Michael Jerome McMahon

West Point, 1985

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by John Norton on December 2, 2004:

Cadet McMahon was my first detail Beast company commander. Exactly the sort of man to hold that job, too. He was, to be a bit un-PC, picture perfect as a cadet. Blond hair, blue eyes, a wrestler's build. To this New Cadet, the glaze of his impossibly shiny jump boots, the press of his BDU's, the break of his cap, the way he carried himself, well, it was what you want to be, what you can be, and, one could hope, what you will be. He was tough - in a demanding, not a demeaning, way. And he was determined that we would become West Point cadets, in full measure. When we returned from our first privileges, our bellies bulging (inasmuch as they bulged in those days) from all the burgers and ice cream and other junk that we could buy at Ike in 3 hours with our ten dollars or however much it was we were allowed to draw, we learned about a West Point tradition, the White Tornado. For those who came after, the White Tornado involves the consumption, or "validation," of all the food items on the table. Yes, including the A1 sauce. For those who came before, this is one of those things that was thought to be abusive to cadets, and it just wasn't done. Well, 5th Company did. And it was far from abusive, it was an extension of the pressure release from earlier in the day, and noone had to validate the A1 if they didn't really want to. It is one of my really vivid memories of Beast - that I had drunk of some forbidden potion (no, I didn't validate the A1), a tie back to the "Old Corps," that most of my own classmates missed out on. As the commander who allowed this - who ordered it - one can imagine that there were consequences. I don't recall if he got slugged - I think that he did - but I do remember that his relief was swift and sure. The XO led the formation the next morning. We knew that he had fallen on his sword, and we knew that he had done it *for us.* I think that I saw Cadet McMahon again at the end of Beast, seems to me he dropped by to see us before it was over. But that's the last I remember of him. But I will always know that some small part of who I am today came from him. Even years into this war on terror, I am always a bit surprised to hear names that I know on network news or in the paper. I heard a classmate intereviewed on NPR yesterday morning. I have been fortunate enough that to this point, the names that I have known and heard have not been on the casualty lists. Until this one. Let it be said, Well Done.

admin