they were relieved of the following day. Of his 90 men there that day, only 8 were killed and none as a result of the napalm. For his quick action that day he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross is the second-highest wartime metal.
When he returned to the States: Westmoreland pull made him his aide. Carpenter liked Westmoreland but didn’t like the cushy job – he always wanted to be with the troops. Within a week of joining the staff, Carpenter began urging Westmoreland to release him.
After a few weeks of this steady pestering, Westmoreland said to
him, “Only ask me once a week from now on. "So, Carpenter set aside every Tuesday morning to spring the question". In 1970, fresh out of Command and General Staff College, at Fort Leavenworth, in Kansas, Carpenter had received a call from an aide to Sam Walker, who at the time was a brigadier general and the commandant at West Point.
We” sending you to Purdue for a year to get your master said the aide. “Then you” coming to West Point to teach”.
To Carpenter, the secluded world of West Point had about as much to do with the real Army as did the Pentagon. “I’ m not going to West Point,” said Carpenter, then a young major. “You can send me to Purdue, but at the end of the year I won’t have a master’s degree because I’m not going to class”; He was one of the few instructors at West Point who did not have a Master’s. He had “real life experience” to teach MI. Carpenter saw himself as a soldier, not a scholar.
In 1989 he received his 3rd star and assumed command of the combined field Army in Korea. He had over 300,000 troops (Most of them the forces of the Republic of Korea) with his mission to guard the main invasion routes leading south across the DMZ towards Seoul. That was his last assignment and resigned after four years on Aug 31, 1992. The only reason Carpenter did not make 4 Stars is that he did not “smouze” with the brass.
If there is a single cord that runs through Carpenter's career, it is his affection for foot soldiers. “I like what they stand for," Carpenter says. “; I like what they do. I like to listen to them talk and laugh. I like to listen to their tales. I like to be around them. I just like them. He was a Soldier’s Soldier
William Stanley Carpenter Jr. class of 1960 Let me tell you a little about the amazing man. Born in Woodbury, N.J. 1937 His father was a semipro football player and a car salesman. His father was drafted into the army in 1944 at the age of 36. He died on April 11, 1945, by a German artillery round, just 1 month before the end of the WAR.
He grew up in Philadelphia and was a tremendous athlete who was pursued by a score of colleges He was 6’2” 200lbs and could run the 100 yards in 9.9 sec. Luckily, he was already an Army fan and admired Blanchard and Davis. At Army, he played with the ’58 undefeated team and was named captain of the ’59 Team
He was known as the “lonesome end” because he would not go into the huddle but the QB would signal the play to him as he stayed flanked out near the sideline, He set career records for the first Army receiver to go over 1000 yards and 65 receptions. Against Oklahoma, he caught 6 passes for 67 yards and ran back 4 K.O. returns for 65 yards, while playing with one hand strapped to his side because of a dislocated shoulder.
He was named first-team all-American in football but also was named all-American as a defensive player in Lacrosse his senior year although he was never playing the game before because of spring football. At Camp Buckner before his senior year, he said to his best friend Bob Anderson, you see that girl over there I’m going to marry her. His name was Toni Vigliotti and she was a model from Central Valley and currently dating a Plebe. True to his word, they were engaged the day before Graduation and Married on the 2nd of January 1961.
Besides being a great Athlete, he also became an awesome soldier As a 2Lt and platoon leader at Fort Campbell the 2-star division commander asked him to play on the base football team and Carpenter refused. A change of command was on the horizon so the general did not push it. However, the 2-star that followed him did. He ordered him to give up his command and join the base football team. Carpenter was furious. He ultimately yielded to the brass but vowed never to do it again. Sure enough, the following spring he was ordered to give up his new command and rejoin the team. He called his assignment officer at the infantry branch in D.C. It was a cushy job but he wanted no part of it. I will quit the Army if you make me play football. Where do you want to go? Anywhere that I don’t have to play football. How would you like to go to Vietnam?
So, in the spring of 1963, he went to Southeast Asia In 1964 he was an adviser assigned to an airborne brigade of the “Army of the Republic of Vietnam.” The unit came under heavy enemy fire immediately after being inserted by helicopter into a sugar cane field. He was wounded in his arm while changing his magazine and another round hit his radio and spun him around. He threw 3 hand grenades left-handed and emptied his carbine while eliminating the source of the enemy fire by knocking out a bunker. He was awarded the Silver Star the Army’s third highest award for valor in combat.
In 1966 he was back in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division as they maneuvered to relieve the 1/327th infantry. Having surprised Charlie they had their way for the first 15 minutes of the firefight, but soon after that, things turned. He heard 50 cal rounds and mortar fire raining in on him. Soon realized he was facing a regiment of Vietcong, not just a few stragglers Carpenter: " They" in real close to us. They" in among us." Spotter" I have two birds on station. If you have a target, we can bring it in.
Carpenter acted instinctively, popped some yellow smoke heaved it 15 meters in front of him, and dropped to the ground. Bring it right in on the yellow smoke. At the time he didn’t know what ordinance they were carrying – it turned out, to be Napalm. The napalm canister tumbled end over end from the jet into the bamboo thickets, into the yellow smoke, exploding in one apocalyptic roar of wind and fire—whoosh! —as flames sucked the breath out of the jungle and crackled through the burning bamboo tops. "The world turned orange,"; Hot and orange," Carpenter said he had no choice – he had wounded that he wasn’t going to leave them - and his company was in the process of being overrun. After the napalm hit there wasn’t a round fired for 15 minutes. This left time for his company to tighten its defensive perimeter until they were relieved of the following day. Of his 90 men there that day, only 8 were killed and none as a result of the napalm. For his quick action that day he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross is the second-highest wartime metal.
When he returned to the States: Westmoreland pull made him his aide. Carpenter liked Westmoreland but didn’t like the cushy job – he always wanted to be with the troops. Within a week of joining the staff, Carpenter began urging Westmoreland to release him.
After a few weeks of this steady pestering, Westmoreland said to
him, “Only ask me once a week from now on. "So, Carpenter set aside every Tuesday morning to spring the question". In 1970, fresh out of Command and General Staff College, at Fort Leavenworth, in Kansas, Carpenter had received a call from an aide to Sam Walker, who at the time was a brigadier general and the commandant at West Point.
We” sending you to Purdue for a year to get your master said the aide. “Then you” coming to West Point to teach”.
To Carpenter, the secluded world of West Point had about as much to do with the real Army as did the Pentagon. “I’ m not going to West Point,” said Carpenter, then a young major. “You can send me to Purdue, but at the end of the year I won’t have a master’s degree because I’m not going to class”; He was one of the few instructors at West Point who did not have a Master’s. He had “real life experience” to teach MI. Carpenter saw himself as a soldier, not a scholar.
In 1989 he received his 3rd star and assumed command of the combined field Army in Korea. He had over 300,000 troops (Most of them the forces of the Republic of Korea) with his mission to guard the main invasion routes leading south across the DMZ towards Seoul. That was his last assignment and resigned after four years on Aug 31, 1992. The only reason Carpenter did not make 4 Stars is that he did not “smouze” with the brass.
If there is a single cord that runs through Carpenter's career, it is his affection for foot soldiers. “I like what they stand for," Carpenter says. “; I like what they do. I like to listen to them talk and laugh. I like to listen to their tales. I like to be around them. I just like them. He was a Soldier’s Soldier
Colonel Ralph Puckett, Proud and True Award Recipient - 2021
Thank You Note From the Puckett s:
Mrs. Puckett sent the following note of thanks to the class on Colonel Puckett’s behalf:
Ralph and I are still talking about what a wonderful day we had at the class luncheon. You really have no idea how much it meant to him to receive this honor. He knew he had a reputation of being “hard” on the cadets, but to hear from these same cadets this many years later, reaffirmed his commitment to choosing the harder right! … I wish it still possible for Ralph to express his appreciation to … the entire class how much this award means to him.
Mrs. Puckett sent the following note of thanks to the class on Colonel Puckett’s behalf:
Ralph and I are still talking about what a wonderful day we had at the class luncheon. You really have no idea how much it meant to him to receive this honor. He knew he had a reputation of being “hard” on the cadets, but to hear from these same cadets this many years later, reaffirmed his commitment to choosing the harder right! … I wish it still possible for Ralph to express his appreciation to … the entire class how much this award means to him.
Proud and True Award - 2021
The Class of 1972 Proud and True Award recognizes those whose lifetime leadership and service that we, as a class, want to honor and recognize.
The Class of 1972 Proud and True award recognizes those whose lifetime leadership and service we, as a class, want to honor and recognize. This includes their positive influence on the class while at West Point and/or after graduation as well as their exemplary service to the Nation consistent with the ideals of West Point and our motto "Proud and True." Recipients may not be a member or former member of the Class. Nominees from all walks of life (i.e. civilians) are welcome.
Established in 2013, the award is presented at class mini-reunions based the votes of class officers and members of the reunion committee. Prior recipients include: former
USMA Basketball Coach Bobby Knight;
COL (Ret) Fred Peters;
COL (Ret) Robert A. (Tex) Turner;
LTG (Ret) Robert F. Foley;
Chaplain (COL Ret) Andrew Seidel;
LTG (Ret) Thomas Griffin;
LTG (Ret) Glynn Mallory,
COL (Ret) Terry Wallace.
COL (Ret) Ralph Puckett
Please contact Tom Hendrix for detailed information about nomination requirements or any questions at hendrix1@pa.net, (H) 717-245-2549 (M) 717-991-9887. Completed nominations are due to Tom by 1 April 2021!
The Class of 1972 Proud and True award recognizes those whose lifetime leadership and service we, as a class, want to honor and recognize. This includes their positive influence on the class while at West Point and/or after graduation as well as their exemplary service to the Nation consistent with the ideals of West Point and our motto "Proud and True." Recipients may not be a member or former member of the Class. Nominees from all walks of life (i.e. civilians) are welcome.
Established in 2013, the award is presented at class mini-reunions based the votes of class officers and members of the reunion committee. Prior recipients include: former
USMA Basketball Coach Bobby Knight;
COL (Ret) Fred Peters;
COL (Ret) Robert A. (Tex) Turner;
LTG (Ret) Robert F. Foley;
Chaplain (COL Ret) Andrew Seidel;
LTG (Ret) Thomas Griffin;
LTG (Ret) Glynn Mallory,
COL (Ret) Terry Wallace.
COL (Ret) Ralph Puckett
Please contact Tom Hendrix for detailed information about nomination requirements or any questions at hendrix1@pa.net, (H) 717-245-2549 (M) 717-991-9887. Completed nominations are due to Tom by 1 April 2021!
Proud and True Award
The Class of 1972 Proud and True award recognizes those whose lifetime leadership and service we, as a class, want to honor and recognize. This includes their positive influence on the class while at West Point and/or after graduation as well as their exemplary service to the Nation consistent with the ideals of West Point and our motto “Proud and True.” Recipients may not be a member or former member of the Class. Nominees from all walks of life (i.e. civilians) are welcome.
Established in 2013, the award is presented at class mini-reunions based the votes of class officers and members of the reunion committee. Prior recipients include:
2013 - Former USMA Basketball Coach Bobby Knight.
2014 - COL (Ret) Fred Peters and COL (Ret) Robert A. (Tex) Turner
2015 - LTG (Ret) Robert F. Foley
2018 - Chaplain (COL Ret) Andrew Seidel
2019 - LTG (Ret) Thomas Griffin, LTG (Ret) Glynn Mallory, and COL (Ret) Terry Wallace
2021 - COL (Ret) Ralph Puckett
Established in 2013, the award is presented at class mini-reunions based the votes of class officers and members of the reunion committee. Prior recipients include:
2013 - Former USMA Basketball Coach Bobby Knight.
2014 - COL (Ret) Fred Peters and COL (Ret) Robert A. (Tex) Turner
2015 - LTG (Ret) Robert F. Foley
2018 - Chaplain (COL Ret) Andrew Seidel
2019 - LTG (Ret) Thomas Griffin, LTG (Ret) Glynn Mallory, and COL (Ret) Terry Wallace
2021 - COL (Ret) Ralph Puckett
Class of 1972: Proud and True Award
This Class of 1972 PROUD AND TRUE AWARD is intended to recognize a person (not a member or former member of the class) whose lifetime leadership and service we as a class want to honor and recognize. Such recognition could be earned by positive influence on the class while at the Academy or since graduation and/or from exemplary public service consistent with the ideals of West Point and our motto, "Proud and True". Nominees from all walks of life are welcome.
In 2015 the recipient of the Proud and True Award was Lieutenant General Robert F. Foley, U.S. Army (Retired). General Foley graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY, in 1963 and commissioned in the Infantry. In 1966 he received the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in combat in Vietnam at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. He retired in 2000 after completing 37 years of distinguished service to the Army.
In 2014 COL Fred Peters, USA (Ret), and COL Tex Turner, USA (Ret) were chosen as recipients of the Class of 1972 Proud and True Award. Both exemplify the ideals of service to the class, the Army, and the nation that the award seeks to recognize.
In 2015 the recipient of the Proud and True Award was Lieutenant General Robert F. Foley, U.S. Army (Retired). General Foley graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY, in 1963 and commissioned in the Infantry. In 1966 he received the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in combat in Vietnam at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. He retired in 2000 after completing 37 years of distinguished service to the Army.
In 2014 COL Fred Peters, USA (Ret), and COL Tex Turner, USA (Ret) were chosen as recipients of the Class of 1972 Proud and True Award. Both exemplify the ideals of service to the class, the Army, and the nation that the award seeks to recognize.