Michael Thomas Glynne

West Point, 1965

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Step Tyner on February 3, 2005:

The dead arise, and speak to us. Mike has spoken to me often since his death, always gently, but with words that trigger remorse. I was Mike's classmate and, during the latter portion of our West Point experience, his friend. The latter state did not always obtain, however, and this essay is more of a confession than a eulogy. As Yearling year commenced for our class, Mike was brought before an aptitude board because of low peer ratings. I had been his platoon sergeant at Camp Buckner, and was called to testify. I am sorry to say that I recommended he be separated. In the event, he was not, and we later became quite friendly, though personal antipathy had played no part in my assessment of Mike's military aptitude. Rather, it was many of the characteristics that made him an excellent combat platoon leader that influenced my 19-year-old's judgment at that hearing. Mike was almost mindlessly cheerful and optimistic, almost all of the time, whereas almost all the rest of us had adopted an air of studied indifference and cynical disdain toward "the Program." By his demeanor, Mike gave the lie to our world-weary posing, and I (not alone, hence the hearing) dismissed him as a "woos." Interestingly, though many deemed Mike's attitude "wimpy," he stood first in our class in PE at the end of plebe year. It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me well that my assessment of Mike's character and potential was wholly wrong. Mike's subsequent Cadet career, as well as his tragically truncated course as an officer in the United States Army, amply refute what I and some others thought of him in September of 1962. Mike, I was wrong and I have been sorry almost ever since. We needed more people like you and considerably fewer like me. I'll buy you a beer at the bar directly I report in to Fiddler's Green. Strength and drive. Step

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