The Oak Lines | EP4 — Colonel Herb Stern: What We Carry Forward

West Point Class of 1941. 107 Years Old. The Last of His Class.

Colonel (Retired) Herbert Irving Stern graduated from West Point in 1941, six months before Pearl Harbor. At 107, he is the oldest living graduate and the last surviving member of his class. His call sign is Dockyard Six. He still answers to it.

In this conversation, Herb shares stories from the Battle of the Bulge, the liberation of a concentration camp outside Salzwedel, a classified study for President Eisenhower, and a letter of dereliction signed by Eisenhower himself. He also talks about leaving 27 years in uniform for the family business, and what he still reads, thinks about, and pays attention to at 107.

This episode includes a bonus segment: Herb’s remarks from his birthday celebration at Falcons Landing, where he shares the best birthday he ever had.