Phillip Isaac Neel

West Point, 2005

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Adam Nordin on May 30, 2022:

Phil, I hit 15 years in the army this summer- the same amount of time as we've had to live without you. I can't believe that much time has gone by. I'm finishing being a brigade S3. I periodically get reminded how young we were - when we last spoke - when I go to see company changes of command and when new 2LTs show up to the brigade. They have their whole lives ahead of them and they are still too young to see the whole picture. My wife and I have a kid now. Jasper. We call him 'tank'. He's great- growing up strong and already showing independence and loads of curiosity. Some day, I'll tell him about you- how I knew one of the greatest humans to walk this earth. He will know about the good times in cadet life and the hard truths of sacrifice, courage, and honor. You will be the centerpiece to those stories. The world is rapidly changing. You wouldn't believe it, but I was the lead planner to get the last Americans out of Afghanistan. I flew out on the last flight. When I came to ft Bragg a couple years ago, I told my wife this might be the first assignment we have where I don't deploy. I got alerted, was standing in Kabul about 48 hrs later, and was there to repel afghans storming the airfield and to watch hundreds of thousands get evacuated. It was a spectacle. Phil. Thank you. For being the person you were, the person you still are, and for giving me strength and calm in the most hectic and chaotic of times. You are missed, brother. But you are not forgotten. Rest well. -Adam

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