THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605250185
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SERIES: On Memorial Day: Remembering fallen heroes
SOURCE: Rebecca Myers Cutchins
LENGTH: 47 lines
For as far back as he can remember, retired Army Lt. Gen. Alonzo E. Short Jr. has associated Memorial Day with paying homage to the memory of deceased loved ones.
``We would go out and place flowers on the graves of members of our family or we would go out and clean up a gravesite to make sure the bush and debris were cleaned away,'' Short recalled recently in a telephone interview from Northern Virginia, where he now lives with his wife, Rosalin.
Short says his 32 1/2 years in the military served only to increase his appreciation for the holiday observance.
``I guess it's made me a bit more mindful of the losses that so many American families have suffered.''
A 1957 graduate of I.C. Norcom High School, Short was born in Greenville, N.C., but grew up in Mount Hermon and Truxton. He entered the military in 1962 after receiving a degree from Virginia State College.
Short served tours of duty in Vietnam and Okinawa as well as assignments in the United States and Europe. During the Persian Gulf War, he headed the largest military telecommunications system in the world as commander of the U.S. Army Information Systems. His command was praised by Gen. Colin Powell and Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf as a key factor in the Desert Storm victory.
Before his retirement from the military in September 1994, Short was the highest-ranking African American on active duty in the Army. He is now president and chief executive officer of an information technology company in Alexandria.
Though Short said he would spend most of this holiday weekend preparing for a visit from his two children and three grandchildren, he also expected to take time on Monday to speak and have lunch with a group of Vietnam veterans in Richmond.
Short says he returns to Portsmouth regularly to see his brother, Harry ``Hal'' Short, and his daughter, Daniele, who lives with her husband and daughter ``in the old home place,'' as Short calls his mother's Truxton house. His daughter moved in after his mother's death in December. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Before his retirement in September 1994, Lt. Gen. Alonzo E. Short
Jr. was the highest-ranking African American on active duty in the
Army. by CNB