William Bee Ravenel III

Who was William Bee Ravenel III?

William Bee Ravenel III was an educator and a soldier. As head of the English Department at the Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, he was a major influence on the life of Arizona senator and 2008 U.S. presidential candidate John McCain, who called Ravenel "one of the finest men I have ever known". During World War II Maj. Ravenel received both the Silver Star and the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters while serving in the 6th Armored Division of General George Patton's Third Army. He became a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve while teaching at Episcopal High.

Sen. McCain reflected on the positive impact Mr. Ravenel had on his life in an interview with the Harvard Mentoring Project of the Harvard School of Public Health: "I have never forgotten the confidence his praise gave me. Nor did I ever forget the man who praised me. Years later, during the time I was imprisoned in Vietnam, I thought about Mr. Ravenel a lot. He was the one who reinforced in me the standards of honorable behavior. I was faced with several decisions and one in particular, would I accept an offer of the Vietnamese to go home early? I thought about the fact that Mr. Ravenel had been in combat in World War II and thus had a feel for what I was involved in. And I really believed, as I thought about it and considered it, that Mr. Ravenel wouldn't look favorably upon such a decision, because it was not an honorable one. So, I refused the offer...