Joseph Oliver Reed

West Point, 1989

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by alan s cordova on March 19, 1999:

Dear Joe, I feel a deep sorrow knowing God has taken you away. It seems only yesterday we have been roommates as yearlings with Carlos and I can still remember our trips to the gym and Carlos who was so lazy lifting weights; you taught us to do inside and outside push-ups and sit-ups inside our room during study breaks. Carlos and I eventually got used to your jokes - they were never offensive to anybody. You were so soft-spoken and so easy to be with that I could not say anything about you playing the radio during study hour and taps. I did not like that radio. But I learned to live with your basketball and weight belt lying around somewhere in the room. I can still remember getting up in the mornings seeing you already dressed up for class holding either a Windex and a newspaper or a broom, and Carlos, still in his shorts, standing in front of the sink doing something with his contact lenses. I had such a difficult time getting up so early that you used to put the alarm clock on top of my head. Once, you and Carlos woke me up a minute before morning formation so I had to run around the room just to get into the correct uniform. Later, we had a few laughs about it. After that I tried to wake myself up on my own. Besides, how can I complain when the two of you did the most cleaning in our room. If ever you have wondered what the reason was when you were suddenly woken up in the middle of the night and you asked what the problem was, I merely groaned that everything was fine. You couldn't see a thing because it was dark and there was this wall separating our sides of the room; you sleep alone on the other side. The truth was I fell from my bed which was right above that of Carlos, right down into the footlockers. I could not say anything because my ribs ached like hell, I had to free and fight my way out of my comforter and had to keep myself from laughing. The lasting image I have of you is when we shared a few jokes at the basement of Ike hall during the 100th nite show. And I think I met your Mom and Dad. I think your Dad is also an Army officer. You were always kind to me and you (as well as the rest of our companymates) taught me that in spite of our differences in skin color, we could live like brothers. It has been a privilege knowing you and maybe when God takes me away, I shall have another opportunity to talk to you in some other place besides West Point. Alan

admin