On Tuesday, June 16, 1925, my parents were married in the small chapel at Fort Hayes. The ceremony was conducted by John O. Lindquist, the post chaplain, in accordance with the rites of the Episcopal Church as contained in the Book of Common Prayer. Members of the Shaw and Peckham families were guests, along with several of my parents’ friends. My mother’s engagement ring was a small gold replica of Dad’s West Point class ring, which she wore together with her narrow, gold wedding band.

Soon after their wedding, the newlyweds drove to Connecticut for a visit with the Peckham clan. For my mother the visit was like a trip to another country. She wasn’t used to spending time in such a rural atmosphere and hearing long, serious conversations about vegetables. The strong New England accents (“pahk the cah”) seemed strange to her, also. Nevertheless, over the years she came to appreciate the Peckham family’s traditions, rootedness, and love of nature.

Occasionally during their marriage, Dad’s New England boyhood evidenced itself in things he would say, such as “These apples want to be eaten” or “These dishes want to be washed.” My mother and I would tease him playfully about his personification of inanimate objects. “Oh, I didn’t hear them speak,” we would say, or “Did they tell you that’s what they want?” He took the kidding in stride and laughed at himself, as he usually did whenever a joke was on him.

In September 1925, after bidding farewell to my mother’s parents and her family’s lumbering but affable dog, Goofy, the newlyweds moved from Fort Hayes. They had received the superb news that my father had been selected to attend the reputable Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He firmly believed an officer’s education should be well rounded and geared towards learning as much as possible about other army branches, not just one’s own, so he looked forward to attending the school.