Phillip Isaac Neel

West Point, 2005

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Adam Nordin on May 25, 2020:

Phil, The last time I wrote to you my wife and I were living in Newport, RI while I was attending the Naval War College. I'd been accepted into some awesome new programs that opened up some unexpected doors for me. Though many of those doors have since closed, the experience brought attention to the question of why - why I was doing what I was doing and what was my purpose? As I sit here now, the answer is all too clear. There are too many people like you - great men and women who fought and died for the dirt in which they are buried, the same dirt that is the bedrock of our great country. Unfortunately, our country is being tested. As if the terrorist crisis abroad wasn't enough, we are now reeling from a pandemic that is putting our economy into a tail spin and threatening human social interaction. Politically, the disease is dividing us - those that follow medical opinion and those who believe the pandemic isn't really that big of a deal. Nearly 2 million confirmed cases and 100,000 deaths... the numbers don't lie. I tell you all this, Phil, because every year I wish I could report to you that the world is a better place than when you left. Though the wars in the Middle East are dwindling, there always seems to be a reason for people to be at odds. I suppose the nature of humanity will always have a vote- the struggle to get what we can't (or don't) have and to insure our own self interests and preservation. Another year down, brother. Many more to go. Despite all of the challenges we face here on Earth, I take solace in knowing I have men like you looking over all of us. Your distant, but unforgotten, memory is the stuff of motivation and inspiration, and I thank you for having the courage to give us those elements of character. Until we talk again, Phil. You are not forgotten. -Adam

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