General Volney F. “Frank” Warner ’50 (Retired) grew up in Woonsocket, South Dakota. He served as an enlisted man in both the Navy and the Army. By the mid-1940s, Frank was 20 years old and needed to decide how to make a living. He was smart enough for college, but money was tight on the family farm. Frank’s dad served in World War I and recalled a West Point graduate who was one of the smartest men he’d known.

Encouraged by his father, Frank applied to the Academy. His attempt to join the Class of 1949 failed, but after a year at the University of Minnesota, Frank successfully became a member of the Class of 1950.

His post-West Point career began in Korea, the first of 29 moves in 30-plus years for Frank, his wife, Janice, and their eventual family of four children. Over his decades of active commissioned service, Frank earned two master’s degrees as well as 10 decorations, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star with oak leaf cluster, and the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters. He served multiple tours in Vietnam, including as commanding officer of the 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division.

Those experiences helped Frank form an opinion on the purpose of the military at that time, one that led him to become one of the authors of the Pentagon Papers, Janice recalled. In March 1973, his past Vietnam pacification experience played a part in de-escalating the situation when Oglala Lakota and the American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee for 71 days, alleging tribal corruption and protesting the U.S. government’s failure to fulfill Native American treaties. As Janice recalled, “They wanted the Army to drive up with tanks, but Frank [chief of staff of the 82nd Airborne Division at the time] didn’t see any point in doing that.” The standoff was resolved a couple months later.

After retiring in 1981, Frank worked as a consultant, eventually establishing the defense company VFW Associates Inc. He and Janice were married for almost 70 years before Frank’s passing in 2019. Two sons—Brigadier General Volney J. “Jim” Warner (Retired) and Colonel Jerry Warner (Retired)—followed in his footsteps, both graduating from West Point with the Class of 1976.

Nearly 50 years after graduation, Jim planned to donate his West Point ring to the annual Ring Melt. Upon further discussion, the brothers decided to donate their dad’s ring, too. Before doing so, they removed the sapphire from it and had it set into a necklace for Janice—a final remembrance of a lifetime of love and adventure. “I never take it off,” she said.

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