Byron J. Plapp

West Point, 2012

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Kurt Musser '72 on March 31, 2015:

Byron's celebration of life service today was uplifting and the large number of friends and classmates who came are a true reflection of Byron's impact on family, friends and classmates. It was my honor to be able to talk about West Point at the service. Here is a copy of my text: As Christians, we all know that this world is not our final destination. We are comforted by the words of Isaiah 43:2; "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you." My name is Kurt Musser. I didn't personally know Byron, yet I knew him very well. 40 years my younger, we shared the same experience as cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. Byron worshipped, ate, slept, studied, trained, competed athletically and even marched on the same parade field with names like Grant, Lee, Pershing, McArthur, Patton, Eisenhower and Schwartzkoff. The friendships Byron developed that came from being pressed and tested physically and mentally as well as the stories and experiences shared with his classmates over those four years formed a bond and a legacy that will forever be his part of the West Point Class of 2012. At the end of those 4 years, just as those before him, Byron symbolically said goodbye to his days as a cadet at West Point by tossing his hat into the air in 2012 on Graduation Day and accepted his membership into The Long Gray Line. With his Class Ring as a constant reminder, Byron accepted his commission into the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant, carrying with him the values he learned, lived and guarded through the West Point motto, "Duty, Honor Country." Byron has been taken from us. As the lines from an old West Point song, "The Corps" state, "The Long Gray Line of us stretches Through the years of centuries told, And the last man feels to his marrow The grip of your far off hold. Grip hands with us now, though we see not, Grip hands with us, strengthen our hearts As the long line stiffens and straightens With the thrill that your presence imparts Grip hands- though it be from the shadows- While we swear, as you did of yore, Or living, or dying, to honor The Corps, and the Corps, and the Corps! Byron's departure from us reminds me of 2 Timothy 2:4 which says, "No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." And we know that we live in a world filled with war, turmoil and evil. Byron was prepared to meet that challenge but 2 Corinthians 10:3 reminds us that, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses." Byron was trained to be a warrior. The God of the Angel Armies needed a West Point warrior to lead His Angel Armies for a divinely powerful destruction of fortresses and Byron has answered that call. As the last verse of our Alma Mater states, And when our work is done, Our course on earth is run, May it be said, "Well done; Be thou at peace." Well done, Byron Plapp, good and faithful servant.

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