Paul Robert Martin

West Point, 1975

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by E-4 Classmates on April 22, 2003:

Paul Martin February 8, 1953 - March 6, 1999 Aged 46 years "Boomer": Those who REALLY knew him know how he earned that nickname; it was quintessentially Paul. Enough said. Most of us remember a vivacious, outgoing, energetic man who filled rooms and hallways and meetings with great vigor and monstrous humor. He had an audacious courage deep within him. There is probably not one classmate who doesn't remember Boomer standing up at Branch Selection. He sealed his fate with the Tactical department, and endeared his classmates to him, by declaring, "Courage and Drive, Out in Five, ADA all the way Sir!" We were bent double in laughter, shock and respect. Boomer was like that; in your face, you knew where you stood. He approached life with a unique, special, and rare perspective. -What impressed me about Paul is that he enjoyed living life to it's fullest and was not afraid to take chances or try new things. He was a natural athlete who excelled in playing rugby and on our Company's swimming intramural team (I wish I could swim all the strokes he could with such skill!). -The last time I saw Paul was driving down Interstate 80, after graduation. I came upon him with Debbie, his soon-to-be-wife, ripping along the highway in a DeLorean. The car was all shiny steel, buffed, shimmering in the hot summer humid air of Iowa. He rolled down the window, waved, and laughed. I seem to recall that he tried to stand up in the driver's seat-you'd have to have known him to understand that kind of behavior. He sped up over a hill far ahead of my small car's ability to keep up, and disappeared. Our class was blessed to have Boomer a part of it, and we are all less for having lost him. -What I also remember about Boomer is that he was our honor rep. During the Physics scandal, and others, he dwelt with the issues head on, not an easy action considering the atmosphere of the time. To realize how effective he was, we only have to look at how some of the cheating scandals exploded a few years after we left. He had no tolerance for those who took themselves too seriously (all of us at one time or another) and could be counted on to puncture an inflated ego without effort. I will never forget him giving another classmate "THE MOTHER OF ALL WEDGIES" during a trip to the Army-Navy game, a tale that grew with each telling. He was constantly questioning authority when he felt it was foolish, and was never hesitant to prop up anyone he felt was wounded by the system. In reflection, he seemed to epitomize the reckless energy of our youth, and with that, perhaps what was best in all of us. I never saw him after graduation, but hearing of his death seemed to make my memories of Epsilon Quad a little less bright. It would be hard to imagine getting through those four years without hearing that maniacal laugh. Boomer made us laugh; laugh at the absurdity of life at the Academy when anything that a Tac or an instructor did struck most of us as absurd; laugh at the OC, or the 2 mile run, or, for that matter, anything at all. He was incredibly smart, very creative and, as it turns out, a very successful businessman as well. He was, in the understanding of the years since he left us, bigger than life. He gave us some relief from the crazed world of West Point, and from the structured life of the Army. Perhaps we all have grown to understand that life can be absurd, that you should laugh more; he had it right all along. He was taken too soon, and we are less for it.

admin