TRAPNELL, Franklin Waters

Other Events and Attributes:

• Cause of Death: Pulmonary Edema with Congestion and Myocardial Failure with severe Coronary Stenosing Atheroma.
• Birth: 13 Aug 1907, Charles Town, West Va

Notes:

Lawyer. Served in Intelligence during WWII and with CIA in Austria and
Germany.

Lawyer. Served in Intelligence during WWII and with CIA in Austria and
Germany.

Franklin married SMITH, Emily Katherine Willson Rieman on 26 Feb 1932 in Baltimore, MD. Emily (daughter of SMITH, Herbert) was born on 19 Dec 1907 in Towson, Maryland; died on 29 May 1972 in Baltimore, MD, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: VON DITTEL, Helge. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Bucky / Buck
• Education: Polytechnic Institute and Johns Hopkins University
• Obituary: From The Baltimore Sun, 13 June 2014: Franklin Waters "Buck" Trapnell Jr., a retired Army colonel who served in Vietnam, died of a heart attack May 31 while visiting family near Richmond, Va. The former Roland Park resident was 77. Born in Baltimore and raised on Lake Avenue in Cedarcroft, he was the son of Franklin Waters Trapnell, an attorney who became an Office of Strategic Services and Central Intelligence Agency officer. His mother was Emily Willson Rieman Smith, a homemaker and volunteer. According to an autobiographical sketch, he spent much of his youth in Berlin, Germany, and Vienna, Austria, after World War II during the military occupation. "He routinely, and unofficially, assisted his father with his intelligence work," said his granddaughter, Alexa Warthen of Philomont, Va. "He was a courier, sabotaged car batteries, debriefed refugees, changed out wiretap batteries and collected wiretap recordings. "He used the Vienna city sewer system to do this work. He stood guard for East German defectors and used his father's pistol. He had an unorthodox upbringing and developed a remarkably open mind and had an exceptional grasp of adaptive tactics." After returning to Baltimore, he enrolled at Polytechnic Institute but left school to join the Maryland National Guard and serve in the 29th Division. He later studied at the Johns Hopkins University and was acting head of its Reserve Officers Training Corps for a year. After serving in the National Guard, he enlisted in the Army in 1961 and trained as a light infantryman and attended parachute school. While at Fort Bragg, he completed Special Forces qualification as a weapons specialist. He also trained in communications, demolitions, medical work and intelligence. After attending Officer Candidate School, he was commissioned as an infantry officer. He served in Vietnam from July 1965 to August 1966 and participated in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley during the Pleiku campaign. "He was a hard-nosed, tactically savvy commander and a genuinely caring mentor," said his granddaughter, who is a former Army captain and flier. She said that that during the second half of his first Vietnam tour, he served as company executive officer and as company commander. While on duty in Vietnam, Colonel Trapnell was photographed and quoted in a 1966 Baltimore Sun article. "We've been here a week, and I guess we're going to be here another," he said in the article, which covered U.S. aircraft bombing a jungle site. Colonel Trapnell returned to the U.S. and became an intelligence officer in the 82nd Airborne Division. He then volunteered for a second tour in Vietnam. "The locals trusted him, and would bring their gold savings and valuables for his safekeeping whenever a Viet Cong attack was in the offing," his granddaughter said. "He in turn recognized the situation as a harbinger of impending attack; he used it to prepare for subsequent attacks. He would later return the valuables." From 1982 to 1984, he commanded the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry in the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood and headed a Bradley Fighting Vehicle training team. Colonel Trapnell taught military science at Hopkins and oversaw ROTC programs at Loyola University Maryland and Towson University, among other colleges in the Mid-Atlantic. He retired in 1990. "He had a near flawless memory and made an unforgettable first impression," said his granddaughter. In retirement, he moved from homes on Wyndhurst Avenue and Overlook Place in North Baltimore to a home he designed and built in Manassas, Va. He cleared the land and worked on the house's construction. "He was the patriarch of the family, and he advised and coordinated many family investments," his granddaughter said. He also built, owned and operated cellphone towers from West Virginia to Wyoming. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, 419 Cedarcroft Road, where he had been a member. In addition to his granddaughter, survivors include his wife of 55 years, the former Elizabeth Florence Rich Flannery, who performed with the Spotlighters and at the Four Corners Theatre; a daughter, Emily Marilla Trapnell Coryell of Baltimore; a stepson, Michael Flannery of Baltimore; two stepdaughters, Colise Medved of Washington and Agnes Collins Flannery of Walnut Creek, Calif.; seven other grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
• Occupation: US Army Colonel
• Religion: Episcopalian
• Cause of Death: Heart attack
• Military: 1965-1966, Vietnam

Notes:

Professional Army Officer. Served two tours in Viet Nam, the first in 1965 in the First Cavalry air mobil unit. Retired 1989 as Colonel.

Military:
Two tours of duty 1965-66, spent career in Army, retiring as Colonel in 1989.

Franklin married RICH, Elizabeth Florence on 26 Jun 1957. Elizabeth (daughter of RICH, Charles and RICHARDSON, Edwina) was born on 10 Nov 1921 in Perryville, Cecil, MD, USA; died on 6 Jul 2015 in Manassas, Prince William, VA, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Obituary: From Baltimore Sun, 3 Jun 1992 Philip B.S. Trapnell June 22, 1992 Services for Philip Bruce Scott Trapnell, a civil engineer at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground, will be held at 10 a.m. tomorrow at the Church of the Nativity, Cedarcroft and York roads, Towson. Mr. Trapnell, who was 52, took his own life Thursday at his home in Stoneleigh after a long illness. For the past 11 years, Mr. Trapnell had worked as a civilian employee in the U.S. Army Material Systems Analysis Agency at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Earlier, he worked in the Navy as a systems analyst in China Lake, Calif. Mr. Trapnell was born and raised in Baltimore. He graduated from Baltimore's Polytechnic Institute in 1957 and from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1962. He earned his master's degree from Auburn University in 1970. From 1962 to 1965, Mr. Trapnell served in the Army as an officer in the Corps of Engineers and left with the rank of first lieutenant. He is survived by his wife of 20 years, the former Hildegard Maria Torchalla; a son and daughter, Scott Trapnell Jr. and Audrey Katherine Trapnell, both of Baltimore; a brother, Franklin Waters Trapnell Jr. of Manassas, Va.; a sister, Dorset Waters Trapnell Farmer of Winterville, Ga.; two nieces; and one nephew. The family suggested donations to the Church of the Nativity, 419 Cedarcroft Road, Baltimore 21212, where Mr. Trapnell was a lifelong member.

Notes:

Graduate of Naval Academy. Mathematician.

Family/Spouse: TORCHALLA, Hildegard Maria. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: FARMER, Mark Alan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Emily married HORRIS, James Alfred [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Emily married CORYELL, Randy ALlen [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alexa married REVELS, Michael Martin [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: WARTHEN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alexa married WARTHEN, William Trapnell [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: (Living). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]