Posted by Anthony Thomas on March 16, 2010:

I recall the last time I spoke with Brian, it was in a locker room at Ft. Campbell. He was talking about an opportunity to command an HHC company in Sinai or going on the advance course. My battalion, 2-327th INF "No Slack," had just completed the Sinai mission and returned with some great stories. I can still recall razzing him, in a joking sort of way, about taking an HHC command instead of a "real" line company command. But, secretly, I was a bit envious of him because he was being offered something pretty special, and I think we both knew it. We made some small conversation about this and that, then I left the locker room. In the end, I believe we had come to the same conclusion about his opportunity; what a great opportunity and something pretty exciting to experience. I was pretty sure Brian would take the command and it was only much later that I had discovered that he had indeed taken that command when the list of victims from the Gander crash were published. I was saddened to hear of his passing but I also was glad for Brian because I felt he had made a good choice that anyone of us would have made had we been given the opportunity. More importantly I knew that Brian died doing what he loved doing and that is the only way to go in this life. In closing, Brian was always just a bit better than the rest of us, he had a singular presence and that was just the way it was. Anyone that knew him, even for a short time like myself, could recognized he was a genuinely nice guy and that his "presence" never got in the way of friendship or having a good time. As usual and in true Ranger tradition, Brian led the way to which we all must go.

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