“Heroes are living, breathing embodiments of our ideals. By their example, they inspire and urge us to aspire to be like them. We think we can, because our heroes have shown us they could.”—Author Unknown

William George Groeger died near Ft. Hood, TX, on 10 May 1986. He is our hero. The way he lived his life is a daily reminder to all of us that we can be and achieve anything to which we set our minds.

Bill was born in Morristown, NJ, and grew up in Long Valley, NJ, with his sister and two brothers. He attended West Morris Central High School in Chester, NJ, where he excelled in academics and athletics. In Bill’s senior year, he earned All-County honors in baseball as a pitcher and catcher and All-State accolades in football as an offensive guard. Upon graduation, he was named Athlete of the Year. During his sophomore year of high school, he met his future wife, Patricia Howard.

Bill reported to West Point on 1 Jul 1979 and was assigned to Company I-1. During his Plebe year, he sustained a shoulder injury in boxing that cut short his pitching career on the varsity baseball team. Although Bill was an exceptional athlete, he was not known for his gracefulness, and it was by sheer force of will that he passed Plebe gymnastics.

After Plebe year, the Class of ’83 was “scrambled,” and Bill moved to Company I-4 for his next three years at West Point. It was in the “I-Beam” that Bill formed a core group of friends, who made many trips to Bill’s home in New Jersey for his famous parties. These friends were always the centerpiece of the stories Bill told when speaking of his fondest West Point memories, and they remain close to our family today.

As a cadet, Bill was motivated in academics and graduated on the Dean’s List. According to his roommates, however, Bill’s room standards did not receive the same level of attention as his studies. Not one to let the Tactical Department impede his academic success, Bill was “written up” by the officer in charge one night for “gross and excessive display of books on window ledge” while writing his law thesis. Despite his housekeeping shortfalls, Bill was a standout cadet and was selected to serve on the cadet brigade staff during his First Class year as the assistant Brigade S-4 (Mess).

Upon graduation from West Point, Bill joined the elite two-percent club by marrying his high school sweetheart, Patty. They made a home in Georgetown, TX, and Bill began his first assignment as a Military Intelligence officer at Ft. Hood. Assigned to the 522 MI Battalion, 2d Armored Division “Hell on Wheels,” Bill served as the electronic warfare tactical operations officer, ground surveillance radar platoon leader, and service support platoon leader. His budding career was cut short by his untimely death in a car accident in 1986.

Bill enjoyed competition and set high goals, which he achieved with the same tenacity and relentlessness he displayed on the football field and baseball diamond. Probably the most admirable trait of Bill’s, however, was his undying loyalty to and love for his ideals, country, and family. He was a very down-to-earth, nice person, who could make almost anyone feel comfortable within minutes.

Bill is survived by his wife Patricia; his father and mother, Karl and Elizabeth; and his siblings, Karl, Liese, and Andrew. Although Bill has been gone for almost twenty years, he continues to influence our lives. His memory is alive in the smiles and laughter of his family as we tell stories about him at family get-togethers. His legacy survives through his nieces and nephews, who refer to their “Uncle Bill” with reverence despite never having met him. As his classmate Joe Zellmer wrote to me, “once Bill touches you, you’ve been touched forever.”

In 1999, Bill’s family donated his class ring to USMA as a tribute to the values of “Duty, Honor, Country,” values that Bill held dearly, and as a symbol of his ability to influence others in a positive way. It is fitting that his ring rests on display in the Cadet Library at West Point, a place that depends so deeply on role models to develop our nation’s future heroes.

Perhaps, in the years to come, cadets who view the ring display case to look at the class rings of Eisenhower, MacArthur, and Bradley also will read the inscription about heroes next to Bill’s ring and find inspiration, just as Bill’s family has continued to draw strength from his memory. Those cadets will realize that whether you are a five-star general from Abiline, KS, or a captain from Long Valley, NJ, you can still be a hero.