Col. William M. Whitesel

Colonel William Monitor Whitesel, U.S. Army, Retired, 90, of Carlisle, pass on Saturday, September 28, 2013 at Cumberland Crossings, Carlisle. He was born 21 November 1922 at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, son of the late Captain Thomas K. Whitesel, USMC, and his wife, Cera Rand Whitesel.
His childhood and youth were spent in Haiti and Hingham, Massachusetts where he completed his secondary education. He graduated from Boston University in 1947 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History, followed by graduate work at Harvard Business School and subsequently George Washington University where he received a Master's Degree in International Relations. His military education included graduation from the Basic and Advanced Courses at the Infantry School, the Basic Course at the Engineer School, The Command and General Staff College, and the United States Army War College, Class of 1966.
Enlisting in the United States Army at Boston University in 1942, Colonel Whitesel was later commissioned Second Lieutenant, Infantry. He served with the 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Division in the European theater during World War II. His subsequent career assignments were commands in seven Infantry, Armored Infantry and Mechanized Infantry units at every level from platoon to brigade; staff positions from battalion level to Department of the Army and the United Nations Command, Korea. His 13 years of overseas assignments took him to Germany, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
In January 1972, Colonel Whitesel was assigned to the faculty of the U.S. Army War College where he held the Elihu Root Chair of Strategy and was the Director of the Military Strategy Seminars and Editor of Military Strategy, the first Army War College text to incorporate student and faculty studies of the evolution of the U.S. Military Strategy.
He retired as Deputy Commander of Carlisle Barracks in June 1977 after thirty-five years of military service. He held the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster among other US, Korean, and Vietnamese awards and decorations. He was also awarded the Combat Infantry Badge and the Army General staff Badge. He was elected to the Infantry Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame at Fort Benning, Georgia.
After retirement, Colonel Whitesel served as Personnel Director of SGL Abrasives in Carlisle, Director of Tests and Exercises for PEMA and Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Alumni Association of the U.S. Army War College.
Active in community affairs, Colonel Whitesel was a member and past President of the Carlisle Rotary International Club. He was also a member of the Carlisle Chamber of Commerce, the Harvard Club of Central PA, the Society of Mayflower Descendants, and the Sons of the American Revolution. He was a member of St. John's Episcopal Church where he was a Lay-Reader, Chalice Bearer, Verger, and Vestryman.
On Jun 17 1950, Colonel Whitesel was married to Ann Brier; only daughter of the late Colonel William W. Brier, Jr. and his wife, Vera Klotz Brier. They recently celebrated their 63 wedding anniversary of an enduring, eventful, and loving marriage. They are the proud parents of William Thomas Whitesel (Donna) of Roswell, GA, Richard Albin Whitesel (Theresa) Of Lancaster, and Elizabeth Whitesel Allen (Kenneth) of Mechanicsburg. They have 9 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Colonel Whitesel was brother to Claire Avis Steinbeck and Thomas Kelly Whitesel.
A Requiem Eucharist will be celebrated on Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 11 o'clock at St. John's Episcopal Church, on the Square of Carlisle, 1 N. Hanover St., Carlisle PA, with Rev. Canon Mark A. Scheneman officiating. Internment (family only) will precede the service at St. John's Columbarium.
Hoffman-Roth Funeral Home and Crematory, 219 N. Hanover St., Carlisle is handling the arrangement.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to St. John's Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 612, Carlisle PA 17013-0612.