Michael Anthony Cerrone

West Point, 2004

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Tim Hsia on December 11, 2006:

Mike and I did not become friends until our last semester. Before then we had known each other thru an Engineering Project assigned to us. It is said that nothing draws men together then being under fire together. I guess the same thing could be said of Engineering Projects. However, we didn't become close friends until our last semester when he was my Regimental A/S-3 and when he lived two doors down from me and my roommate. Probably a little known secret of Mike is the fact that he is a drill master. As the A/S-3 he was in charge of getting the regiment ready for parades. A very thankless albeit important task. Because of his diligent efforts we scored very high points in the drill category. During our down times and before we would start studying in the evenings we would play Halo together. I would never dare play head on against him but would play cooperative. My most vivid memory of Mike though was when he would wrestle with my roommate outside our room. He enjoyed combatives and loved playing practical jokes on others. Mike was always someone who never took rank to be more important than someone's ability or character. He was always someone that would be willing to help one another. Although we did not hang out very often at Ft. Benning we talked often due to the fact that he was an IOBC class ahead and could tell me what to expect as he had just completed what my class was about to undergo. Before my IOBC graduation I didn't have all the ribbons for my class blues but Mike gladly helped me square away my uniform. Another case of his generosity was when my plans for being pinned fell thru; he offered to have his father pin the 2LT bars with him and his other friends. I'll miss you brother. Thanks for the good memories. You'll be missed. My heart goes out to your family for losing such an upstanding individual. -Tim Hsia

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