Obituary of MAJ William "Bill" Cramer Pollock,, U.S Army, Jr.

Bill Pollock was born on September 1, 1934 to Colonel William Pollock and Catherine Mae (Curl) Pollock at Fitsimmons Army Hospital, which is currently in Aurora, Colorado. His father was an Army doctor who served in both WWI and WWII. Bill was proud of his father and thought of the possibility of following in his father's footsteps. He knew he wanted to join the Army, and he hoped he would get to go to West Point. Growing up, Bill was actively involved in scouting. He would share stories of summers at Camp Tahosa; beaver dams, hikes, being a counselor and the Order of the Arrow. His favorite story was when he and some other scouts went camping in the Rockies. It snowed heavily during the night and parents were concerned for their children. But, other than having to consume barely warmed over steak for breakfast, they were not concerned. They had one scout who was big and strong, and he broke trail all the way back to the road where their anxious parents were waiting. His greatest scouting achievement was when he made Eagle Scout. After he graduated from East High School in Denver, Colorado, he had to bide his time for an appointment to West Point for a few years. He went to school at Colorado Aggies, now Colorado State University Fort Collins, and joined a fraternity. He spent two summers earning money working for the US Geologic Survey putting in benchmarks in Wyoming and Montana. He often spoke of the adventures of the job: challenges with ranchers, cattle, wild animals, being chosen to keep the records because he was quick with math and the thrill of learning to use dynamite. Then his appointment to West Point came through and a new adventure began. His tales of West Point often entertained us. He would talk about his first tactical officer, one named Patton, of whom he did not like at all. And then Colonel Slocum, who's praises he could not sing enough. He would relay the suffering of beast barracks and plebe year. The relief and excitement of being recognized by upperclassmen at the end of that long year; the interesting courses he took, the hops, the parades, the important guests, the antics of his classmates, and the utter joy at graduation. He would share his favorite football story - The Corp went to Indiana to play Norte Dame. They were hosted by many gracious people in South Bend. The Corp won the game. That evening, their wonderful hosts entertained the cadets until they were to report to board the train back to West Point. It was Bill's responsibility to stand next to the Tac during the inspection to note anyone the Tac put on report. Bill watched as the line of Cadets, all at attention, swayed as if being pushed by a strong, gusty wind. He thought that he would have the unpleasant duty to begin writing the names of the many Cadets who had imbibed too much. He was surprised when the Tac told him, not to worry. It was a great victory. No Cadet would be written up that night unless they fell to their knees.Bill's military career began with Artillery School, and his first duty station in New Britain, Connecticut with air defense where he was one of lieutenants in charge of an anti-aircraft missile battery. Shortly after, they were all moved up to the headquarters. It was during this time that Louis Kochanek, another officer in the command, introduced Bill to his sister, Ann. June 30, 1962 they married in Lowell, Massachusetts at Ann's home church. Soon after their marriage, Bill was transferred to command an artillery battery in Panama. It was there that two things happened that changed his life. One, he and Ann welcomed their children, Bill and Kitty, to their family. The other was Bill discovered the newly created Army Intelligence and transferred to where he would spend the rest of his career. He spent the next few years learning his trade. He was selected to join the elite ranks of Special Security Officers. These are the soldiers tasked with using and maintaining a top-secret communications equipment/network as well as securing SKIFs (secure rooms where they secure all top classified communication and material.)Bill spent two tours of duty in Vietnam. The first was from 1967-1968. He was an SSO officer attached to SOG. He was there during the TET Offensive and would tell this terrifying tale. He had just moved his setup to a newly empty building. They were short staffed and still setting up the equipment when TET occurred. They had just moved into the old MACV Headquarters and he did not know if the enemy knew that MACV was no longer there - would they be a target? It was a compound with four walls. He said there were five of them. That meant there was one person to cover each wall with Bill as the only reinforcement. He told of the quiet, the period sounds of battle short distances away. At one point they saw a jeep with two MPs in it. He called them in and asked them for help. The MPs were happy to stay to help secure the compound and stay off the dangerous streets of Saigon. Then, once they were finally relieved and able to go back to the BOQ, having to stand guard duty with a young, nervous enlisted man, and having someone take a pot shot at them. When he returned for his second tour of duty in 1971, he was told there was no job assigned to him and asked what job he want to do. He said he wanted to work J2 MACV. For the first time in his career, he had to interview for a job, a first in his career. He was proud that General Potts selected him to be the senior intelligence analyst for MR3 (military region 3, Saigon). Bill often felt that this was the time he was of most service - that the work he did saved lives.When he returned from his second tour in Vietnam, Bill was assigned to the Intelligence School at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where he was a teacher. He later, as the executive officer, was responsible for helping to create and run the Intelligence Schools Support Battalion, complete with armor, heavy vehicles, and artillery. He and Ann bought a house in the nearby city of Sierra Vista. A couple of years later, they were reassigned to Heidelberg, Germany where he was stationed as the United States Army Headquarters Europe, where, as part of the cold war, he was analyzing Warsaw Pact forces. It was here he started becoming interested in his Scottish heritage and family genealogy. When he was re-assigned to his final duty station, Forth Huachuca, he connected with other Pollocks across the country and was a founding member of Pollock Family Society, which later became Clan Pollock Family Society, then just Clan Pollock. For years, he was the writer and editor of the family newsletter, the Pollag. He served as their first elected President, as well as clan commissioner for Arizona, North Carolina, and Colorado.Bill retired from the Army in 1981 in Sierra Vista. In the years he lived in Arizona, he took his family camping and hiking. He explored with his family the local histories of Tombstone, the shootout at the OK Corral, and local Indian legends Cochise and Geronimo, had barbecues in the back yard, and annual father/son football games at Thanksgiving. He was also on the cutting edge of new technology, the PC. Unfortunately, Sierra Vista was a small community and most jobs were contingent upon sporadic government contracts. So, once his children were grown, he went to find his fortune in North Carolina where he landed a successful career as a technical writer for ATT federal systems, which became Lucent Technologies. He retired for the last time in the late 90's. At this point, Bill wanted to spend more time outdoors, but North Carolina's humidity was not kind to him. And the Rocky Mountains of his childhood home were calling. So off to Colorado they moved in 2000. Here his passion for photography took off. First with film cameras, then digital cameras. It was a passion and science and art for him. He read books and magazines, did research online, all to find the best techniques, the best lighting, the best settings and the best programs and equipment to get the best pictures he could. He would take pictures of flowers in the yard just so he could experiment on them on the computer. His passion for photography gave him the excuse to explore the highways and back roads of the Rocky Mountains in search of new natural wonders of his beloved Colorado. Bill passed away after a long illness on July 1, 2022. He is survived by his wife, Ann; daughter, Kitty of Colorado; son, Bill and his wife, Brenda, and their three children, Kristin, Joshua and Shannon all of Virginia; sister, Elizabeth Willis, and her five daughters, Maryanne, Susan, Diane, Joanne and Virginia; sister-in-law, Cynthia Kochanek and her children, Laurie and Bruce. He was much loved and will be greatly missed.Visitation, 10:00AM-1:00PM, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, The Springs Funeral Services-North, 6575 Oakwood Boulevard, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80923.Graveside Service, 2:00PM, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, Pikes Peak National Cemetery, 10545 Drennan Road, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80925. Events Graveside Wednesday, July 20, 2022 2:00PM Pikes Peak National Cemetery 10545 Drennan Road Colorado Springs, CO 80925 Phone: 202-632-8035 Visitation Wednesday, July 20, 2022 10:00AM The Springs Funeral Services - North 6575 Oakwood Blvd. Colorado Springs, CO 80923 Phone: 719-207-8611 Final Resting Place Pikes Peak National Cemetery 10545 Drennan Road Colorado Springs, CO 80925