U.S. Army Maj. Malcolm Jones Howard graduated from West Point in 1962 and served two tours in Vietnam. Still, everyone called him “Judge.” After his military service, he worked as a lawyer, a federal judge and a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) judge.
At his funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery on May 5, 2025, Howard’s son-in-law, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Ryan Janovic, told mourners that Howard was a storyteller who loved telling tales about his family, his pride in his children and grandchildren, his West Point lacrosse team, his time in Vietnam and his time as a judge.
“There's no finer place now to lay him to rest, so that he continues to tell these stories with the soldiers he loved,” Janovic said. “More than 400,000 men and women now surround the man we love, and he will hold court here in Arlington National Cemetery.” The mourners, who had been dabbing their eyes, laughed softly at the image of Howard still on the bench.
After the service, Janovic spoke more about Howard’s combat service and how he carried it with him for the rest of his life. “Like most veterans who led men in Vietnam, he rarely talked about himself,” he recalled. “So I learned a lot about families I never met, about men he served with, the men that he lost and other heroes.”
Howard served his first tour of duty in Vietnam as a company commander in the famed 27th “Wolfhound” Infantry Regiment, known for its hard fighting in the Korean and Vietnam wars. On his second tour, he ran a “lightning academy,” where newly arriving soldiers trained for combat. According to Janovic, Howard earned a Silver Star during his first tour for fighting his company out of an ambush. “They had a plan, and the plan went differently than expected,” Janovic said. “That's an area where he would start to get very vague.”
After his tours, Howard never forgot the men he served with and the men he lost. “He was always about his men,” Janovic said, noting that his father-in-law displayed an American flag marked with the names of all the Vietnam veterans who served and sacrificed under his command in Vietnam. “He was also in contact with their families,” Janovic added.
Howard’s daughter, Shannon Howard Janovic, said her father wanted to be buried among heroes, servants and leaders at Arlington National Cemetery. “For him,” she said, “Arlington was the place where old soldiers go to rest.”
As an Army captain presented her with the tri-folded American flag that had been draped over her father’s casket, Shannon felt overwhelmed with gratitude for his life and service. “I was looking eye-to-eye with the captain and thinking, ‘My dad would love this young man,’” she said. “He made my entire family feel special.” When the captain thanked her for her father’s service on behalf of the Army, she smiled through her tears. “I knew my dad would want to interrupt and ask this young leader a thousand questions.”
The service deeply moved Shannon. She was particularly grateful to the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) soldiers who conducted the service. “Thank you for standing the watch, for reverently serving and showing the world what our nation means when it speaks about care for our veterans,” she said. “No other nation does what ours does to honor its fallen and care for the families.”
