August 12, 1946 — Fighting to Stay in the Army and with Marilyn

Published by WaltLarimore at August 12, 2026

In August, Phil changed bosses. Colonel McGarr gave up his position as Post Executive Officer to attend the National War College, which had just opened a month earlier in downtown Washington. Phil was happy for him, sure that Colonel McGarr would become General McGarr one day.[1]

He was equally happy that the new Commanding Officer of Fort Myer, Colonel John J. Albright, was even more supportive of his upcoming appeals to stay in the Army.

“Major, I’m going to have you spend more time with some of the legal skirmishes I have to deal with,” said the colonel. “Working with the JAG folks will give you bug-on-the-wall insights about the inner workings of the Army’s board hearings—especially what leads to successful outcomes and what results in failed hearings.”

Phil’s optimism rose after hearing that. It was as if divine providence was giving him a legal education without him even knowing it.

As well as things were going at work, his relationship with Marilyn hit a rough patch. Maybe it was the reality that Phil had lost a leg and what that would mean if they got married and lived the rest of their lives together. Perhaps it was because Marilyn always wanted to become a lawyer and go to law school herself. Maybe it was because she always wanted to marry a doctor.

If she married Phil—whose future was very much in doubt—those dreams might not ever happen. As she and Phil talked things through, Marilyn declared that she wanted to move back to Des Moines and attend Drake School of Law, where she had been accepted.

Phil didn’t want to lose her, so he applied to the College of Engineering at Iowa State University in Des Moines. An admission acceptance would be a nice backup in the unlikely event he lost his appeal. But at the same time, he began to wonder if their relationship would go the distance.

While they agreed they weren’t breaking up and would continue seeing each other, Phil wondered if they were delaying the inevitable.[2]

~~~~~

[1] Larimore, At First Light, 320.

[2] Larimore, At First Light, 320-321.