Twenty-two years to the day when Operation Desert Storm ended, the general who commanded the coalition force ground offensive was laid to rest at West Point, N.Y.
A memorial service for retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, a U.S. Military Academy Class of 1956 graduate, was held at the Cadet Chapel Feb. 28 with family, friends and colleagues in attendance.
Following the service, Schwarzkopf was buried near his father, Maj. Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Sr., at the West Point Cemetery. His father, a 1917 USMA graduate and cavalry officer, was a World War I veteran and founder of the New Jersey State Police and served as its first superintendent. A contingent of N.J. State Police officers, and also more than 100 USMA cadets, senior leaders, and staff and faculty, attended the services.
Retired Maj. Gen. Leroy Suddath '56 delivered the first memorial tribute, having met Schwarzkopf at the academy 61 years ago. At 21, Suddath had three years of college but admitted to not being so academically-inclined when he entered West Point. Having Schwarzkopf for a roommate was truly fortunate. At 17, Schwarzkopf was among the youngest in the Corps of Cadets and his classmates benefited from his knowledge of Middle Eastern culture and his dedication to the motto of "Duty, Honor, Country."
"He was a leader in the Corps of Cadets and, for Norman, academics were a piece of cake," Suddath said. "He spent more time helping his roommates than on his own studies."
Schwarzkopf graduated 43rd among 480 cadets in the Class of 1956 and commissioned from West Point as an infantry second lieutenant. After earning his master's in mechanical engineering from the University of Southern California, Schwarzkopf returned to West Point where he instructed cadets for two years in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.