imported post
I am blessed to have known and been close friend with such a hero.
To keep it OT; I was very discretely armed while at Dockside, even to my fiancee POSSLQ seldom noticing my CCW. In SC an LAC is required to receive explicit permission to enter another's home while armed.
Entering Col. Webb's apartment while armed I would open my jacket to show him my piece while watching his eyes and face. His eyes lighting up and his big grin were my permission. I would put my piece in the folds of my jacket as I honored him by disarming, depending on his hospitality for our personal protection.
Col. Webb kept his service 1911 in his desk.
Apropos my association with Grass Roots Gun Rights South Carolina, it was here at Dockside's commons that I hosted GRGRSC's LTS-II with friend TG.
I wrote the below to my e-mail list.
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One of my favorite connections between my old life and my new life on the Island is Joan telling me that she remembers her visit to Dockside, the condominium community that Pat and I moved from. There, Clay and Joan Blair interviewed Captain Arnold 'Ike' Holtz USN ret., a WWII submarine captain.
Tuesday, 12 May 2009, we attended the community's BYOB drop-in that is hosted by Colonel John [redacted] while he is here in Charleston. During the winter months he and his wife, Hildy, live in Aspen, Colorado. I was host of the BYOB during the winter months while I lived at Dockside.
At the drop-in I learned that Ike Holtz had passed away some months ago, at about 96 years of life, but aware and active to the end.
That note is for Joan.
When we arrived, we were told that our dearest Dockside friend was
feeling too poorly to come down to the drop-in. We went up to Colonel George Kenneth Webb's apartment to wish him well. Pat has known Col. Webb for thirty years, since the early days of Seabrook Island as a community. I was not privileged to know him for so long but we had a rapport from our first meeting. Col. Webb was dressed, up and about, when we saw him but grumbling about his infirmities and very bad eyesight. We chatted and assured him that we would see him next week, hoping that he would be heartier then.
Wednesday afternoon, 13 May 2009, we learned that Col. Webb had passed away within the hour after seeing us, perhaps his last mortal contact. I am heartened and burdened that he may have waited to see me before going on.
Here's his newspaper biography, though it is likely of interest only to me and other lovers of Atlas' helpers that also bear the burdens of the World.
George Kenneth Webb CHARLESTON - Entered into eternal rest on the
evening of May 12, 2009, Colonel George Kenneth Webb, widower of Frances Cameron Scarborough Webb. Residence, Charleston, SC.
The relatives and friends are invited to attend his funeral services in The Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, Saturday, May 16, 2009 at eleven o'clock. Interment, Magnolia Cemetery. Friends may call at J. HENRY STUHR, INC., DOWNTOWN CHAPEL, Friday between four and six o'clock.
Colonel George Kenneth Webb was born in Portsmouth, Ohio on November 30, 1919, the son of Frank L. Webb and Bess Williamson Webb. He is one of the veterans who served in three major conflicts, World War II, The Korean War and The Viet Nam Conflict.
He was educated in public schools in Portsmouth, Ohio and attended
Kentucky Military Institute in Lyndon, Kentucky. He graduated from the Citadel with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1943 and earned a Masters Degree in International Affairs from George Washington University in 1963. Colonel Webb graduated from the Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth, Kansas, The Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, and the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.
His military career started at Ft. Benning as an instructor and tactical officer at Camp Chaffee. From there he was deployed to the 7th Armored Division in Europe where he received a battlefield promotion to 1st Lt. He was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge.
After the war he left the army and returned to Portsmouth, Ohio where he and Bob Moore ran a lumber business.
He was recalled to active duty and assigned to the Army Infantry School teaching tactics. He went to armor school and from there he went to Korea. Upon returning from the Korean War he was assigned to the Citadel as a Tactical Officer. In 1958 he went to the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, VA. From there he went to the Army Staff and Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. From Washington he went to the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.
He returned to the Citadel, at the request of General Mark Clark, where he served as the Professor of Military Science and also as the acting Commandant of Cadets. In 1967-68 he served in Viet Nam as the senior advisor to the Vietnamese National Training Center. In 1968-70 he commanded a brigade at Ft. Knox, Ky and later was the Chief of Staff of the Armor Training Center. In 1970-71 he returned to Viet Nam as the Deputy Chief of Staff II Field Force. After Viet Nam he was assigned as the Executive Officer to the Commander in Chief of US Army Europe.
Col. Webb's awards and decorations include a Silver Star for valor, 4 Legions of Merit, 2 Bronze Stars, the Combat Infantry Badge and the Purple Heart. He also received 22 additional campaign, service and achievement decorations.
After retirement from the Army in 1973, Col Webb worked as the Executive Director for the Charleston Executive Association. He was the manager for the Downtown Counsel of the Chamber of Commerce. From 1981 to 1998 he bought and operated off-shore fishing boats, the Osprey and the Osprey II, from Bohicket Marina at Seabrook, SC and Palm Beach, FL.
He is survived by two daughters, Cameron Webb Stuhr and her husband
Johnny of Charleston, SC and Diane Webb Street and her husband Randy of LaFayette, GA. He has four grandchildren, John and Frances Stuhr, Michael and his wife Mandy and Phillip Street. He also has two great grandchildren, Joel and Daniel Street. He was predeceased by his wife of fifty-three years, Frances Cameron Scarborough Webb and his son, Thomas Yancey Webb.
Memorials may be made to the Association of the Blind, 1071 Morrison Drive, Charleston, SC 29403 or to The Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, 126 Coming Street, Charleston, SC 29403.
