Arthur T. Carey ’60 was born and raised in the small town of Denville, NJ. His mother and his father’s parents were from Ireland and wanted Art to attend Catholic schools. His parents were not happy with the Catholic grammar school in Denville and there was no Catholic high school in Denville, so Art attended Catholic schools in nearby towns.

After graduation from high school Art attempted to get a congressional appointment to West Point but was not successful. Learning that some military appointments were available to members of the Army National Guard, Art joined in hopes of getting one of these appointments and was successful. He entered West Point with the Class of ’60 in June 1956.

At West Point, Art was well liked by all his classmates and especially excelled in history and English. He was president of the Cadet Rocket Society. In his Fifty Year Yearbook, Art wrote that his proudest achievement at West Point was that every plebe that he coached in English for three years successfully passed his “Turn-out Exam.” The night before Art returned to West Point following his plebe year, he met Alice Margaret White on a blind date, and they were married immediately after graduation.

Art selected Armor as his Army branch. He was airborne and Ranger qualified and served for 30 years, during which time he was awarded the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry Unit Citation, the Air Medal with six oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal and the General Staff Badge. During his service he also earned a master’s degree in military history from Scranton University in Pennsylvania.

Following retirement Art and Alice moved to the city of Jonesboro, GA, just south of Atlanta, where Art continued to serve the Army in a number of ways, including serving as president of the Atlanta Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America, where he successfully lobbied to reduce educational challenges affecting the children of military families. He also encouraged a love of history by serving as president of the Civil War Roundtable and volunteering for many years as a tour guide at the historic Stately Oaks Plantation dressed in the uniform of a Cavalry colonel in the Union Army.

Among Art’s greatest pleasures were traveling with his wife, Alice, and their three children, entertaining friends on his sailboat on Lake Lanier (north of Atlanta), and reading and studying military history. It was like Art to write a scholarly article for Armor magazine defending the tarnished reputation of a deceased general (his article won the magazine’s award for the best submission of the year).

Art was preceded in death by his wife, Alice M. Carey. He is survived by his three children: Arthur “Tom” (Tammy) Carey of Booneville, MS; Victoria Catherine Perrett of Savannah, GA; and Cynthia Ann (Robin) Owens of Greer, SC. He is also survived by his four grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Art’s daughter said that Art had requested that his tombstone read: “Duty was well performed,” and added, “That was true!” West Point graduates will recognize Art’s words from our Alma Mater: “Let Duty be well performed. Honor be e’er untarned. Country be ever armed. West Point, by thee.”

Art’s death was unexpected. He died in his sleep at his home on Easter Sunday and was laid to rest beside his wife, Alice.

God be with you, good friend.

— LTC (R) Frank Geiger