Staff Writer

Col. William “Jack” Whitener's grandsons frequently ask him questions concerning his military career.

The boys, William Jackson Whitener Walker and George Reid Walker, are 15 and 11 and are the sons of Whitener's daughter, Martha, and her husband, Mike.

“They would ask, ‘Granddaddy, how did you happen to go to West Point?' and ‘Granddaddy, what was it like in Korea? or, ‘What was it like in Vietnam?'” Whitener said.

To help answer those questions, Whitener, now 86, is writing a memoir for his grandsons. At the end of each chapter he plans to include a lesson for life for them to follow.

Toward the end of this collection, he might add another memory - being chosen as Union County's Veteran of the Year for 2008. He will be recognized during Veterans Day ceremonies following a parade on Nov. 11 on Main Street.

Whitener said was surprised and honored when Veterans Day Parade Committee chairman Jantzen Childers called him and told him he had been selected as veteran of the year.

“Nothing has been of more importance in my life than service to my country,” he said. “It all goes back to the motto of the United States Military Academy at West Point - ‘Duty, honor, country,' and I have always believed since I was given the opportunity to go to that great institution that it was my duty to restore and give back to my country - in 30 years of service in the regular army and now 33 years of community service since we returned to Union.”

The Veterans Day Committee chose Whitener not only because of his military background but also because of his activities and support of the city and county.

Whitener grew up in Gastonia, N.C., attended North Carolina State University and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1946. Commissioned in the infantry, he served as an officer in varied assignments throughout the world, commanded a reconnaissance platoon in the 1st Infantry Division, a Parachute Company in the 82nd Airborne Division, an Infantry Battalion in the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii and a mechanized brigade in the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany. He held staff assignments at the battalion, battle group, regiment and army group level. From 1956-1960 he taught English at West Point and from 1967-69 he was chief of staff there.

He received his master of arts degree in English and comparative literature from Columbia University in New York in 1959 and his master of science degree in international affairs from George Washington University in 1966. During his Army career, he graduated from Infantry Officers Basic and Advanced Courses at Fort Benning, the United States Army Command and Staff College and the Armed Forces Staff College, the Naval War College and the Air War College.

During his Army service, Whitener was awarded the National Defense Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Army Occupation Medal (Germany), Senior Parachutist Badge, Glider Badge, Bronze Star Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Legion of Merit, Korean Service Medal and the United Nations Service Medal.

The best troops with whom he served were the members of the 82nd Airborne Division, where he was company commander as a young captain.

“I had about 200 of the best soldiers that I had ever seen,” he said. “Most of them were better soldiers than I. There was nothing that I as a commander asked them to do that they couldn't do or wouldn't do and wouldn't do it willingly.”

Another highlight of his career came while serving in Korea, commanding a diverse company.

“I had white Americans, black Americans, Korean soldiers and soldiers of Asian background,” he said. “They were all dedicated to the purpose of defending the hill we were assigned to defend.

The Vietnam War was a completely different experience.

“By this time I was a lieutenant colonel and I was assigned as a province advisor,” he said. “I was the military advisor to a Vietnamese province chief-like a governor. I had a small staff of officers and men who assisted in that. It was a very rewarding experience in that I had never done anything like this before - to see what the Vietnamese people could do when they were free and able to do things on their own. It was nothing less than spectacular.”

It was Whitener's wife, the former Martha Pacolette “Packie” Sarratt, who brought him to Union, her hometown, when he retired from the Army in 1975.

The two had met in 1951. Whitener's cousin had married Union native Harriett Morgan. After Packie graduated from Winthrop, she began teaching at Gastonia High School. Harriett arranged for Whitener, who was then a young captain, to meet Packie at a dinner at her home.

The couple married in 1952. Mrs. Whitener taught at the United States Military Academy Elementary school for four years. She served for 17 years on the State College Board of Trustees and the Lander University Board of Trustees, where she was the first woman to serve as chairperson from 1997-2001. The Lander Board honored her for her service to the university and made her a chair emerita of the board.

Whitener was only 52 when he retired. He had no intention of remaining idle and local residents who knew him were anxious to see him get involved in the community. He began teaching night courses at USC-Union and in 1977 when the dean's job became opened he applied and was hired. He retired as dean in 1984 and was named the first dean emeritus of the campus.

Whitener served on the South Carolina Commission for Higher Education from 1985 to 1993 and he was chairman of the commission from 1988 to 1993. In 1988 he was named by Gov. Carroll A. Campbell to the South Carolina Commission on the Future. Other past assignments include service for four years on the board of trustees of the South Carolina Research Authority and as a member of the South Carolina General Assembly's Select Committee, Education Improvement Act. While serving on the S.C. Commission on Higher Education, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of humanities degree by Lander University.

In the summer of 1993 he was asked by University of South Carolina President Dr. John M. Palms to serve as interim chancellor of the University of South Carolina in Spartanburg (now USC-Upstate). He held the position from Sept. 1 of that year until July 6, 1994. During that time, Gov. Campbell awarded him the Order of the Palmetto, the highest honor the state can award one of its citizens.

Whitener joined the Rotary Club of Union in 1975 and has served as Rotary Foundation chairman, club service chairman, spouse's night chairman, Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship chairman and president of the club. He has made himself and five others Paul Harris Fellows and served as Rotary District governor in 1988-89. He has made up missed meetings at Rotary Clubs in England, Portugal, Greece, Australia, Singapore, Scotland, Kenya and Calgary. He currently serves as club officer and chairman of the membership development committee in Union.

He is a founding member of the Union County Health Care Foundation, served for three years on the board of trustees of the Heart Center of Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, the last year serving as chairman; served on the Educational Advisory Committee for USC-Upstate; and for eight years he served as the chairman of the Union/Laurens Commission for Higher Education before retiring as chairman emeritus.

Over the last few months, Whitener had curtailed some of his activities to give him more time to work on his book. He remains active with the Union County Historical Society and is president emeritus. He also is chairman emeritus of the Union Community Foundation.

“We are trying to get our fund up to $5 million so that during the next three to five years we can began distributing some of the proceeds from the earnings of that foundation back to charitable organizations in Union,” he said. “Mrs. Whitener and I also are very involved in the new Timken Sport Complex in that we have made a grant to the community for the naming rights of one of the larger fields to be called the Sarratt/Whitener Field.”

Whitener said sports meant a lot in his early life.

“As boys we played ball all the time and it kept us out of trouble,” he said. “I attribute that much to my physical, mental and psychological upbringing. That is why we want to help young people today.”

The Union County Museum is another project near and dear to his heart. He assisted with the initial opening of the museum and its reopening many years later in its present site on West Main Street. He points out that the museum attracts people from all over the country and has a dedicated staff, led by director Ola Jean Kelly. He said he appreciates the support the city and the county have given the museum and he hopes the support will continue through changes in the makeup of the two councils.

Whitener said another important project that needs support is the development of a corridor or trail through Union that would include historic sites and tie in with sites in Spartanburg County.

“We have a lot of things to show in Union and wonderful people working on this,” he said.

Whitener said he feels fortunate to be as physically active as he is. He and Mrs. Whitener work out at the Union County YMCA five days a week.

“I am fortunate and I think I got some good genes,” he said. “Basically, Mrs. Whitener and I are really and truly living the good life here in Union.”