From Brian Whipple

Before the tears came last week, I just sat in shock, trying to put into words what Joey meant to me. My girlfriend, Katie, summed it up best when she said, “Joe was just…he was your hero.”

Joe was the guy I always bragged to my Villanova friends about. They knew him simply as “my best friend from high school who swims at USC”, and later as “my best friend from high school who is a Green Beret”. Joe was the guy I ate lunch with everyday for four years (and the only one who ate more than me). I grew up with Joe, I came of age with Joe. From age 14 to age 18, it felt like we shared everything. From bridge jumping, to concerts, to our annual rafting trips, history class, crab feasts, skipping school to go the re-release of Star Wars, New Years parties, and the North Carolina shore, some of my best memories were time spent with Joe.

We had many fun times, but my favorite times were always a little more serious. From Kairos, our senior year; to long spiritual and political debates; to deciding where to go to college; to hearing the joy in his voice when he introduced me to Athena; to him telling me he had been Confirmed; many of the most important decisions and discussions in my life were with Joey.

He had an incredibly strong will, a determination to succeed and a passion for life unlike anyone I have ever known. As cliché as it sounds, I really do wish I had half the self-determination and courage of conviction that Joe had. For all the hardness of his exterior, his love for Athena, his family, his country, his school, and his friends were overwhelming.

As sad as I have been for the past week for Joe’s family and for myself, I take strength in the knowledge that heaven has gained a hero, and I look forward to seeing him again.