The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Meet Your Neighbor

 by Deb Olson, The Quill

Meet your neighbor, Cecil M. Hank Henry, who lives in La Harpe but born in Floyd County, Georgia. He attended school there in a two-room school house and graduated from the consolidated school at age 16. After graduation he worked for the Pepperell Mill near Rome, GA.

Hank decided that he wanted to travel so, at age 18, in July of 1948 he enlisted in the US Army.

After graduation from basic training at Ft Jackson, SC, Hank spent 33 years in the army. During his long career in the military Hank served in many places. In Heidelberg Germany he served with Communications Services for the US forces in Europe.

At this time he had a TDY to Paris at General Dwight Eisenhower's NATO Headquarters.

In Korea he took a crew to Panmunjom providing communications for Admiral Turner Joy during the peace talks there.

After Korea he returned to Georgia where he married Mamilee Kilpatrick. Then, he briefly returned to an assignment in the Signal Office at Fort Jackson, SC before attending 22 weeks in OCS at Fort Benning Georgia. After OCS he was commissioned as a 2nd Lt., serving in various assignments at Fort Benning and Fort Rucker, AL.

Also at Fort Benning, Hank attended Infantry Officers School and Advanced Infantry Officer s Training. He was promoted to 1st Lt. and was sent to Hawaii where he served with the 25th Infantry.

At Fort Leavenworth, KS he attended Army Command and Staff School.

In Vietnam he first served as an advisor to a Vietnamese regiment. Then he served along the Vietnam/Laos border

Back in the states he was assigned to the Pentagon where he was the officer in charge of research for the Army Small Arts Program which oversaw the development of various rifles and machine guns.

Then he served at Fort Devens, MA where he was the staff officer responsible for the training of National Guard and Reserves throughout New England and New York.

Next he went on a NATO assignment in Turkey where he met his second wife, Jean Rice, who was teaching children of Americans working in Turkey.

Hank retired from the Army in 1981. His last duty station was Fort Knox, KY where he worked with reservists and the National Guard.

After retirement, he got a degree in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska in part because of his participation in the Army s Bootstrap Program. He moved to Arkansas, where he volunteered with the community ambulance service as a paramedic.

Next he and wife, Jean, moved to Corpus Christi, TX.

Now they split their time between Texas and La Harpe.

Hank enjoys having breakfast with friend, Harry Miller, at a local restaurant where he always orders the Texas pancake.