Richard Melvin Mason

West Point, 1968

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Mike Havey on February 12, 1999:

About a week ago I got a copy of the '83 ASSEMBLY obituary that Chuck Vehlow wrote some years after Rick's death. Sometimes you have to come in from the outside--from the cold--to truly realize the impact that the knowledge of another's passing has. As I read of his life, it was typically Rick that after two heartbreaking tours in SEA he would turn his experience in a positive rather than bitter direction--to medicine and a new bride, residency/internship, the thing he was made for, everything to live for, .... The quality of man we were all like to be, but never quite attain. I remember Rick as we were thrown together as Plebe roommates when the (old) H-2 company first formed after Beast. He was that kind of quiet, shy, skinny 98-lb weakling nerd that in no way had any evidence of the "right-stuff," ...And he was therefore immediate target of vicious Yearling "...isn't-good enough-run-him-out" pressure, ...culminating in absolutely explosive upperclass rage when he skipped a football game to study in the library. (There WAS hazing then, and it could be brutal, savage, malicious, and gotten away with--we just choose not to remember it.) But late at night, Rick's hunted look--framed against the alcove upright--comes back to me as I remember how he would return from all-evening sessions being flogged-through-the-fleet. No study time, no prep time, no recovery time ...exhausted and depressed. And how we (Bob Mills & I as I remember) would try to help him.... But it always had to be Rick alone that had to get up the next morning, and start all over again. And Rick always did. That's what Rick always did. And I remember how Rick grew to quietly become the most respected man in the Company over the years, ...our Captain, our honor rep, a man for every club sport he could find--tough as nails physically and mentally--but always, ...always the "priest" to whom others in trouble could go, ...the most sincere of all friends, ...a man you could trust in your darkest hours. All of us have lived through death now, many deaths as the years have gone by. But I guess I always remembered Rick--of all people--as the kind of man that God would reward, and bless those he loved. And yes, I guess I'm a little down. But Rick still lives in my memories. And life goes on.... Mike Havey

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