"To the Rat Mass of 2016+3:
I will not pretend to know your brother rat(Sean Duc Hoang). Until this day, I didn't even know his name. What I do know is the Institute, I know the Ratline, and I know what BR Spirit is, and there is an intrinsic soul to the Institute, what we call the "VMI Spirit."
He strained with you; he pushed with you. While you struggled, he struggled alongside you. You have all come to the toughest school in the country. A personal hero of mine, Theodore Roosevelt, once gave one of the most inspiring speeches I've ever had the honor of reading:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
You are the man in the arena, and he was your Brother Rat. No force in the world can tear that from you. Only you could let his memory fade.
So don't let him go.
Honor and remember your brother. The bond you share with your BRs is incomparable to any other institution in the world. As you progress through your years at the Institute, this already unequaled bond will only cultivate itself into a deeper connection that transcends race, gender, class, or creed. This is the Spirit of VMI.
He won't be with you for breakout, for ring figure, or graduation. He will not stand among you for reunions, he will not be your guest at weddings or ceremonies. You all came in as individuals. You are all currently being molded into something greater than yourselves. You are not yet a class, but when you do become one, the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts. It falls upon you to carry your brother with you. Push yourselves harder for him. Carry him on your shoulders and remember him.
Page 73 of my Rat Bible has another quote that I find powerful. This time taken from the 1924 edition of the bullet about our brotherhood:
"It is in these relationships that we find the foundation for so strong an honor system, for such a fellowship, and for such a spirit. We do not claim credit for ourselves since it is the natural result of such a system, but we do give praise to our Alma Mater which has made such things possible. What it is we do not know, but each day we feel its grip grow tighter and each day it is more apparent that we are members of the world's greatest fraternity where there is one for all and all for one.
You of the Fourth Class have now become part of VMI--a part of the Corps. To you is handed the precious heritage of the Spirit. May it be ever with you in both success and failure. Take this charge with care. Allow it always to be your guide, and with its aid you may be sure of a fuller and greater life.
