On 9 Dec 94, almost 15 months after his death, friends and classmates gathered at Arlington Cemetery to reflect on the too-short and often tumultuous life of Randall Haywood Bryant, II. Under crisp winter skies, the honor guard and caisson wound their way to the site where Randy’s name was engraved on the headstone of his father and mother, who had preceded him there. Like so many before him, the crack of rifles and the sound of Taps signified closure on the history of another soldier. But we need to start at the beginning . . .
Randy was bom on 20 Jan 48 at Ft. Leavenworth, KS, the only son of Randall and Genevieve Bryant. Randy’s father was a career soldier and Randy followed his parents to various posts around the world.
Randy attended high school at Valley Forge Military Academy, graduated first in his class, and received a Congressional appointment to West Point from the 3rd Virginia District. On 1 Jul 65, he and 1,137 other plebes took the Induction Oath on Trophy Point and joined the West Point Class of ’69—The Best of the Line.
At West Point and throughout his life, Randy specialized in extracurricular activities—“a few of which were even authorized” noted his Howitzer biography. Nevertheless, Randy was a solid student and graduated a very respectable 236/800 in the class. Roommate Bernie Tatro remembers, “If it weren’t for hive roommates like Randy ... I probably wouldn’t have made it to graduation.” He took his commission in Military Intelligence (his father’s branch) with an initial Armor detail.
In Ranger School, Tatro remembered “him going down the Slide for Life yelling Airborne, Ranger, Armor, MI!’ The cadre were not amused.” After Randy reported to 2-64 Armor (Schweinfurt) in 1970, classmate John LaBelle recalls, “He quickly established himself as a competent tank platoon leader . . . and then went on to the ‘real’ reason for living in Germany. With his boyish good looks, swashbuckling manner, and sleek, dark Jaguar XKE, he became a favorite of the nightlife set...in almost every respect, he ‘out-Cavalried’ the Cavalry for flash, dash, and a unique sense of panache.” Randy became one of only two officers to qualify for the 3 ID Track Team and also earned Bundeswehr marksmanship and military proficiency badges.
Randy next completed MI schooling at Ft. Holabird, MD, and was sent to duty with the Combined Intelligence Center Vietnam (CICV). LaBelle recounts: “Randy volunteered for a number of medical assistance missions and accompanied civilian and military both doctors and nurses to refugee and missionary locations, often in highly unstable and ‘unpacified’ areas”; for his actions, Randy received the Bronze Star.
While in Vietnam, Randy’s father, a former 0-6 who had helped establish the MI Branch and then worked for the State Department, paid him a visit. LaBelle observed that it was a watershed moment in Randy’s life— measuring up to his father’s earlier achievements by demonstrating the “positive and important contributions Randy was making to the . . . military intelligence effort in Vietnam.”
Randy met Jo Ann Krukar, an Army nurse at the Third Field Hospital, Saigon, Vietnam, in 1972 and they married in 1974, the year he resigned. Although he and Jo Ann divorced following his graduation from Georgetown University Law Center in 1977, their paths would later cross at the end of his life.
Randy moved to New York City in 1977 to join the prestigious law firm of Donovan, Leisure. Randy’s attraction to the firm was its charismatic founder,“Wild Bill” Donovan of OSS fame. Law for Randy was not a jealous mistress but a stimulating mental exercise punctuated by periods of boring legal research. Missing his Washington friends, Randy returned to the Capital City in 1980 to look for an opportunity in politics and government service. He served as a special assistant at the Department af Veterans Affairs during the Reagan years and rejoined the Army Reserves as a JAG officer.
His friend David Burgess stated, “Randy’s voyage was a sometimes stormy one, not often through calm waters, and frequently interrupted by stops at ports that many of us never knew.” Randy always remained involved—political campaigning, fundraising, community volunteerism, boards, and committees. Always an avid Rugger, he enjoyed living life to the fullest, even when signs (like knee operations) and friends told him to slow down.
On 14 Sep 93, Randy died of a massive hemorrhage. Ruth Hill, a close friend, arranged a memorial service on 14 Oct 93 at the Vietnam Memorial. Companymates from E-4 who could be present were, and Bob Kimmitt provided comments from a Class of ’69 perspective. Other friends from various stages of Randy’s life (his Rugby team, law associates, the Virginia Chamber Orchestra) did likewise. “No matter how you became acquainted with Randy...most of us saw that Randy was a complex and complicated individual.” Because he had willed his body to science, endeavors to have Randy’s name entered on his parents’ headstone in Arlington Cemetery met with numerous roadblocks—until his former wife Jo Ann, Director of the National Cemetery System during the Bush Administration, cut the bureaucratic knot.
Like many stories, Randy’s is ultimately one of human frailty and numerous contradictions—he could be devoted yet indifferent; open to the world, yet often a loner; charming yet earthy; insightful yet unable to acknowledge the obvious—but it is for his strengths of character that we will remember him. He was a good soul, and we will miss him—what more can a person ask for, even in death? Gnadeko, Tovarishch. Farewell, Brother.
Friends and Classmates