Hugh Ernest Switzer – Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army

Hugh Ernest Switzer, 89, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel who was post commander of Arlington Hall Station in the mid-1960s, died Aug 16, 2006, of an infection contracted during treatment for cancer at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington. He lived in Arlington, Virginia.

Colonel Switzer was born in Sunflower County, Mississippi, the fifth of 10 children of a sharecropper father and a mother who was half-Cherokee. He graduated from Mississippi State College with a degree in agriculture and an affection for sports. He began his military career in August 1941, when he joined the Naval Air Corps for pilot training. He left after a year to help support his family but was drafted into the Army in 1943. He served in the Philippines during World War II.

After the war, he remained in the Philippines and received a direct commission as an officer. He was assigned to posts in Austria and Japan as well as the United States. In 1962, he transferred to the Army intelligence branch at Arlington Hall Station, home of the Army’s Signal Corps. He retired as post commander in 1966.

He became a purchasing agent with Computer Sciences Corp. and Reeves Office Supply, working until his second retirement in 1978.

Colonel Switzer enjoyed softball, bowling, gardening and winning ribbons for his vegetables at the county fair.

Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Ruth Otto Switzer of Arlington; six children, Richard Switzer of Starkville, Mississippi, Donald Switzer of Cleveland, Diane Switzer of Bedford, New Hampshire, Lenore Odom of Savannah, Georgia, Gary Switzer of Manassas and Karen Switzer-Neff of Acton, Massachusetts; two sisters; one brother; and nine grandchildren.

SWITZER, HUGH E., LT COL USA (Ret.)

Age 89, on Wednesday, August 16,2006, of Arlington, Virginia. Beloved husband of 58 years of Ruth I. Switzer; loving father of Richard E. Switzer and his wife, Donna, Donald H. Switzer and his wife, Kimberly, Diane I. Bisset and her husband, John, Lenore R. Odom and her husband, Hart, Gary A. Switzer and Karen L. Switzer-Neff and her husband, Andrew; grandfather of Ryan, David, Richard, Carl, Johnny, Rachael, Priscilla, Jessica and Tyler; brother of Mary Thomas, Kathryn Henry and Robert Switzer. Also surviving are many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Funeral services will be held at The Fort Myer Old Post Chapel on Friday, October 6 at 1 p.m. Interment, with full military honors, Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his name to The Southwest Indian Children’s Fund, PO Box 906, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 94013-0906 or The American Cancer Society.

Michael Robert Patterson

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