Mark Francis Brennan

West Point, 1964

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Wayne M. NELSEN on September 11, 2023:

A good and decent man I served with Mark Brennan in the pentagon for 2 years until his retirement. He was a joy. Liked braunschweiger sandwiches but would deny himself the delicacy until after weighing in following our PT test. As soon as he passed the weight limit he would head straight to the vending machine. Too funny. He was a soccer coach on the weekends. Loved kids and his sons. I never heard Mark raise his voice or use cuss words. Great sense of humor, too. We had a boss, Col Gene Brisach, WP 1960. Brisach read every piece of correspondence before it left his Personnel Division, Office, Chief Army Reserve, p] often making correction and sending it back to the action officer for correction. Mark took a page from the Declaration of Independence to Col Brisach, marked up gramatically for Brisach's review. Col Brisach roared and posted it on his office wall. I will remember Mark as being quick to praise another's success and slow to chide for failure. He never exhibited a tendancy toward erratic or intemperate behavior. The rigorous standards of West Point allowed little leeway for misbehavior, character flaws, or deviations from its rigid sense of propriety. Mark exhibited those aspects every day. He painted a portrait of a man the likes of whom we shall not see very often. I loved the man. Thanks Mark.

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