Benedict Joseph Smith

West Point, 1999

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Bob Barrett on April 21, 2004:

Dear friends and loved ones of Ben, I was a classmate of Bens at West Point. He was in several of my classes in school and I always remember him being a really funny, really happy person who could make the entire class smile. I remember one time when we had an entire class assembly, either as a junior or senior, and it was a very dry, very boring speech that we were all forced to listen to. I remember Ben standing up when they allowed for questions and ask a Lieutenant Colonel if he ever took a nap in the afternoon as cadets are very fond of "racking" in the afternoon. The Lieutenant Colonel and his Sergeant Major really got a kick out of this question, as did everyone else in our class, and I remember that being the most interesting part of the entire speech. I also remember running into Ben with another classmate, Joe Connolly, when we were headed to England on a Space A flight after graduation. I remember running into Ben as he was going to see relatives in England and then meeting up with him in London for a night on the town. I remember having a lot of fun with Ben that night and talking about the Aviation Officer Basic Course and how he didn't start school until October. I remember being really jealous that he had all that time off, but I was happy for Ben as he was a great guy and if anybody (other than me) got all that time off, it should be him. Now that I am thinking of Ben, I remember he used to show me the wrecker truck he drove when he was enlisted and I remember him being so proud of it. It always struck me as funny that he had such fondness for a truck, and a rather ugly one at that, but he seemed to love that truck and actually miss it. Ben was a great guy. It saddens me to hear that Ben is gone, but my thoughts of Ben are all fond and, even though I miss him, I am comforted and consoled by these memories. I know words can never heal this loss, but I hope stories like these make the memory of Ben a little fresher in your minds and we celebrate the man he was rather than the loss. I think he would like that. Bob Barrett, '99

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