Donald Forrest Hockett, 72, a retired Army Colonel who was a decorated veteran of World War II and the war in Southeast Asia, died of respiratory failure February 20, 1998 at the Jefferson Park retirement center in Charlottesville, Virginia. He had suffered a stroke.
Colonel Hockett, a former resident of Vienna, was born in Park Falls, Wisconsin. He began his Army career as an enlisted man in 1944. In World War II, he served in Europe and took part in the Battle of the Bulge.
He received a commission after the war and later graduated from the University of Nebraska, where he majored in business administration. He also was a graduate of the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and the Adjutant General Officer’s Advanced Course at Fort Harrison, Ind.
In addition to serving abroad in World War II and Vietnam, he had peacetime overseas assignments in Korea, France and Germany. He was stationed in Washington when he retired about 1975.
Colonel Hockett’s personal military decorations included three awards of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and two awards of the Purple Heart.
When he left the Army, he worked for two information management businesses until the late 1970s, when he co-founded the Cottonwood Corp., a company in the same field. He retired about 1987.
Colonel Hockett was a member of the Army Navy Country Club and the Retired Officers Association, and he was a volunteer with Army Community Services. He lived in Vienna from 1971 until moving to Charlottesville last year.
Survivors include his wife of 49 years, Mary Ann Winters Hockett of Charlottesville; a daughter, Marianne Hockett Zirkle, also of Charlottesville; and three grandchildren.
HOCKETT, DONALD FORREST, COL, US ARMY (Ret.)
On February 20, 1998, in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann Winters Hockett, daughter and son-in-law, Marianne Hockett Zirkle and Walter Moffett Zirkle, III, three grandchildren, Elizabeth Winters Zirkle, Madeline Moffett Zirkle and Walter Moffett Zirkle, IV, all of Charlottesville. Funeral services will be conducted at The Post Chapel at Fort Myer, March 3, 9 a.m. with interment immediately following at Arlington National Cemetery. A reception will follow at the Arlington National Cemetery Administration Building.
HOCKETT, DONALD FORREST
- COL US ARMY
- WORLD WAR II, KOREA, VIETNAM
- DATE OF BIRTH: 11/14/1925
- DATE OF DEATH: 02/20/1998
- BURIED AT: SECTION 60 SITE 1811
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
HOCKETT, MARY ANN WINTERS
- DATE OF BIRTH: 02/13/1928
- DATE OF DEATH: 10/05/2003
- BURIED AT: SECTION 60 SITE 1811
- ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
- WIFE OF HOCKETT, DONALD F COL US ARMY
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard