Very sad news to share that the recently retired and former 8th Army Commander Lieutenant General Thomas Vandal has passed away from cancer:
Lt. Gen. Thomas S. Vandal, the commanding general of the 8th U.S. Army, speaks next to a statue of Gen. Walton H. Walker, a Korean War hero, at Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul, Tuesday. The U.S. Army began the relocation of its base from Yongsan to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, with the transfer of the statue. / Yonhap
A former commander of the Eighth Army and 2nd Infantry Division died over the weekend, according to a message posted Tuesday on Eighth Army’s official Facebook page.
Retired Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal, who oversaw the highest Army headquarters unit on the Korean Peninsula from February 2016 until his retirement earlier this year, died Sunday, officials told Stars and Stripes. No other details were provided.
“LTG(R) Thomas S. Vandal … you were a tremendous leader and a charismatic mentor,” the Facebook message said. “You were the epitome of the Eighth Army Motto: “Fight Tonight!” The hearts and prayers of the Eighth Army go out to the family and friends of LTG Vandal.”
The 1982 West Point graduate served prominently as one of the Army’s top generals in South Korea this decade, first taking the reins of 2nd ID in 2013 before becoming the Army’s top general in South Korea a few years later. He retired shortly after handing command to Lt. Gen. Michael Bills in January. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but first of all condolences to LTG Vandal’s friends and family. It is shocking how quickly cancer can kill someone, even someone as fit as LTG Vandal was.
Besides being highly involved in completing 8th Army’s move to Camp Humphreys LTG Vandal was also a key player in the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea. These were definitely two major legacy efforts he was part of during his time at 8th Army.
I hope they bought into the SBP. Sure they did if they knew he was sick before retirement.
The article didn’t say anything about cancer, so I’m assuming you have some inside source? Know what type? Pancreatic (usually fast acting), colon, prostate (usually not deadly), testicular, lymphatic, thyroid, melanoma (can be very fast acting)?
General Vandal was a very energetic and fit person which shows cancer can happen to anyone.
setnaffa
5 years ago
So the first lesson from this is to get checked regularly. Start this week if you haven’t been on a schedule.
Kevin
3 years ago
I am only finding this out now… That Camp Red Cloud where he was the 2ID Commander had high levels of PFOS, at 5 times greater than the EPA safe level. Also Camp Stanley and Camp Carrol, where he would have definitely visited on a regular basis had PFOS contamination. I hope the family finds this information useful. PFOS is strongly linked to pancreatic cancer.
I hope they bought into the SBP. Sure they did if they knew he was sick before retirement.
The article didn’t say anything about cancer, so I’m assuming you have some inside source? Know what type? Pancreatic (usually fast acting), colon, prostate (usually not deadly), testicular, lymphatic, thyroid, melanoma (can be very fast acting)?
I hope the good general can rest in peace.
@McGeehee, yes he had the very fast acting kind of cancer, pancreatic:
http://support.pancan.org/site/TR/PurpleStride/PurpleStride?team_id=12569&pg=team&fr_id=1426
General Vandal was a very energetic and fit person which shows cancer can happen to anyone.
So the first lesson from this is to get checked regularly. Start this week if you haven’t been on a schedule.
I am only finding this out now… That Camp Red Cloud where he was the 2ID Commander had high levels of PFOS, at 5 times greater than the EPA safe level. Also Camp Stanley and Camp Carrol, where he would have definitely visited on a regular basis had PFOS contamination. I hope the family finds this information useful. PFOS is strongly linked to pancreatic cancer.