Larry and Linda Wells Use IRA to Support West Point’s Future

Long before Dr. Larry J. Wells ’69 was a medical doctor or a West Point cadet, he was a boy growing up in the prairies of smalltown Illinois. It was there that he absorbed the values that would guide his life: Duty, Honor, Country. It was also there that he gained an early fascination with the U.S. Military Academy through a popular 1950s TV show called The West Point Story on CBS.

Inspired by the TV show and his father’s military service, a young Larry started writing to his congressman, expressing his interest in attending the Academy. He continued year after year until, finally, he received an appointment to join the Class of 1969.

“Every year, from the seventh grade on, I wrote my congressman telling him what I was doing to prepare myself to go,” he said.

Once at West Point, Larry gained the education, competency, and self-confidence he needed to serve his country in a variety of ways. He was a field artillery officer, graduated from medical school, and later served as a family practice doctor.

Over the past 40 years he practiced as a diagnostic radiologist at Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center and subsequently in private practice in Augusta, Georgia. In retirement, Larry teaches radiology residents part time at the Medical College of Georgia.

Graduating from West Point reinforced Larry’s hometown values and gave him the credentials and confidence he needed to enjoy a successful career and life.

And, certainly, West Point wasn’t just about academics for Larry. He found refuge from the stress of cadet life through outside activities with a musical bent.

“All four years I was in the Glee Club and the Chapel Choir,” Larry recalls. “That was my mental salvation.” In Larry’s time, the Glee Club was able to represent West Point all around the country, including appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Mike Douglas Show and at the Hollywood Bowl—and the opening of Madison Square Garden with Bob Hope. “It was just really a fun group,” Larry says.

Now, semi-retired, Larry and his wife of more than 55 years, Linda, have decided to invest in the long-term success of West Point by funding a charitable gift annuity using their IRA. Their gift will support the Long Gray Line Endowment. In the meantime, it will provide a significant return on investment and tax advantages for Larry and Linda.

Larry and Linda urge other alumni to join them in making West Point Association of Graduates a beneficiary of their estate plans.

“I think West Point has tremendous value for the country, and I want to see it survive and do well,” Larry says, urging fellow alumni to “realize the value that West Point has given to all of us. A planned gift, of whatever kind fits you best, can help ensure West Point survives for the ages.”