Following a near-perfect life, Will Holbrook left this world with his wife’s blessing on August 9, 2024. Beloved by all who knew him, Will carried in him a light of positivity that he shined on everyone he encountered. Never flashy, he simply glowed. Will gave all of his youth and some of his prime to the United States Army. An Airborne Ranger, he served for 30 years—54 months of that in overseas combat tours. He was a hero in war and peace, his low-key brand of bravery exemplified the time he rescued a man from drowning and was selected for the Soldier’s Medal, the highest honor a soldier can receive for risking his own life in a non-combat situation, but Will modestly discouraged his command from submitting the award package. After Will shed the uniform, he remained proud of his service, but he never fixated on it. Instead, he chose to appreciate the freedom of his retirement in the country he loved and to soak up new adventures with his family, most of all with his wife Susan, whom he adored almost to a fault. Will approached work projects from the civilian side, as in his work with FEMA for several years in the recovery of Santa Monica College from the devastation of the Northridge earthquake. Will and Susan lived up and down the California coast for decades before detouring through New Orleans for a time and ultimately settling in Solomons Island, Maryland, where the devoted couple enjoyed daily waterside walks together until Will’s very end.
More than two decades before his death, Will composed his own obituary, a nuts-and-bolts technical rendering that, like the writeup above, doesn’t do him justice and, unlike the above, incorrectly guessed his death year (17 years off). It’s included here for those who want it:
Willard Ames Holbrook, III
1933-2041
Born at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, August 18, 1933, will Holbrook became his family’s fifth-generation soldier and USMA graduate, class of 1955. As an army brat, he saw the Army from the inside early in life while his father, then a cavalry officer, was posted Fort Myers, West Point, Washington, D.C., and Fort Sheridan, Illinois. Later, as tanks took over from the horse in World War II, his family followed the 11th Armored Division training from Camp Polk LA, to Abilene TX, to desert training in California and Nevada, and finally to Camp Cooke (later Vandenberg AFB) CA.
After graduation, Will trained armored infantry troops at Fort Hood TX and “gyroscoped” to Germany with the 4th Armored Division, served as aide to CG, USASA, and, in 1962-63, was among the first in combat in Vietnam as an advisor with 3rd Bn, RVN Airborne Brigade. In 1965 as S3, 2nd Bn, 504th Abn Inf Regt, 82nd Airborne Division, he deployed from Fort Bragg to the Dominican Republic to put down an insurgent rebellion. During the deployment he managed to get back to marry Susan Hoyle Graham at Fort Hood. Ten months later, Will returned to serve on Brigade and Division staffs and as SGS, XVIII Airborne Corps.
After obligatory Pentagon assignment, he returned to Vietnam in 1971 as province senior advisor serving under the mercurial legend John Paul Vann until the latter was killed in the Highlands in a helicopter crash. Will later served at West Point, as Commander, 1st Bn, 1st Inf; in the Pentagon National Military Command Center, And in Berlin as Deputy Brigade Commander. His final tour was at the Presidio of San Francisco, as Deputy Chief of Staff, US Army and Military Assistant to the Regional Director FEMA.
His life was devoted to service to country and love of family. He idolized Susan.
Will is survived by his wife Susan Holbrook, his sister Marian Roberson, his children Stephanie Bowers and Ames Holbrook and their spouses John and Soraya, his granddaughters Graham and Sumner Bowers and Sisira Holbrook.
Will’s burial service will take place in West Point Cemetery, New York, at a date to be determined. Those wishing to make a charitable donation in his honor may visit the Vietnam Veterans of America website https://vva.org/donate/ or the Support a Soldier 82nd Airborne website https://www.supportasoldier.com/products/donation-product?variant=28179337019466.
