Robert Angelo Pinzuti

West Point, 1968

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by COL Bill Browne on September 3, 2004:

I was failing Calculus during my first semester of Plebe year with three weeks to go in the semester. Captain Pinzuti became the instructor of the "ejection section" and told us that if we didn't listen to him closely we would have a one-way ticket home after Christmas since we would flunk the class. He was the finest instructor I had in my four years at WP and four years of medical school. He put everything he had into every class and most of us passed the final exam with flying colors. I remember one day he was particularly frustrated with our ignorance and he said "If you won't listen to me, perhaps you will listen to God." He then climbed atop the desks and started walking around the room on the desktops saying "This is God speaking, do as I say." He reminded us daily that we weren't exactly thriving in the class, but if we listened to him we had a chance. He certainly had a miraculous effect on my performance. I went on to score 598 out of 600 points on the final to raise my grade from F to B-. It was the last time I had any difficulty with math subjects and I was able to continue on through medical school. I now teach medical students and physicians around the country. CPT Pinzuti serves as a role model for me to this day, and I tell the story of him as my instructor to audiences several times a year. He had a great sense of compassion, an even better sense of humor and he wanted every person to succeed. Sadly, the reason I am writing this eulogy is because I was looking up his email address so that I could thank him for the enormous impact he had on my career. Since I can't write to him personally, I wanted to share my story here.

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