Mark Weber, R.I.P.
June 14, 2013 6:17 AM Subscribe
Obit for Lt. Col. Mark Weber. Author Lt. Col. Mark Weber, U.S. Army, has passed away, but not before promotion to the rank of Lt. Col. by his high school's JROTC unit, almost twenty-five years after graduation.
Mark Weber, father of three young sons, was diagnosed with stage IV gastrointestinal cancer in 2009. Realizing that his time was short, he wrote letters to the boys so that as they grew up without him, they would know what his life and death struggle had taught him. These letters became the book, "Tell My Sons."
Weber's stellar military career carried him to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. But that career started out as a JROTC student at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, MN. In the book, Weber wrote that not making "diamond officer" -- the group of ihghest-ranking senior JROTC student, usually numbering about half a dozen -- in 1989 was a big disappointment and mostly his own fault for not applying himself.
When Weber visited the school again in March of 2013, he was surprised at the end of the event to be approached by the JROTC instructors and promoted to Lt. Col. again -- but this time as a JROTC officer.
Lt. Col. Mark Weber, U.S. Army, and CDH Class of '89, died on June 13, 2013, but at long last managed to achieve the recognition that had eluded him as a young man -- the kind of redemption that many people crave and few enough achieve.
Mark Weber, father of three young sons, was diagnosed with stage IV gastrointestinal cancer in 2009. Realizing that his time was short, he wrote letters to the boys so that as they grew up without him, they would know what his life and death struggle had taught him. These letters became the book, "Tell My Sons."
Weber's stellar military career carried him to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. But that career started out as a JROTC student at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, MN. In the book, Weber wrote that not making "diamond officer" -- the group of ihghest-ranking senior JROTC student, usually numbering about half a dozen -- in 1989 was a big disappointment and mostly his own fault for not applying himself.
When Weber visited the school again in March of 2013, he was surprised at the end of the event to be approached by the JROTC instructors and promoted to Lt. Col. again -- but this time as a JROTC officer.
Lt. Col. Mark Weber, U.S. Army, and CDH Class of '89, died on June 13, 2013, but at long last managed to achieve the recognition that had eluded him as a young man -- the kind of redemption that many people crave and few enough achieve.
I haven't read Weber's book, but based on the article about his speech ("stellar" link above) he sounds like a class act.
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posted by Kadin2048 at 8:03 AM on June 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
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posted by Kadin2048 at 8:03 AM on June 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
Class Act doesn't begin to describe him.
I only interacted with him a few times, but he left a mark each time. A friend of mine was JROTC at Cretin a couple of years later, and Weber really left an impression on him.
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posted by Sphinx at 6:32 PM on June 14, 2013
I only interacted with him a few times, but he left a mark each time. A friend of mine was JROTC at Cretin a couple of years later, and Weber really left an impression on him.
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posted by Sphinx at 6:32 PM on June 14, 2013
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