Frank Anthony LaPenta was born on 19 May 1947 in Hartford, Connecticut. He was the second of two sons born to Anthony Vincent and Natalie Dolores Carpentieri LaPenta, Sr.
Frank and his brother, Anthony V. LaPenta, Jr., visited West Point when Frank was eight and Anthony was twelve. They were impressed and came back proudly with two pennants and an autograph from one of the cadets. In June 1969, Frank graduated from the Point with his classmates and friends, many with whom he kept in touch and could still call his friends until the day he died. He loved his friends and treated them like family.
He kept all his life to “Duty, Honor, Country.” He lived with these ideals as best he could.
Frank’s uncle, Louis Carpentieri, was named “poet laureate of the 43rd Division,” and was killed in the Battle of Munda in the South Pacific during World War II. Another uncle, Commander Joseph Carpentieri, was a physician in the Navy in World War II. Frank’s father was a bandsman of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II.
As a youngster Frank traveled with his family all over the United States and Canada, and from this came a love for traveling.
Frank graduated from William H. Hall High School in 1965. He belonged to the National Honor Society and to Quill and Scroll; was a National Merit Scholarship commendee, sports editor of the school newspaper Highlights, student council representative; and belonged to the choir, drama club, track, and football teams. He also tutored minority students.
While waiting to hear from several colleges, Frank was also waiting to hear from the three military schools he had been nominated for. The acceptances arrived and he chose West Point.
At the Point, Frank was president of Cadet Activities, manager and lead singer of the rock band “The Fogg,” editor of the company newspaper, and belonged to the Glee Club and church choir. He received a Bachelor of Science degree and commission upon graduation.
His service included Airborne School; then at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, he took the Field Artillery Officers Basic Course and the Field Artillery Officers Advanced Course. He also took graduate courses in Russian history and economics at the University of Oklahoma, and undergraduate work in German at the University of Maryland.
He was a captain in the U.S. Army, serving during the Vietnam era with the 101st Airborne Division and as a liaison officer between the United States and the Republic of South Vietnam. He was also an inspector of the artillery bases.
He received the Bronze Star Medal. He also received plaques and awards from the various units and officers he served with: from Lieutenant Colonel Tran Van Phong, commanding officer of the 11th Artillery Battalion (ARVN); from his battery of the 2nd battalion, 36th Artillery (January to June 1971); and from the officers and men of the 5th Battalion, 42nd Artillery (December 1971 to September 1972).
From June 1972 through May 1973 he attended an Ordnance course, and in June 1973 he was sent to Ansbach, Germany where he became the deputy assistant chief of staff, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Team, 1st Armored Division Headquarters.
After being separated from the Army he attended and graduated from the Harvard Business School, earning an MBA in 1977. He was employed as a product manager for the Nestle Company in White Plains, New York, and in 1981 joined the consulting firm of Booz, Allen and Hamilton of New York City. In 1986 he moved to California and became director of marketing for Blue Cross of California and the company’s new HMO unit. In 1988 he was promoted and became the head of the Drug and Vision Unit.
Frank was a kind and gentle person. He fried to understand his situation and the people around him. He was generous and honest and truly tried to live up to the Point motto. He was a brave man and even up to the end, when he was paralyzed from the waist down, people would call and ask how he was, and he would reply, “I’m doing well, I’m okay. How are you?” This was the person he was. When he missed the class reunion and his buddies called from West Point, our parents, who were with him, said he was very happy to hear from them, and to know they cared for him through all he had to endure. He said to them he would be at the next reunion, and even though he won’t be there in body, as sure as there is a spirit of West Point he will be there.
written in loving memory by his brother, Tony