Jack O. Forgy, U.S. Army colonel
Col. Jack O. Forgy, 74, died Sept. 26 at Fauquier Hospital after a long fight with lung cancer. He was born in Phoenix, Ariz., on April 3, 1934, to Percy and Pauline Forgy.
He attended the United States Military Academy, Class of 1956, and graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1957. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant, Infantry, in the Regular Army, where he served for 32 years. He is also a 1978 graduate of the U.S. Army War College and earned an MBA in computer science from George Washington University.
Col. Forgy served in a variety of infantry, personnel management and administrative assignments while on active duty. He served in stateside locations and two tours in Vietnam.
During the last 10 years of active service, he developed and implemented a number of new computer-based personnel information systems for the Department of the Army.
His military decorations include four awards of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal and the Army Commendation Medal, as well as numerous overseas campaign medals.
Following Army retirement in 1985, he was a program development manager for Computer Sciences Corporation and chief of software engineering for Statistica, Inc.
In 1993, he moved to Warrenton, where he and his wife Crystal resided until his death.
He again retired in 1996 and devoted much of his time to performing volunteer research for members of the American WWII Orphans Network (AWON). In his research capacity, he determined the fate of more than 300 soldiers who died in that war, soldiers whose families knew only that they died, not how they died. His work was featured on a Tom Brokaw Dateline NBC News Special in 1999.
He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Crystal of Warrenton; two sons, John and Michael of Fairfax; and a sister, Pamela Klein of Bay City, Mich.
Inurnment will be Dec. 17 at Arlington National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.
Funeral arrangements are by Moser Funeral Home of Warrenton.
I am one of the fortunte AWON "orphans" for whom Col. Forgy performed research. For over 60 years I did not know exactly how my father had died in WWII. We had only a verbal story that he had been killed by a sniper.
In 2005 Jack Forgy undertook a research project that resulted in a well documented, sturctured paper that proved conclusively that my father was killed by German artillery fire on 24 May 1944 during the American break out fron Anzio beachhead. His research even provided a close approximation to the location of his death.
Shortly after receiving this information I traveled to Italy with a group of WWII vets who had been at Anzio. The information Jack provided let me feel a closeness to my father that had been missing in my life.
Jack provided this type of information to many of the members of AWON. His expertise and knowledge afforded us information on our fathers that would have otherwise been unavailable to us.
Mere words alone cannot express the gratefulness and gratitude that I feel for "Happy" Jacks devotion to us his brothers and sisters of AWON.
May he rest in peace with the valiant warriors of the US Armed Forces.
In Their Memory
Posted by LarryStrother
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