The King brothers Buddy, Harry and Edward, originally from Liberal, Kan., are indeed a "band of brothers." They are the only three brothers that attended the Ponca Military Academy, although not at the same time. Their father was in the oil business and worked away from home so they went to the PMA. Each of the brothers have different personalities, but all believe that the PMA was a major influence in their lives. All of the King brothers played football. B uddy was in the Drum and Bugle Corps and Edward marched with the Corps as an officer.
Harry said "We learned as young boys to take responsibility and to stand on our own two feet. Attending a military school is an experience (good or bad) that stays with you for a lifetime. Someone that never had this experience can never truly understand the feelings and friendship that we PMA cadets have for one another."
He added, "We look forward each year to the PMA reunion. We are proud to be alumni of PMA and we want to do all we can to keep its memory alive." The King brothers look forward annually to returning to the PMA reunion. Harry noted that they looked forward not only to seeing their classes, but other classes, and it becomes a camaraderie spanning four generations. "It is fun to get to know the rest of the cadets," Harry says .The King trio say they made many friendships, some that have lasted to the present.
Buddy King
Buddy, the elder brother, now of Canadian, Texas, was the first King to attend. His home away from home from 1959 to 1961 was PMA. His favorite faculty member was Major Cubbage, and his best friends were Walter Kiser and Melvin Kenslow.
After graduation Buddy entered the Marine Corps where he served from 1962 to 1964. As his life career Buddy would follow in the footsteps of his father in the oil patch. Currently he owns several businesses including the parent company King Well Service, Black Gold (supply company) and Box K, Bucking Bulls for the Professional Bull Riders, often seen on television.
Buddy also owns an upper scale antique store Antique Treasures in Canadian, Texas, which is managed by King brother number two Harry. Buddy and his wife Paulette have three children and seven grandchildren.
Harry King
Harry followed in the PMA path of his older brother Buddy, just because he wanted to. He attended from 1961 to 1964. His favorite faculty member was Capt. Honeyman the barracks officer. Other favorites were Major Moore and Capt. Moore. Harry recalls that during a test in Capt. Moore's class one of his roommates needed the answer to a test question. "I couldn't give it to him because Capt. Moore was watching us. Finally I just blurted out 'gobble gobble' the answer was of course Turkey. My roommate didn't use the answer anyway and flunked the test. When I asked him why he didn't use the answer he said he couldn't spell gobble gobble. Capt. Moore got all over me and my roommate."
Like Buddy, Harry went into military service doing a stint in the Air Force from 1964 to 1968.
Following graduation from Oklahoma City University in 1971 with a bachelor of science in management and a minor in accounting, Harry was employed in management for National Beef Packing Company until retiring in 2004. Harry has two children. After his wife died he moved to Canadian, Texas and joined Buddy at Antique Treasures as the manager.
Harry notes that all of the brothers are collectors and so was his father so the antique business was a natural.
Edward King
Another King — Edward entered PMA in 1963, he was there a year while Harry was at the school. Edward graduated in 1966. His best friends were Dixie Flint and Dan Kennington. His favorite faculty members were Capt. Honeyman, Major Moore and Capt. Moore.
A favorite story about Edward is that he and a couple of friends went to Ponca City, changed into civilian clothes and took his mother's car and went to Arkansas City. They had a flat on the way back and missed the bus back to school. When he and his cadet buddies tried to sneak back into the PMA Capt. Honeyman was waiting. The cadets spent several weeks marching around the flag pole, which was a typical punishment.
Again, another King entered military service. Edward was in the Army for ten years, 1966 to 1976. He served in Vietnam 1969 to 1976. After being separated from the Army he went to work for Halliburton from 1977 to 2009 and retired. Although he is retired Edward, who lives in Liberal, does some work for Harry and Buddy and the antique store, attending auctions and repairing items. He has two children.