Andrew Ryan Houghton

West Point, 2001

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by COL Jay M. Parker on August 12, 2004:

Andy was a student in my Sosh seminar on politics and film. Like many cadets, he was lured in by the prospect of getting a grade for watching movies and eating popcorn. To his credit, he did not follow several of his classmates who turned and ran for add/drop when they saw all the readings and required papers. I was recently cleaning out my files; throwing out old exams and cadet papers. I came across Andy's term paper and decided to save it for reasons not known to me then. Today I took it out and read it again. I would be doing Andy a great disservice if I were to now claim that it was one of the more brilliant papers I have ever graded. It was, however, pure Andy and it underscores why he was a perfect fit for the Cav. While discussing Clint Eastwood's "Pale Rider," Andy states "In my opinion, any reviews of a negative nature must stem from a lack of understanding of the deeper meaning and purpose behind this film (though I freely admit bias, since this is my favorite Western of all time)" Later he reviewed Eastwood's multi-Academy Award winning film "Unforgiven," by stating "Personally, I cannot fathom how this film won any awards when 'Pale Rider' did not win a single one, but they did not ask me." Classic Andy. Andy's paper could not fully describe and explain what constitutes a hero. Now, thanks to him, we know. Well done, Andy. Be at peace. jmp

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