It is with great regret and
sorrow that we must notify you of the death of our Classmate, Earl Horan, on
March 7, 2015, in Fayetteville, NC.
Earl is survived by wife,
Elizabeth; daughter, Eleanor Rivera; son, Earl Horan III; and grandchildren,
Troy Horan, Earl Horan IV, Chandler Rivera, and Michael Rivera.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8
PM on Tuesday, March 10, 2015 at Rogers and Breece Funeral Home, 500 Ramsey
Street, Fayetteville, NC
28301. A funeral service will be held at 11
am on Wednesday, March 11, 2015 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, 1000
Andrews Road, Fayetteville, NC 28311. Interment with full
military honors will follow at Lafayette Memorial Park, 2301 Ramsey Street,
Fayetteville, NC 28301.
Condolences may be sent to
Elizabeth at 6229 Falkland Court, Fayetteville, NC
28311.
In lieu of flowers, the family
asks that donations in Earl’s memory be made to the
Wounded Warriors Project, P.O. Box 758517,
Topeka, KS 66675.
Well done,
Earl. Be thou at peace.
Remembrances:
Class Memorial Pages\M-2 Earl Horan.pdf
Obituaries:
Ret. Lt. Col. Earl Campbell Horan Jr., 79, of Fayetteville,
passed away on Saturday, Mar. 7, 2015.
Earl graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point
then proudly served in the US Army, retiring in 1989 after serving for 30
years. He served two tours in Vietnam, worked at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin,
and Commanded over the peace keeping force in Grenada after the invasion. He was
also a Special Forces Ranger, and earned a silver star, two bronze stars, and
various other medals, awards and accommodations. He also served as a special
advisor for the movie, "The Green Beret."
Mr. Horan was also a highly skilled and accomplished
musician. He was a member of the Blue Grass Band, The Foggy Mountain Boys. Earl
also made an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in the 1950's with the West
Point Glee Club.
Earl is survived by his wife Elizabeth Belford Horan of the
home; one daughter, Eleanor Horan Rivera of Snow Hill, NC; one son Earl Campbell
Horan III of Fayetteville, NC; one sister, Margaret Ellen Webb of Marion,
Alabama; and four grandsons, Troy Horan and wife Stephanie, Earl IV, Chandler,
and Michael, all of Fayetteville.
In lieu of flowers the family respectfully requests memorials
to be made to the Wounded Warriors Project.
A funeral service will be held at 11 am Wednesday, March 11,
2015 at in St. Elizabeth Anne Seton Catholic Church, with Father Jack Kelly
officiating. Interment with full military honors will follow at Lafayette
Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 PM on Tuesday, March
10, 2015 at Rogers and Breece Funeral Home.
Taps Memorial Article:

Earl C. Horan Jr. 1961
Cullum No. 23794-1961 | March 7, 2015 | Died in Fayetteville, NC
Interred in Lafayette Memorial Park and Mausoleum, NC
Earl Campbell Horan Jr. was born into the
military family of Colonel Earl and Margaret Horan. His formative years were
spent in Alabama, where his father was Professor of Military Science and
Com- mandant of Marion Military Institute. Earl was so eager to join the Army that
at 17 he joined the Alabama National Guard as a truck driver. Earl completed two
years of college at Marion Institute before fulfilling his dream of attending
West Point. Earl was a gifted athlete in high school and was sought after by
many of the Southeastern colleges. His love of sports continued through his
cadet days to his officer days, during which he was outstanding in the field
events of Europe’s track and field competitions. In his 40s, Earl began running
marathons, which was a testimony to his athletic skills and perseverance.
Earl arrived at West Point tall, talented, laid back and full of humor. He truly
was one of a kind and treated plebe year as an adventure not to be missed. His
levity in Beast Barracks brought all of us new cadets comic relief, which
unfortunately was coupled with many pushups, although Earl was seldom caught.
When Earl would march us as plebes from North Area through South Area enroute to
the academic buildings, he had the ability to bring the upperclassmen located in
South Area to the point of a frenzy. His antics throughout the four years
endeared him to his classmates but were not always well received by the Tactical
Department. Consequently, early on Earl became a member of the Century Club.
There was a Don Quixote quality to Earl because he never failed to see windmills
that needed to be tilted, yet never at the expense of others. He was an
excellent athlete, a good student (at least when the chips were down), and he
had a few experiences with the Academic Department. Earl possessed one annoying
trait, at least to his roommates: He always attracted the best looking girls. He
was a talented musician with the guitar and enjoyed four years with the Glee
Club, appearing on the Ed Sullivan show among other highlights. Music was very
important to Earl, and he played and sang whenever possible, and his room in the
barracks was never dull.
Upon graduation, Earl joined the Infantry. After completion of the Infantry
basic course and Ranger and Airborne schools, Earl was enroute to his first
assignment in Berlin, Germany, only to be met on the drop zone after his final
jump by the lovely Leiser from the University of Alabama, whom he had been
dating for a couple of years. Leiser led him in his airborne fatigues to the
Justice of the Peace in Cusseta, GA, where they were married. Thus began a
wonderful love story, only to be interrupted after Earl’s retirement by the
untimely death of Leiser.
At his first assignment in Berlin he worked at both Check Point Charlie and
Spandau Prison. After Berlin, Earl’s career followed the usual pattern of young
Infantry officers in the 1960s and 1970s: Berlin; Fort Bragg, NC; Vietnam; Fort
Benning, GA; Vietnam; ROTC; then Fort Campbell, KY; followed by Fort
Leavenworth, KS; Japan, Leavenworth, Bragg, and Grenada. It was during his first
assignment at Fort Bragg that Earl became Special Forces qualified and
experienced his first combat tour in Vietnam with the 5th Special Forces. Earl
returned from Vietnam to Fort Benning in 1966. While there he became very
involved with the cast and crew making the film The Green Beret. The director
was so taken with Earl that he named the fictious SF camp in the movie after
Earl’s camp in Vietnam. Earl taught John Wayne how to be a Green Beret. Not a
bad accomplishment by a young captain. Throughout his career, and especially in
combat, Earl displayed calm leadership and coolness under fire, which earned him
numerous awards for valor, including the Silver Star.
In addition to his combat tours with Special Forces and the Phoenix Program,
Earl served as a company commander at the Infantry Center at Fort Benning. He
was the assistant PMS at Murray State in Kentucky. Later, he was the S-3 of the
3d Battalion, 187th PIR, 101st Airborne Division. After attendance at the
Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Earl was assigned to IX
Corps at Camp Zama, Japan. He returned to Fort Leavenworth on the faculty of
CGSC. His next assignment was to XVIII Airborne Corps, where he was assigned as
the deputy G-5. While with XVIII Airborne Corps, Earl participated in Operation
Urgent Fury. Earl commanded the stay-behind force that helped the governor to
stabilize Grenada. His actions in that capacity were so widely applauded that
Earl became one of the Army’s foremost authorities on civic action, especially
in a special warfare environment.
Earl’s final assignments were with the Special Warfare Center School,
culminating as the deputy assistant commandant. It was in this last position
that Earl was instrumental in establishing Special Forces as an independent
branch within the Army.
After retirement from active duty, Earl and family remained in the Fayetteville,
NC area. There Earl became active in real estate, his church, AUSA, Kiwanis and
numerous civic and charitable organizations. He continued his love of music by
playing the mandolin in the bluegrass band Foggy Mountain Boys.
Earl was more than just a great soldier and a multitalented individual. He was a
loving husband and father whose accomplishments and zest for life where often
overshadowed by his humility and understated approach. He was a remarkable and
memorable individual who enriched the lives of all with whom he had contact. One
can’t help but smile when they hear Earl’s name.
— Family and roommate
|