Richard Webb Cato was born on 11 Jun 1938 in Manila, the first child of a West Point graduate, COL Raymond Cato ’36, who commanded the 460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion in World War II, and Dorothy Richards of Dallas, TX.

From his family Dick inherited the call­ing for military service and the love of Army life. He spent his formative years in some historic Army posts (Bragg, Campbell, Leavenworth, and Carlisle Barracks) as well as in Washington and Copenhagen.

Dick’s early dream of becoming a West Pointer came true on a hot July day in 1956 when Dick joined the Class of 1960. During those exacting four years at the Academy, the actions and passions of each of us revealed not only who we were then, but provided a fore­taste of who we would become. We remem­ber Dick as dutifully fulfilling his obligations with high spirits, infectious enthusiasm, a penchant for making friends, and fierce com­petitiveness on the squash court. Aside from his commitment to unending extracurricular interests and activities, Dick’s standards were evident in the classroom, where his intellec­tual curiosity and energy placed him within the top 20% of the class.

Following graduation and commissioning in the Infantry, Dick was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, a post where his family had lived earlier. Throughout his life, Dick strongly felt the familial and filial bonds, and a sense of continuity with his fa­ther touched Dick’s life whenever he was post­ed where his father had previously served.

Dick thrived in the gung-ho atmosphere and driving intensity of the airborne mi­lieu. He was honored as the 82nd Airborne Division’s Lieutenant of the Year and pre­sented with a pearl-handled .45 caliber pistol engraved with his name. But the pinnacle was his marriage to Emily Davis, whom he had met by chance at Ft. Rucker four years earlier. Dick was smitten on the spot and told friends and family that this was the girl of his dreams destined to become the love of his life. Throughout their busy lives, Dick and Emily worked tirelessly with the military and associations to improve programs for military families.

They spent three years in the idyllic land­scape of Bad Tolz, Germany with the 10th Special Forces Group before moving to Ft. Benning, GA. In 1966 Dick served the first of two Viet Nam tours. Commanding a company of the 1st Infantry Division during Operation Attleboro, he was badly wounded during the battle of Ap Cha Do but contin­ued to lead his unit in close combat until or­dered to evacuate. At the evacuation site, he established security, supervised the extraction of the wounded, and ensured every Soldier was treated before accepting medical help himself. He was awarded the Silver Star for valor but lost the engraved .45 caliber pistol. Incredibly, 30 years later, Senator Bob Kerrey discovered the weapon while visiting a mili­tary museum in Hanoi, secured its release, and returned the pistol to its surprised, but grateful, rightful owner.

Dick spent a year at Walter Reed Army Medical Center recovering from his Viet Nam wounds. In the years that followed, he earned dual masters’ degrees from Stanford University in economics systems and opera­tions research and engineering, returned to Viet Nam for a second tour, commanded the 4th Airborne Battalion at Ft. Benning, graduated from the National War College, and served in the U.S. Army Recruiting Command at Ft. Sheridan.

In 1976, Dick and Emily were sent to the Middle East. For two years he served as a military assistant in Iran, working with the International Red Cross monitoring refugee treatment. He played a key role—coordinat­ing highly sensitive U.S. and Iranian drug-interdiction efforts and developing interna­tional smuggling suppression.

Dick’s final tours were all in Washington, developing personnel procedures for officer selection and leading efforts to automate the Army’s recruitment and training programs in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel. These programs were part of the Army’s effort to rebuild itself after the Viet Nam years, and Dick’s contributions were a vital part of this overall successful effort.

In 1986, Dick retired from the Army, with a Silver Star, two Legions of Merit, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, four Bronze Star Medals, a Purple Heart and four Meritorious Service Medals.

His second career began with defense contractors BDM and Boeing, rising through their ranks to ever more senior corporate posi­tions and concluding in 2004 as a vice presi­dent at Science Applications International in Fairfax, managing multibillion-dollar de­fense communications projects supporting our forces in Iraq.

In 2005, he followed his passion for gour­met cooking to the L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, enrolling in a rigorous one-year professional chef’s program. Mastering the theoretical foundation and practical skills of cooking along with all the French terms and techniques, Dick graduated with distinction and served for six months as a sous-chef in Nora’s, one of Washington’s top restaurants. He declined the offer of a permanent posi­tion, choosing instead a genuine but active retirement centered upon friends and family.

Dick and Emily raised and loved their chil­dren Gavin and Lauren, sending them into the world imbued with a devotion to family and the ethic of hard work. Their marriages and the birth of five grandchildren were causes for great joy and celebration. Dick was an ac­tive member of The Falls Church (Anglican). Richard Cato left this life on 5 Apr 2008, after a valiant, year-long struggle with brain cancer. We remember Dick as an exemplary family man and a patriot who cared for the well-being of the human race. Dick was a man who lived his life in a vibrant and cheer­ful happiness that had in it nothing either dull or gloomy. He had the most illuminated and enchanting smile, both elevated and kindly at the same time. We trust that smile will greet us when we join him in the Long Gray Line.

—Lemuel J. Cato (LTC) ’69, John A. Berry (COL) ’60, Cato family