Kathleen Marie Sherry

West Point, 1989

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Rose Ott on March 12, 2026:

Kathy, I miss you. I miss your laugh, your quick wit, your knack for turning the smallest moment into something unforgettable, and all the little stories that still make me smile, even 35 years later. When we first became roommates, you a Yearling, me a Cow, you wasted no time making your "observations" about me. I still hear you laughing and saying, "Your body shape comes to a point, Rose." Only you could say something like that and somehow make it funny, accurate, and endearing at the same time. One of my favorite memories was studying for TEEs with you. I was hiding in the closet getting ready to jump out and scare you, but you came barreling in first, yelling to our study partner, "Rose knows sht!"* about HI301. I laughed so hard I gave myself away. And then we discovered you'd filled the entire EURO map upside down and backwards. Even Major Healy wasn't sure you knew what you were doing, which only made us laugh harder. We thought nothing of walking past the other in the shower and letting out a full-on scream, and it never once failed to make the other jump out of their skin. You left a funny little "HI" on my bar of soap. We wrote terrible songs together. You helped me wrestle off that ridiculous battle-sloth cast. And you covered for me the morning I woke up in the right bed, right room... just on the wrong floor. When I walk past short wing Mac, I grin thinking about sneaking your mom into the barracks, and I can still see your dad pulling up in his new Corvette. We laughed more than we studied. We smoked tea leaves, choked, obviously, but felt absolutely cool doing it. We left Mess Hall cartons of OJ on the windowsill. We snuck PMI into AMI. And every run felt like we shot off like bats out of hell and ended up completely exhausted. You were always quick-witted, always smiling, and so wonderfully serious about your grades. Years later, when you called me on the military phone as we were getting ready to move into Iraq, that was one of my favorite days in theater. Hearing your voice meant everything. Kathy, you will always be one of my best friends from West Point, and I will always carry you in my heart. I miss you. It still feels like yesterday, the laughing, the running, the studying, more laughing, the absolute joy of just being young cadets together. Thank you for every moment.

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