Valley Forge to Pay Tribute to Schwarzkopf

On Sunday, January 13, 2013, Valley Forge Military Academy & College will pay tribute to one of their most notable alumni, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Academy Class of 1952, who passed away on Wednesday, December 27, 2012.

During the regular Sunday chapel service, beginning at 11:00 a.m., the school will honor General Schwarzkopf with a eulogy at the end of the service. The public is invited to attend, as well as alumni, friends and families.  

During his 1989 commencement speech he gave at Valley Forge Military Academy & College, GEN Schwarzkopf expressed his gratitude: “Valley Forge taught me to be proud to be an American…to choose the harder right than the easier wrong. West Point prepared me for the military; Valley Forge prepared me for life.” (In the Eye of the Storm: The Life of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Roger Cohen & Claudio Gatti, 1999.)

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Schwarzkopf grew up in both the United States and Iran. After graduating from Valley Forge Military Academy in 1952, he was accepted into the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he attained a Bachelors of Science degree in 1956 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. He obtained his Masters of Science degree and served as an instructor at West Point before volunteering to serve as a task force adviser to the South Vietnamese Airborne Division in 1965. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he served in various posts across the United States and Western Europe.

Promoted to General in 1988, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the United States Central Command, with an area of responsibility that included (among other regions) the Middle East. As such, he held overall military command authority during the 1990–1991 Persian Gulf War. Retiring from active duty in August 1991, Schwarzkopf moved to Florida, where he published his autobiography and served as a military analyst. On December 27, 2012, Schwarzkopf died in Tampa Bay as a result of complications from pneumonia.

This information was supplied by Valley Forge Military Academy and College.