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Herbert Wesley Lamb

Posted 2009-02-16 by Pat Wilson
LAMB, Herbert Wesley
Herbert Wesley Lamb, "You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade . . ." As a young man, Herbert received this message in June 1944 along with thousands of other young soldiers headed for the beaches of Normandy. Several weeks ago he received the message of his terminal illness and with his customary stoicism and resolution he remarked that he didn't expect to live forever. On January 10th 2005, like all old soldiers, he just faded away, one month short of his 83rd birthday.

In many respects, he was a very ordinary human being who came from extremely humble beginnings. Born on a farm in West Virginia in 1922, he grew up during the Great Depression, secured his first job as a mechanic within one of the WPA programs of the Roosevelt administration and was drafted into the Army in 1941. He served his country during World War II, during the height of the cold war years on the east/west German borders-right up to the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis. In many other ways however, he was a very remarkable man. He possessed a mechanical engineer's gift for fixing virtually any broken object, yet he lacked any formal education beyond high school. He had the capacity for conversation and laughter, yet he preferred and sought-out solitude. His persona and tastes were outwardly plain and simple, but he was an innately reflective and complex man.

Herbert is preceded in death by his wife Noreen, who passed away last summer and by Victorina, his first wife who lost her battle with cancer in 1951. He is survived by his three children: Beatrice, Michael and Vicki, and his four grandchildren: Stephanie, Caolan, Jacqueline and McKenna.

All of us are deeply saddened at his passing. Herbert will be buried at the military cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to, Hospice of the Valley, 1510 E. Flower St., Phoenix, AZ 85014. Funeral services at St. Tims Catholic Church, 1730 W. Guadalupe Rd. Meldrum Mortuary handled arrangements. "And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God. . ." Published in The Arizona Republic, January 12, 2005




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