Red was solid Army—the son of Brigadier General Lucius Loyd Durfee '86 and Fanny, daughter of Brigadier General William M. Van Horne. That Red ever learned anything is a tribute to his native intelligence, nine different schools in two of which the only available teacher was an enlisted man, but he entered West Point on a presidential appointment and not only handled the curriculum without difficulty but had time for athletics. He was on the baseball squad all of our three years and won his "A”: in hockey too he got his monogram, no letter then for hockey. As an acting corporal in yearling camp, he won a BA and AB. However, he recovered and was corporal in Second Class year and lieutenant in our First Class year. Of course his sweet tenor voice had him in the choir from start to finish.

 

In the Infantry after graduation, he reached France 22 July 1918 and served in the Vosges and the Meuse-Argonne (Victory Medal with Battle and Defensive Sector Clasps). Back in the States, he had a four year Reserve Officers’ Training Corps tour at Clemson before his linguistic ability took over. After the Escuela Superior de Guerra, he began teaching Spanish at the Military Academy. His tour was interrupted twice to be president of the Departmental Board of Elections in Nicaragua.

 

After the advanced infantry course at Benning, Red did a stint as subdistrict supervisor for the Civilian Conservation Corps, twenty-two months in Havana as assistant military attache, then four years as assistant professor of modern languages. At Schofield Barracks in September 1940, he suffered a heart attack and after eleven months hospitalization, was retired. Immediately called back to duty, he was assistant professor for Spanish and associate professor of modern languages until July 1948. Awarded Legion of Merit.

 

Reverting to retired status, Red made his home with his sister Dorothy and her husband Red (Brigadier General L.V.) Warner. This happy trio moved about from Fort Monroe, West Point, Heidelberg and finally, Alexandria, Virginia. There they had twenty wonderful years with one another and among their friends. Towards the last of them, Red just gradually wore out. He is back at the Point where many classmates awaited him.

 

That story of a fine career tells nothing about the Red Durfee we knew for sixty years. He was a loyal friend and brother, good company and kind beneath a sometimes crusty exterior. We around Washington were happy to have been with him in his last twenty years. We miss him.