Michael Anthony Cerrone

West Point, 2004

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by 1LT Skyler Munekata on November 17, 2006:

Dear Mikey, I can?t tell you how much I already miss you. I feel like I?m writing this for myself, but I know you?ll see it. Thanks for the time together. Thanks for putting up with my crap when we roomed together. Thanks for listening to me when I had to blow off steam. Thanks for trusting me to listen to you. Thanks for staying up late when I had to study, just to keep me company. Thanks for getting me to work out despite my laziness and the fact I always called you a meathead. Remember how mad you used to get when I told you that you reached muscle maximum? Thanks for letting me use that phone you had with that obnoxiously long antennae when no one else could get a signal. Thanks for that summer that we spent in Arkansas. Thanks for having my back when that cop pulled us over in Memphis, when I ran that red light. Thanks for chilling on Beal Street, even though you couldn?t drink at the time. Thanks for making me laugh at TeamTrek, when I really just wanted to punch that guy in the face. I remember how when we first got to that cabin in Heber Springs?we didn?t have a TV, Radio, or any mind numbing distraction. We used to sit on the couch and stare at each other or that spot along the wall where the TV should be, without talking for hours. And then finally we raided the kitchen for about 20 Steaks and ice cream, we left that fridge so full when we finally left. Thanks for being on the same wavelength when it came to hanging out there. Remember that campfire party we threw and all that Medtronic managers got so drunk that they couldn?t get up the next morning? Remember how they wanted to pin it on us, but had no proof? I still laugh at that. Thanks for honoring the man-code of ?dibs,? you know what I?m talking about. Thanks for registering my car for me in Oklahoma before I got to OBC, and then sending me all the stuff when you were on leave. Thank you for calling me to say goodbye when you were on the plane out. Thanks for spending some of that precious time with me; I know how when you leave those last couple minutes are so valuable, thanks for thinking of me. I?m sorry I lied and said everything would be ok. Thanks for being an American Soldier, in practice and belief. Thank you for fighting for me. But more than all these things thank you for being a good friend, a good dude. Thanks for being my brother. With me, there are acquaintances and family, you were family. I?d do anything for you, because I know you?d do the same for me. Our profession forces us to be apart and not see each other as much as normal friends do. However, that same experience creates a bond that others cannot understand. And because of this camaraderie, time means nothing; months and years are seconds and minutes, when we reunite; nothing has changed. So when I see you again, it will have only been a day. I love you Mikey, I?ll never forget you. Lookout for the rest of us the best you can. And if my time comes, you better meet me at the gate. I?ll see you on Sunday. Your Friend, Skyler

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