Amos Camden Riley Bock

West Point, 2004

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Heather Ritchey on October 31, 2006:

Amos was my next door neighbor first semester firstie year. I have so many memories of him from that semester, when he was a new F-Trooper. I didn't know what to think of the "new guy" at first, but it wasn't too long before I realized he was someone special. I decided to take entirely too many classes that semester, and it wasn't uncommon for me to be up until the wee hours of the morning. Amos was a bit of a night owl too, and we sort of got into a routine where he would stop by after getting back from the Firstie Club and give me a hard time about studying too much and not having enough fun. The extra chair in our room became his chair, and anyone else sitting there when he stopped by was subject to getting kicked out. If he made coffee at midnight, I'd usually be awake, and get half the pot, and we'd sit out in the hallway and talk while we both got a bit more awake to continue working on whatever paper was due. I can't remember everything we talked about, but it usually put a smile on my face and made me forget what I was stressing about, because Amos would find some way to make an imaginary argument over something silly just so he could flash his grin and say he outsmarted me. Aside from coffee at midnight, Amos came to me and my roommate's rescue one night when we saw a few furry invaders under my desk. West Point had a bit of a mouse problem that semester, and being two girls in a room, we decided the easiest way to solve the problem was jump on my bed, get away from the mice and shriek until the guys next door came to our rescue. Amos and his roommate burst in to find out what we were making all the racket about, and Amos quickly decided that the nearest mouse eliminator at hand was my saber. He spent about five minutes cornering that mouse under my desk, and finally emerged victorious, and presented me with my combat-tested saber and the advice that I might want to clean it, but he would dispose of the mouse. Mouse hunting aside, Amos also decided he needed to educate me on a few domestic skills, but especially cooking, teaching me how to make a good pot of coffee and "Barracks Quesadillas." I didn't know what to think the night he knocked on door and asked if I was hungry and if I had an iron. Replying yes on both accounts, I was told to hurry up and get next door and bring my iron with me. I laughed when he said we were making quesadillas, but they were really good, and all it took was ironing the tortillas and cheese between waxed paper or paper towels. I never would have thought of that. The last night before we left for Christmas leave, we both were up pretty much all night studying for the Mil Art TEE. It focused pretty heavily on the Civil War, and I kept getting generals mixed up and couldn't keep track of the order of the battles. After agreeing to refer to it as the War of Northern Agression, Amos walked me through the entire war and laid it all out for me far better than any text book or History P had been able to. Of course, the lesson featured heavily on Missouri's contribution to the war, and had a side note on why Amos was Amos Camden Riley (and had the card to prove where it came from). That was probably the first (and only) history TEE I ever went into feeling that I knew the answer to just about anything they could throw at me. I guess to sum it all up, Amos taught me an awful lot, and I'm incredibly grateful. I cried when I heard, but in trying to explain the type of person he was to the people I was with, I found myself laughing as I told some of these stories. He was just such a good guy, and I'm truly sorry that he's gone. Well done Amos, we'll see you on the other side.

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