A tragedy to his family and to us, his Classmates. All have sustained a tremendous loss, but his country has lost one of those irre­placeable people we will read about in the history of Panama.

A deep voice, a ton of athletic ability, a personality that caused all of us to love him as a brother, and a stride that, even while marching in parades, gave all to know that this man had a maturity and a self-confidence that many of us were yet to find. There are several things about our former roommate and friend, Dominador Kaiser Bazan, that come immediately to mind as we write this article. His father, the Vice President of the Republic of Panama, was exiled during Kaiser’s cadetship. It had to have been a terribly painful experience for Kaiser, yet he uttered not one word of self-pity, demonstrating a strength of character and resolve that amazed all of us in Company G-1. We recall, too, his election to captain the soccer team our Firstie year, the first non-American to receive that honor.

Many memories of Kaiser’s cadet days have been contributed by fellow cadets:

“My fondest memory of Kaiser is that, as a plebe, he would do a rather spirited rendition of the Superman theme: “More powerful than a locomotive, faster than a speeding bullet, able to jump tall buildings in a single bound. Look up in the air, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s Super Hombre!” The whole thing was done in Spanish and for that reason, perhaps, was particularly hilarious. It won a few fallouts for him and us.”

Rod Bartholomew

 “Kaiser was always spiffy without being spoony. He was remarkably efficient in mastering the details of military bearing and appearance and minimizing the time spent to achieve them. Always smooth, never rattled by adverse circumstances; always considerate, never annoyed by sometimes annoying people; Kaiser brought the diplomat’s aplomb to West Point and left as our ambassador with military portfolio to a peculiarly vital piece of real estate.”

Nick Gilbert

“I remember well a time at West Point when I was required to write an efficiency report on Kaiser. He had performed magnificently, as only Kaiser could do. He did everything with flair. In the report, I referred to him as a “trouble shooter” in that he had anticipated what could go wrong and made plans to ensure we had covered the various contingencies. Well, about a month later, after his TAC had no doubt showed him my report, I received a message that he wanted to see me. As soon as I saw him, it was obvious to me that he was not happy. He asked me what he could do to prove his worth as a leader. He said he was disappointed that I thought him a troublemaker and wanted to understand what trouble he had caused. After I explained what I had meant, he was all smiles and that incident really started our friendship.”

Ron Hannon

“Many of our classmates are not aware of how Kaiser shared a percentage of his winning construction contracts with his competitors when the local economy was in recession. He wanted to help everyone survive hard times.”

Tom Mercer

“After graduation, Kaiser served in his country’s armed forces and, after serving in several responsible positions, was elected to the Panamanian Senate in 1968. Appointed Ambassador to the United States in 1986, he was subsequently elected and served as Vice President of the Republic of Panama. Consistent with his service to his coun­try was his adherence to the honor code of West Point and its ideals of Duty, Honor, Country. One of his friends commented at his funeral that Kaiser even wanted to institute an “All Right” system for Panamanian politicians.

Even with his success in the military, in politics, and in business, humility was among his most evident characteristics. It was difficult to get him to talk about himself. All he really wanted to talk about was his family, his close friends, and his beloved Panama. Kaiser had an immense love of his country, manifested by the tremendous amount of energy he put into making everyone proud to be Panamanian.

Many wonderful people come into our lives and later leave. Not Kaiser. Once his warm smile and clean look got into you, he stayed with you forever. Kaiser came into this life to become many things, but most of all we will remember him as a genuine gentleman. Panama is a very tiny country that can proudly claim it saw the birth, and was bettered by the life, of a very big man.”

Dick Angstadt

Wilbert, “Bill,” the eldest son, commented that his father made it clear that he wanted to be cremated wearing his West Point bathrobe, adorned with all the sports letters, badges, and other paraphernalia. Kaiser’s love of the Academy and what it represented to him throughout his life was what he wished to carry with him to the grave. Well done, soldier, patriot, friend. Go in peace.

His classmates