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After graduation from West Pittston High School,
West Pittston, PA, John Charles Eitel enlisted in the Army in July 1947.
As one of five children, John’s desire for advanced education was only going to
be met through the military. While at the United States Military Preparatory
School at Stewart Field in Newburgh, NY, he received a congressional appointment
to West Point. Thrilled with the opportunity, he gladly relinquished his
competitive Army appointment and gave his place to a prep school colleague.
Entering West Point in 1950, he was a member of
the Glee Club and an ardent handball player. Always studious, he excelled in
sports as well as in his academic courses.
Upon graduation, John married Theresa Maraday,
whom he had met when at Stewart Field. John became the “other son” to Theresa’s
parents and remained always supportive of their needs. John and Terry lived
their love story as a devoted couple and family. They gladly traveled where the
Army sent them and relished their time together.
John’s first tour of duty was as a student at the
Armored School at Ft. Knox, KY. From there he was assigned to the 11th Airborne
Division at Ft. Campbell, KY. While there, John, Jr., arrived in 1955. Two tours
in Germany followed. While in Munich with the 76th Tank Battalion, a second son,
Charles, was born in 1957. His second assignment was in Fulda, Germany, with the
14th Armored Calvary Regiment, defending the border against the Warsaw Pact
forces.
Upon his return to the States, John was assigned
as a Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor at Culver Military Academy in
Culver, IN. Simultaneously he attended Notre Dame
University but couldn’t complete the International Relations degree
due to a transfer. Later he attended the Command
and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, KS, and earned a master’s degree
in military science.
In 1968, John was assigned to the 25th Infantry
Division in Viet Nam, where he commanded a mechanized infantry battalion. After
contracting malaria, he returned home to his new assignment at Ft. Belvoir, VA,
where he served until his retirement from the Army in 1970.
After some adjustment to civilian life and a
return to Theresa’s hometown of Newburgh, NY, John settled into a second career.
There he joined Terry’s profession as a teacher of physical science in the local
school district. Additionally, he worked endless hours creating the building
plans for a wonderful beach house in Madeira Beach, FL, but he passed away
before the
house was completed.
A man of strong religious beliefs, his faith
guided his daily life. He was a wonderful husband, a fine father and fantastic
grandpa, who was adored by his grandchildren. His boys and their wives lost a
father they were just beginning to really know and appreciate. His friends and
colleagues knew him as a man to be trusted and one who always gave his time and
counsel to those who asked for his valued advice. His students knew him as a man
of discipline who looked to them as the future leaders of his beloved country.
John’s wife Theresa, son John, Jr., his wife
Robin, and grandchildren Kara and Sean, and Charles and his wife Robin survive
him. He lived his life with devotion to duty and family. He never will be
forgotten.
—Written and submitted by
the family of John Eitel
Having been a soldier, the military life was
not new to Jack.
John developed a great sense of exactness
and a very likeable personality,
both of which will hold him in good stead in
his career.
Jack looks forward to graduation not as an end
to cadet life, but as the beginning of a new road.
1954 Howitzer
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