Latrobe, Pennsylvania April 30, 2010, of Agent Orange-related causes. Predeceased by his parents, Donald Huffman Gaston and Genevieve Owens Gaston, he is survived by his loving wife of thirty-six years, Elizabeth Andros Gaston of Ligonier, and a sister Phyllis Ann Gaston Golias and husband Bernard of Hinckley, Ohio. Survivors also include a host of exceptional friends, and two cherished polydactyl felines, Nip ‘n Tuck.

   Born in Ft. Wayne, Indiana January 15, 1930, Don attended grade schools there and in Erie, Pennsylvania and Evansville, Indiana. He graduated from Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, Tennessee, and attended Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio for two years while also serving in the West Virginia National Guard. He then entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating with the Class of 1954, was commissioned in the Infantry, and later transferred to the Corps of Engineers. In 1960 he received his Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University.

   Don’s multiple assignments took him to Alaska, Kansas, Virginia, Greenland, the Antarctic, D.C., Vietnam, and Hawaii. Re the Antarctic assignment he jokingly said that while there he was known as “the Army’s leading expert in the densification of hand-compacted snow samples.”

   During his first tour in Vietnam with the 35th Engineer Group, Don trained an

Engineer Battalion and moved the unit into active combat. He then became the

Engineer Group Executive Officer and Supply Officer for five Engineer Battalions

and nine Engineer Companies actively engaged in combat areas.

   Because Don had successfully hosted VIPs in Greenland, in 1969 he was assigned Chief of Protocol, Department of the Army Directorate of Foreign Liaison at the Pentagon. As such, he was responsible for the diplomatic accreditation – and the care and feeding on official US trips – of military attachés representing sixty-five countries, turning him, one might say, into

a Soldier/Diplomat! He “clicked” so well with the attachés that the Soviet military delegation “adopted” him!

   In 1972 Don returned to Vietnam and was named Chief of Protocol, Military

Assistance Command Vietnam. His responsibilities included escorting visiting VIPs upcountry, insuring their safety in actual combat areas. During drawdown of forces Don was the first officer to establish contact with officers of the North Vietnam Army for in-country discussions re MIA/POW releases. This second tour extended into a third, and ended when Don left Vietnam on the last

military aircraft out of Saigon on 31 March 1973, bound for Hawaii.

   There Don was assigned to the personal staff of the Commander-in-Chief Pacific, as the Congressional Liaison Officer – and that tour included a wedding!

   Don had met Elizabeth during his Pentagon assignment when Elizabeth—a

Department of State Foreign Service Staff Officer—was in D.C. between Vietnam

assignments. When Don returned to Vietnam, he and Elizabeth resumed their

relationship in Saigon—and also dated in Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Bali. In 1973, when Don left Saigon for Hawaii, Elizabeth went to Peking, China, where

she and eleven other members of the Foreign Service set up and staffed the new

U.S. Liaison Office—a result of President Nixon’s visit to China. She and Don kept in touch by extremely expensive phone calls. They soon arranged a meeting in Hong Kong and became engaged. In April 1974 Elizabeth resigned from the Foreign Service and left China for Hawaii, where she and Don were married in the Fort Shafter Army Chapel.

   Notable military careers involve perilous events. Don was thankful to survive Tet and two chopper crashes, but suffered the effects of Agent Orange. Of his many decorations, Don valued most his two Legions of Merit and two Bronze Stars.

   Don retired from the Army in 1975, the couple settled in Alexandria, Virginia, and Don encouraged Elizabeth to reignite her career. She returned to the State Department, was assigned to the Secretary of State’s personal staff, and Don kept the home fires burning while she traveled the world with the Secretary.

Ever the romantic, Don always met Elizabeth at Andrews AFB with a single

rose upon her return.

   Don became a successful Realtor/Broker, and the engineer in him found time to beautifully remodel their Mt. Vernon area home. Soon after Elizabeth retired in 1989 the couple moved to Ligonier, Pennsylvania.

   In Ligonier, engineer Don greatly enjoyed remodeling MerryMeadow—the home they purchased by a meadow complete with sheep! He also golfed with good

buddies Tom, Fritz, and Bruce at Ligonier Country Club, and became a volunteer

for Meals on Wheels. He belonged to many organizations, including the Sons of

Confederate Veterans.

    Don’s love of country and West Point never diminished. He asked that the Cadet Prayer be included in his funeral service, and a copy given each attendee. And so it was. Most thoughtful to the end, he decided against burial at Arlington or West Point—he knew Elizabeth couldn’t visit often or plant flowers, as she wished. So he chose to rest in St. Vincent Cemetery, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, beside Elizabeth’s parents. Elizabeth had the reverse of Don’s tombstone specially engraved with a flag and a haiku:

     West Point Officer

     Of the fabled Long Gray Line

     Duty, Honor, Country

     And on the base: Well done. Be thou at peace.

Although newly remarried, Elizabeth cares for Don’s grave throughout the year, always having a flag flying there for her Donald, whom she called her “Silver Treasure.”

   Re her recent marriage to Dr. Adib Barsoum, a retired Neurosurgeon: Having

enjoyed Don’s exquisite sense of humor for thirty-eight years, Elizabeth can almost hear him laughing aloud and saying, “See!! I set the damn bar so high it took a brilliant brain surgeon to follow me!”

   He’d be so right.