"Once a Marine, always a Marine!" How many times did we hear John say that? And, oh yes, we also hear the many tales of Hill City and the Black Hills of South Dakota. As a former Marine enlisted man, John Charles Loberg entered West Point and "Beast Barracks" with a leg-up on most of us. My first personal contact with John came when the former Marine was assigned as a 2-1/2 ton truck driver on our Plebe Hike, thus becoming the transportation for my not-quite-authorized movie camera that provided many memorable candid scenes of that event. And as fate would have it we both were assigned to Company I-2, and a continuing four-year association as cadets. And what a trip that was.

I think all of us in I-2 would remember John as one of the true "characters" of the Corps. He was always involved in some project, whether sanctioned by the TD or not. Want to have a Navy Rally, see John. Need a volunteer for some company project, John's your man. No time to list all of the shenanigans he was involved with, but most would remember him for the infamous Mess Hall Rally before the 1955 Navy Game. John decided he would pump up spirit a bit by bringing a local young femme into the Mess Hall disguised a cadet. Somehow he got her in there, but it didn't last long. The young lady was Company A-2 size (that's where he borrowed the uniform), but was seated with a flanker battalion. Even without all the uproar created when the Corps realized what was going on, the OC had no trouble identifying the source his problem. As with a number of his antics, John spent a few months on the Area for this infraction, but this one gave him pause for thought about a solution. His solution became perhaps his second-best remembered stunt. Knowing he needed a "head of state" to grant amnesty to cadets serving Areas tours, he found a likely target in Prince Rainier of Monaco, who was at that time in the U.S. courting his future bride, Grace Kelly. Well, there was good news and bad news. John actually contacted the Prince's aide from the pay-phone in the company "sinks" after rounding up all the quarters and dimes he could scrounge from company mates. The bad news was that although the Prince seemed to think a visit to West Point was something he'd like to do, the visit and the amnesty didn't come until latter in 1956 when John had already served his punishment in full. Nonetheless, many others benefited from his efforts.

And, of course, there were other memorable events in his activity-driven cadet life. He and another classmate bought motorcycles (unauthorized, naturally) early in First Class year, and made a point of driving around West Point on the weekends in an outlandish biker outfits. He even prided himself on the fact that he once waved at our company Tac while driving down Thayer Road, and the Tac waved back politely, not knowing what he was witnessing. And, as fate would have it, John and I ended up as roommates Firstie Year. I was never quite sure if I would make it to Graduation before this association would become my undoing as well, but alas we both survived.


After Graduation, John and I linked up again in the same Infantry Basic Course company, and then as "Ranger buddies", something that boded well for me. John's never-quit attitude was contagious, and inspired me and others to follow his lead, surviving where others faltered. However, for sometime after those early days at Ft. Benning, our paths didn't cross. John went off on tours to Korea, Fort Ord, Ft. Benning, as a staff member on the Infantry Board, ROTC at the University of Puerto Rico, and two tours in Vietnam, each resulting in combat wounds that caused his evacuation. Later John served as an adviser to both Army Reserve and National Guard units in Pennsylvania and in Minnesota.

In 1975, John married his beloved wife, Gale, did a final tour of duty in Japan, and then retired to his adopted home of Napa, CA, purchasing a home near his aging mother, and started an entirely new life full of activities for which he will be long remembered. John plunged into the real estate profession, and did so with the same zeal he displayed in every endeavor in life. A key to his success was becoming involved with multiple civic activities in Napa. In his usual style, he became the "go-to guy" for everything. He was a member of Rotary, the Napa Tip Club, the Sons of Norway, the local college seniors choir, participated in annual charity fund-raising events doing acting, dancing, singing, managing, or whatever the occasion called for as "the ultimate volunteer." At the same time John joined the Military Order of the Purple Heart, rising through the organization to become the California Commander, then a regional commander, and finally in 1996 becoming the National Commander of MOPH. Following his tour as National Commander, John then was selected to be a member of the Purple Heart Foundation, the governing national organization that raises money for Veterans charities. It was that association that brought John and me back into close proximity once again as he attended frequent meeting in the Washington, DC area.

In 1999, while on a choir trip to Prague, CZ, John realized he was encountering some health problems. It turned out to by lymphoma. John went into his usual attack mode and never doubted he would win. Over the next four years, he simply added medical treatment to his list of unending activities. In the end, it won, but John put up fight that wouldn't quit. I spoke with him on his final night, and as always, he was infinitely optimistic, describing in great detail the treatment he expected the following day, treatment that wasn't to be.

John's legacy in Napa, and elsewhere, was evident by the overflowing crowd at services in his church. The attendees included members from the many organization that had come to value and appreciate his personal efforts. Many from our Class also attended, and the Mayor of Napa was one of those eulogizing John's life. Later, John was buried at the cemetery at West Point. The service, held on clear, but bitterly cold day in January, was a fitting sendoff for this former Marine. It was attended by Gale, his sister and brothers, nephews and nieces, a large contingent from the national headquarters of the Purple Heart organization, and perhaps quite fittingly, by the same lady that John had smuggled into the Cadet Mess those many decades earlier for that infamous Navy Game Rally, and who had remained a family friend all those years. One of Life's Great Characters went out in the same way he had lived his life, fighting to the end, and then leaving us all in the unique, grand style we came to expect from him.