Darren Henry Johnson

West Point, 1987

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Mark Vilardi on September 10, 2016:

Although it had been many (too many) years since Darren and I had been in touch, it did not soften the sadness and heartache when I heard the news of his passing. Darren and I became best of friends during our time at West Point, along with a number of other A4 Apaches -- Mitch, Brent and Pat to name a few. Darren and I roomed together several years, and toiled through the same courses as fellow Aerospace Engineering majors. There were many late nights -- studying for WPRs, working on Design projects - along with a lot of goofing off while we were at it. I was always amazed at how, on the night before a big test, he was able to always to get close to his green girl before me. One night, he finally let me in on his theory -- "Well rested equals well tested." That was Darren -- funny, happy go lucky, and the forever optimist. We had many fun times during our years at West Point - Saturday nights at Ike Hall, weekend trips to New York City, and memorable Spring Break trips -- Ft. Lauderdale, South Padre Island, and then Firstie year our trip to Hawaii. Many weekend days were spent cruising around the area (no, not that 'Area', although Darren did some of that too) -- always fighting as to who was going to drive - he with his Red Camaro or me with my Red Firebird. Darren and I did not see much of each other after graduation. Sadly, that is often what happens as people go their separate ways after college. I did have the honor of standing up as his best man when he got married - I still remember Darren proudly wearing his Army Blues. We got together a few other times thereafter, but unfortunately lost touch with each other many years ago. Even though it has been a very long time, I will sadly miss him. Darren - Be thou at peace my friend, be thou at peace.

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