From my desk,
to yours.
West Point Reunion Yields Unexpected Return
The United States Military Academy in West Point, NY honored the classes of 1949, 1954, and 1969 during Graduation Week this past May, 2024, their 75th, 70th, and 55th reunions, respectively. My mother, my two sisters, and I attended the festivities in honor of my late father, Lieutenant Colonel James R. Henry ’54 (Retired). My grandfather served as the Army Football Team’s defensive line coach under famed Coach Earl “Red” Blaik from 1952 to 1957, providing us another familial connection to the Academy.
Many have personal and poignant connections to this beautiful and historic institution that has served our country so proudly for over 222 years. There are no shortages of amazing recollections and memories shared among those who attend West Point reunions. But new memories, new connections are also made.
One noteworthy connection was made by John Holder Marcus ’54. Marcus, a "young" 95-year-old, attended his alumni celebration this year not only to reconnect with 12 classmates in attendance but to meet, for the first time, his half-brother Jerry Manning.
At the age of 88, Marcus learned he had two half-brothers and a half-sister, triplets who born in 1940, 10 years after Marcus was put up for adoption at the age of 18 months. That all three babies survived was miraculous given the times. For the Marcus and Manning families, the discovery of their relations and then their subsequent meeting in May, given the advanced ages the siblings, 95 and 85, was nothing short of miraculous as well.
“We always thought we were of Swedish heritage,” Marcus’s two daughters, Mary and Katie, told me over dinner at the Thayer Hotel. “I submitted the test kit from ancestry.com on a whim,” said Mary, “and when I received the results, I was more than a little surprised to learn we were 80 percent Irish, with no trace of Swedish descent.” This was altogether a shock to her father, whose only response was, “Well, I’ll be damned.”
Prior to learning about his Irish ancestry, Marcus had no curiosity at all about his genealogy. He had grown up happy and loved, with aspirations to attend West Point. After graduating he embarked upon a successful career in business. He had five children, he said, and that was family enough for him. Little could he have imagined how his world would exponentially expand.
Five years ago, after Marcus gave in to his daughter’s persistent requests to be tested, Marcus was notified by the testing service used that he had a first cousin. That connection provided the link to his birth mother, Elizabeth Johnston Manning, which subsequently led to him locating his half-brother, Jerry Manning. Manning, a probate attorney in New York who was familiar with DNA testing, didn’t need convincing given the irrefutable, and the two struck up a friendship. Weekly conversations over the phone between Marcus and Manning helped to bridge the gap of almost 90 years of unknown family history. When the 70th West Point reunion presented itself, requiring a flight from Georgia for Marcus and a 90-minute drive for Manning, with both being in good health and able to make the trip they knew they needed to make the most of the opportunity.
Marcus and Manning met in the lobby of the Thayer Hotel on a beautiful, clear blue-sky day. , Their respective families also met each other for the very first time. When asked later how the reunion went, Manning commented: “It was a wonderful meeting. That John’s family was so close was beautiful to see. A delightful family,” Manning then continued, “I’ve been able to share with John how incredible our mother was, a woman ahead of her time,” describing their mother as a farm girl who went to business school before starting her own market research company in Albany, New York.
Just as incredible was the birth of triplets, a rare occurrence in the world of obstetrics at that time. Multiple pregnancies were so unfamiliar to Elizabeth Johnston Manning’s doctor that after he delivered the first baby he left the room, only to be hurriedly called back in to deliver the second baby. Believing all was well, he left the mother and babies in good hands and went home. The next morning at his office, as he prepared to see his first patient, his staff rushed in to tell him the nuns at the hospital had just called to inform them that a third Manning baby had been successfully delivered after the doctor had left the hospital and that mother and babies were all doing well. The doctor, initially stunned, rushed out into his waiting room full of patients, cranked up the Victrola, turned up the volume, and proceeded to do a jig with each and every one there.
Although Marcus and Manning didn’t kick up their heels at their meeting in the Thayer lobby, it did have everyone giddy at the occasion.
About Carey
Carey Henry Keefe grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and attended the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia, graduating with a B.S. in Business Management. She speaks regularly to groups about the remarkable group of men known as the "90-Day Wonders" and the history of the Navy's WWII Pre-flight Training program profiled in A TIDE OF DREAMS.
