[Granville-Hough] 23 Jan 2009 - Ray's Keys

[Trustees and Executors for Granville W. Hough]

RAY GILBERT AND HIS MASTER KEYS

Ray Gilbert was not a typical D-2 cadet at West Point. He was from a
normal home in Kentucky, but he had unusual quirks and whims. One of his
ambitions was to become a Mason, which he did immediately after
graduation; however, he may have started the process even before he
became a cadet.
While he appeared to be just a regular fellow, he established working
relationships with the Academy support staff, the professional
engineers, plumbers, carpenters, and others who worked behind the
scenes, or below the surface as it turned out. Some time during our
first class year, Ray became the holder of a set of keys which had
belonged to someone who had been in the support staff. I cannot say how
he got the keys, and he never revealed how it was done. It could have
been through a Masonic connection. He may have purloined them. But this
set of master keys would open just about any door at the Academy,
including access to the underground set of tunnels.
What could you do with such a set of keys? I learned about the keys but
wanted nothing to do with them. What Ray actually did with them I did
not want to see or learn about. I and others knew that any discovery of
these keys would mean probable discharge from the Academy based on what
you “might have done” with them.
One of the D-2 cadets who learned about the keys we will call “Lucky
Fellow,” and it happens he was the only one of our company who achieved
some national recognition while still a cadet. Through our time at the
Academy he had become engaged to a charming young lady who lived down
the street past the Supe’s quarters, and we can call her “Colonel’s
Daughter.” They could not wait for graduation and marriage, but it was
hard to find a suitable time and place for instant gratification. Lucky
Fellow told her about the keys and who had them and suggested how they
could be used.
There was an unnoticed and unused door in the salleyport next to the
28th Division. It was just a few blocks down the street to where
Colonel’s Daughter lived. This door opened into a club room which could
be used by cadets during certain hours, but it was closed and locked
during study hours. The normal entry to the club room was next to the
room occupied by first classmen Lucky Fellow and his two roommates, Bob
and Wayne. Colonel’s Daughter then began working on Ray to “borrow” the
master keys. Through threat of exposure or some other way, she got the keys.
Thereafter, we frequently saw Lucky Fellow’s roommates, Bob and Wayne,
doing their homework in the sinks, or basement. We surmised that
Colonel’s Daughter had come by for a conjugal visit. Just up the street
for an evening walk, through the sallyport door, into the club room, out
the normal entrance, and into Lucky Fellow’s room. The roommates
immediately made their way down to the sinks and did their homework.
They also had to bring Lucky Fellow up to speed afterwards. Of course,
they were happy to do that, or anything else, to “beat the system.”
Now, Ray Gilbert was beset with fear or anxiety about his keys. When he
asked Colonel’s Daughter to return them, she said: “You don’t need those
keys, BUT I DO!” A fact of life, no doubt. So it went until graduation
when I understand that Ray got back his keys and bequeathed them to
another D-2 cadet from Oklahoma. Of course Lucky Fellow and Colonel’s
Daughter were soon married and were well on their way to parenthood and
domesticity. Years later at class parties, I would encounter Colonel’s
Daughter and think about the keys. However, I never mentioned them as
she was soon the Colonel’s wife and then the Colonel’s lady. It just did
not seem appropriate to bring up pre-marital indiscretions to the
ranking lady at the parties.
Now, as a word of explanation, Ray Gilbert was my roommate at West Point
for over two years. We went to Fort Sill together, then to Korea, then
back to Fort Sill, then to Puerto Rico. Then Ray transferred to the Air
Force and we did not see each other too often. He was Best Man at my
wedding and I was Best Man at his. So we were fairly close, whether we
wanted to be or not. Ray had a Hyacinthe-type personality, if one is
familiar with current English comedies. He would not take no for an
answer, and he never gave you a chance anyway.
Ray was a natural scrounger and logistician, and his final assignment in
the Air Force was Base Commander at Albuquerque Air Base in New Mexico.

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Van Baker's comments:

I'm still enjoying your articles and so pleased to be on your list of
recipients. I liked especially the ones that came this week. Am glad
David had a birthday so you could write about his birth. I must have
been among his first callers, for I was at Sill too at that time, as you
may remember.