Story By Paul Tate, LWMA Faculty, 1965 - 1983
Let there be no doubt that Colonel Ramsey was a very kind, considerate,
warm-hearted and well-meaning school teacher and administrator.
Anything that could, should, and would be said about him by me and
others is not meant to disparage him in the least. He served the Academy
faithfully during his tenure there, and was generally well-liked and
respected by all who knew him.
BUT, there are at least 100 stories that could be told about Colonel
Ramsey, and, frankly, John Strunk, Wayne Betts, Bill Lish, and I could
supply the first 75!!! The cadets who also knew Colonel Ramsey could
perhaps tell that many more
Here's #1.
The time was late May of 1965. I was a graduating senior at Troy State
University where Dr. Ralph Adams, a SII graduate and LWMA board
member, was president. I knew Dr. Adams well. He called me one day to
say that LWMA, which I had never heard of, needed a male English
teacher. At the time, I had already accepted an apprenticeship at the
University of Iowa for graduate work in journalism, and I had no intentions
of becoming a teacher. But, as a favor to Dr. Adams, I agreed to drive out
to the small landing strip that Troy used as an airport to meet the LWMA
president and the dean of instruction who were flying in to give me a
tarmac interview.
I had not waited long before the small, light, two-seater, cub of an
aircraft landed, with Colonel Smith in the pilot's seat and Colonel Ramsey
in the co-pilot's seat. I walked around to the side of the plane with the
one door to greet them: Colonel Ramsey who, of course, came out first;
then Colonel Smith. No time had passed at all before I learned that the
plane belonged to the school, that Colonel Smith was the pilot, and that
Colonel Ramsey was not only deathly afraid of flying but also that he
seriously doubted Colonel Smith's ability to fly it.
Since there was no terminal building, nor a conference room, nor chairs,
the interview was conducted standing next to the plane and in the
shadow of the one closed hangar. Actually, what was intended as an
interview soon developed into a teacher recruitment sales pitch, led by
Colonel Smith, on why I should want to come to LWMA to teach. He did a
good selling job.
Colonel Ramsey was extremely restless, spending most of the time in the
shade of the hangar and smoking cigarettes. When the "interview" was
over, and Colonel Smith said it was time for the two of them to fly back to
Camp Hill, Colonel Ramsey bolted into the plane first and plopped down in
the pilot's seat. With a look of amazement, Colonel Smith jokingly said to
Colonel Ramsey, "Now, Colonel Ramsey! I know you don't know how to fly
a plane."
Without ever recognizing the substance of the remark or appreciating its
humor, Colonel Ramsey replies, "No, Wesley. I want to ride back to Camp
Hill on this side of the plane this time, so that I can get a different view."
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