Thursday, January 1, 1970
Dwight Varley was a friend to all. I was able to get to know him better during my Junior year at Oklahoma State University. It was the Summer of 1975 when we were obligated to attend our Summer camps. Prior to that, a few of us (Dwight, Ken Stone and I) were selected to attend Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia. It was good training and the Black Hats (Instructors) put us through our paces. During the Jump phase of the course, we had to negotiate five (5) drops from various aircraft to complete the course. He didn't make the final jumps as his parachute failed on his second or third Jump. He survived the jump and along with the rest of us, received the go ahead to graduate. I think for me then, it showed he had a lot of grit and determination as going forward there was still more challenges to negotiate. In the Fall and into our Senior year, Dwight would invite me and others to his house with Pam (his wife at the time) and play tennis, grab a bite or drink a beer. Whenever we met up and it didn't matter where -- we would always remind each other of Airborne School by mimicking the Black Hats or recalling the little bit of suffering we endured doing a thousand push-ups for one infraction or another. During one of our outings, we took in a drive- in theater just to the east of campus. Dwight introduced me to Vodka and Beer. I never had this combination before and I've not had it since. To this day, I don't remember what movie we saw! When we pinned on our Lieutenant rank on 22 December 1976 at Thatcher Hall, Dwight along with Bill Whitlock and Jack Henson were branched (selected) for the Field Artillery. By January 1977, we were attending the Field Artillery Basic Officer Course at Fort Sill. I recall Dwight would be get his first assignment there following the course. A few years later when the opportunity came up, he was accepted into the Army Aviation branch and eventually flew Helicopters in Europe and Africa. He always talked fondly of those days. I had the occasion on travel to Colorado perhaps 20 years later (mid to late-90s) when we were both off active duty and he had started work for the government. I was following up either on Reserve duty or Defense contract work. Again, we were able to catch up on family, events, things we had not talked about since our days at Stillwater and in the Army. You could tell he truly was still dedicated to the journey called the U.S.A. Early indicators of changes in his health were becoming apparent. Around 2014, Gabby and Dwight hosted at their home in Colorado Springs a reunion of our Scabbard & Blade organization. What a great get together it was to see how well everyone was doing and how we were able to bridge the past as well as the future. Dwight had put together a great venue of the Colorado Springs area as well as a photo review - so many memories. Fast forward to 25 April 2022, my wife, Mary and I happened to be visiting Stillwater and Thatcher Hall. Dwight passed away that day. What are the odds of that. We had stopped by in preparation for the upcoming OSU ROTC Military Ball to be held Friday. The lounge where some Lieutenants repeated the Oath of Office had not changed that much. I won't forget getting the word from Nancy Beckstrom with the call from Phil Boykin. I think if Dwight and our own class of graduates had seen the corps of cadets present that we could see a little bit of each other in them. It had been 45+ years since graduation and our own Military Ball. I didn't have any idea the things Dwight and his family were experiencing since our Scabbard & Blade Reunion in Colorado Springs. To his family and many friends, he will truly be missed.
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