WHEREAS, Colonel Alexander Shepherd Quintard, USA, Ret., of Powhatan County, a patriotic veteran who served the United States with distinction during two world wars, died on September 18, 1972; and

WHEREAS, Alexander "Alec" Quintard was born in 1891 to Dr. and Mrs. Edward Quintard of Washington, D.C.; he was inspired to pursue a life of service by his grandfathers; and

WHEREAS, Alec Quintard's maternal grandfather, Alexander Robey Shepherd, served as the second and last Governor of the District of Columbia and made numerous contributions to the enhancement of local infrastructure; his paternal grandfather, Charles Todd Quintard, was a Civil War chaplain who later became the founding vice-chancellor of The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee; and

WHEREAS, in 1909, Alec Quintard graduated from Sewanee Military Academy, located on the campus of the University of the South, then traveled the country as a member of the United States Geological Survey; and

WHEREAS, Alec Quintard subsequently worked for banking and insurance firms in Norfolk until he volunteered for military service in the lead-up to World War I; in 1918, he was assigned to the Eighth Field Artillery Regiment in Georgia, where he met his wife, Jean Postell Jervey, with whom he proudly raised three daughters; and

WHEREAS, Alec Quintard earned the Distinguished Service Medal for his meritorious actions during the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and continued serving on active duty with the United States Army after the end of the war; and

WHEREAS, in the 1930s, Alec Quintard served as a field artillery instructor with the North Carolina National Guard, and in 1941, he was promoted to colonel and given command of the 301st Field Artillery Regiment in the Philippines; and

WHEREAS, after Japan launched a surprise attack on the Philippines on December 8, 1941, Alec Quintard was tasked with organizing a field artillery unit with civilian volunteers; in a testament to his abilities, he trained nearly 600 volunteers with no prior military experience as heavy artillerists that courageously opposed the Japanese invasion force; and

WHEREAS, during the Battle of Bataan in 1941, Alec Quintard commanded the heavy artillery for II Corps and received another Distinguished Service medal for his gallantry and exceptional leadership; and

WHEREAS, after the fall of the Philippines, Alec Quintard and his fellow prisoners of war participated in the infamous Bataan Death March, a grueling forced march from the Bataan peninsula to a concentration camp between 60 and 70 miles away that resulted in thousands of Allied casualties; and

WHEREAS, Alec Quintard was transferred to several different camps during three and a half years of captivity; he was being held by Japanese forces in China when news of the Japanese surrender was delivered to the camp by a team of American paratroopers; and

WHEREAS, as a sign of surrender, Alec Quintard accepted the camp commander's sword, which remains a cherished family heirloom; and

WHEREAS, Alec Quintard returned to the Commonwealth and commanded what is now Fort A.P. Hill in Bowling Green from 1946 to 1949; he later retired to the Fine Creek Mills area of Powhatan County, naming his home "Midway" as a reference to the decisive Battle of Midway during the war; and

WHEREAS, Alec Quintard was a highly admired community leader in Powhatan County, establishing two Boy Scout troops in the area and serving as Sunday school superintendent and senior warden at St. Luke's Episcopal Church; and

WHEREAS, Alec Quintard is fondly remembered and greatly missed by numerous surviving family members; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Senate of Virginia hereby note with great sadness the loss of Colonel Alexander Shepherd Quintard, USA, Ret.; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Colonel Alexander Shepherd Quintard, USA, Ret., as an expression of the Senate of Virginia's respect for his memory.