Ryan Neil Roberson

West Point, 1994

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Steve Benko on November 18, 2005:

I was very saddened to learn of Ryan's death last week. He had the tremendous ability to find the humor in any situation and bring the gift of laughter to those of us lucky enough to know him. I met Ryan in PL300 class (sometimes notoriously referred to as "Leadersleep"), where we were assigned to the same small group. There we struggled with realistic leadership issues, such as which items we should take with us if we were stranded on a small raft in the Pacific Ocean (it seems the sheet of plastic is important for gathering fresh water and sunscreen is particularly useful for warding off the sun's rays). Ryan's jokes and sarcastic remarks (and my subsequent laughter) repeatedly tested our professor's patience until the day we were asked to determine how we would handle a situation given a hypothetical army unit with hypothetical soldiers who suffered from hypothetical low morale. Our hypothetical response was to issue hypothetical medals to all of the key hypothetical folks involved (taking our cue, of course, from a man lauded as a great leader another class, the History of the Military Art - who proclaimed that given enough ribbon, he could conquer the world). Our solution was poorly received and we received low grades to accompany our stern talking-to. Leadership grades aside, though, I knew Ryan Roberson would make a fine military leader. He was good man and the kind of guy who makes life better for those around him. He was somebody with whom you wouldn't mind spending a few harrowing days on a tiny raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Even as the sharks circled, Ryan would make you laugh out loud, lift your spirits and keep hope alive. Well done, my friend, be thou at peace.

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