Williams Swift Martin III, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.), was born in Canada and spent much of his early childhood living abroad in England and Finland. His family later moved to Virginia, Connecticut and Washington, DC, where Swift played middle linebacker on the city championship St. Albans football team. After attending Cornell University for a short time and enlisting in the Army, Swift won an appointment to West Point with the Class of 1960.

At 6’ 4 1/2”, he towered over many of us, and his booming voice in the midst of First New Cadet Company signaled that this was someone special. When we took our TA 50 kit (harness and web gear) to the Plain dur­ing the first week of the Second Beast Detail to learn how to assemble and wear it, he was first on his feet with a full horseshoe roll neatly fastened around the pack and prop­erly attached to the rest of the load bearing equipment. Many of the rest of us were still figuring out the difference between tent poles and tent pegs so we could begin to roll up our horseshoe rolls around the poles. We knew him as Swift or Swifty, and he was a tower of strength in those early days of our military careers in 1956.

Swift was a great friend to his A-1 class­mates and a leader who was always willing to help cope with any difficult situation that arose. He carried that spirit of leadership and willingness to teach and help into the Army upon graduation and was a soldier’s soldier throughout his infantry career.

Swift was airborne at heart, and after attending Infantry Officer Basic Course, Ranger School and Airborne School he was assigned to Ft. Richardson, AK, where he helped establish a new airborne unit. His next assignment took him to Ft. Campbell and the 101st Airborne Division, where he commanded Cougar Company of the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry. He deployed to Viet Nam with the 1st Brigade (Separate) and commanded his company in combat in the fall of 1965. On one occasion, he suc­cessfully led his company in a vicious fight to relieve a classmate’s company that was fight­ing against surrounding North Vietnamese Army forces. He always considered the com­mand of those airborne troopers in combat his highest honor and a great privilege and responsibility. He did not let his men down.

After a stint teaching ROTC at Vanderbilt University, Swift returned to Viet Nam with the 1st Cavalry Division and again saw ac­tion as a commander of ground forces dur­ing the Cambodian invasion in 1970. Swift subsequently performed recruiting duty in West Virginia, staff duty on the V Corps staff in Frankfurt, and closed out his career working on the Ballistic Missile Defense Program in the Pentagon. He retired from the service in 1979.

Swift and Ellen were married in the first ceremony after graduation in the Post Chapel at West Point. Children Bill and John were born in Alaska, and Liza was born at Ft. Campbell. His family was always a source of strength to Swift, and I am sure a source of great pride. After his retirement from the Army, Swift and Ellen lived in Washington, DC, where Swift started and ran a small computer systems consulting business for 15 years. Swift maintained a wide range of interests, including music, the outdoors, architecture, antique furniture, American impressionist art, European and American prints, Chinese porcelain and fine wine. He was, in addition, an enthusiastic traveler.

Swift died after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease on 23 Aug 2007, at the age of 72. His memorial service was held at Christ Church in Georgetown, and he was laid to rest in Arlington Cemetery with full military honors. At his memorial service, his oldest son, Bill, delivered an eloquent eulogy that included these words:

“It is appropriate that we should gather this morning in Christ Church Georgetown to remember and celebrate my father’s life in a place where he spent so much of his life. For this is a church where his parents wor­shipped for nearly half a century; where he witnessed his two sisters, Mimi and Ann, marry; where his daughter Liza was mar­ried; where John, Liza and I were all acolytes; and where, in the chapel, John’s daughter (his granddaughter) Ingrid was christened. Here, Mom and he worshipped Sunday af­ter Sunday from the 1970s, from a pew in the back so he didn’t block other parishio­ners’ view, and so he could spring into action if trouble arose at the doors. Here he served on the Vestry, including as Senior Warden; here he headed the lay reading program and served as an usher; here in the kitchen in the back he washed dishes; and next door, in Keith Hall and in Lythicum Hall, Mom and he helped look after the homeless.

He chose to live a life of faith, of service to his family and friends, to his country, and to his church. He chose to be a soldier and served the United States ably and honorably with courage and valor in battle. He loved his parents and sisters, his wife, his children, his eight grandchildren and all his extended family. He was my father. He was my hero, and not just mine. He will be greatly missed. God bless you, Dad.”

Yes, he was a hero to all of us in the Class of 1960 also, and we do miss him greatly. Well done, Swift Martin; be thou at peace.

—By his family and his Company A-1 classmates