Collegiate Times

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Cadet Matthew La Porte would have woken up this morning with only a month to go until his graduation from the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets.

He'd also be one day closer to starting the dream career he'd diligently pursued in the Air Force ROTC program, serving his country as a second lieutenant intelligence officer.

But La Porte's story is one of potential sadly lost. He was a "mean drummer" in the Corps' Highty-Tighty marching band, a relentlessly tough Air Force Special Operations Preparation Team member, and a scholarship student surely headed toward a stellar career in intelligence until his arcing success was cut down during the April 16 massacre two years ago today.

If the shootings had never occurred, where would he be today? What follows are the steps Cadet La Porte might have taken on his journey toward becoming Lt. La Porte.

La Porte would have been up before the sun rose today, preparing his uniform, gray slacks with a white short sleeve button-up shirt, in order to be ready for morning formation at 7:20 a.m. After, he'd grab a bite of breakfast in Shultz and then a quick nap before heading out of the first floor doors of Monteith, where the majority of Highty-Tighty Band members live, toward the Military Building.

Maybe he'd be on his way to study for his class with Lt. Col. Keith Gay, Aerospace Studies 4216: National Security Forces. "Gem polishing" as Col. Rock Roszak called it, meets Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays at 9:05 a.m. in room 208 of the Military Building just north of McBryde.

The seniors would be just beginning their seventh and final region, the Middle East, in a course dedicated to enriching future Air Force officers' global knowledge. The class focused on each region's culture, economy, environment and politics, to "try to understand the world we are going to operate in," Gay said.

Roszak referred to it in military terms as a step field officers take after being promoted to flag officers.

"If you reach general officer rank in any of the services, you attend a capstone course, kind of like a finishing school," Roszak, associate director for Corps Alumni relations, said. "They are gems, but we're just giving them that final buffer polish."

Perhaps La Porte might have opted for the later section of the class that starts at 12:20 p.m. La Porte loved to sleep. In fact, he preferred the comfy confines of his rack to the amazement of his hall mates and frustration of his superiors.

"You couldn't move him easily," said Cpt. Chris Andersen of Air Force ROTC Detachment 875. "Myself being a former drill instructor, there were multiple times where I needed to get him motivated."

It was usually to no avail, his hallmates attested. Waking him up to be on time for formation was often an exercise in futility.

"Freshman year you could set your watch by how late he was," said Cadet Jason Oberoi, his freshman and sophomore year hallmate, and fellow Highty-Tighty bandsman.

La Porte had already earned a reputation for being tardy - or even missing - from some of his commitments in the Corps. He had a free spirit that occasionally carried him on 3 a.m. Taco Bell runs, where he'd return with his arms full of burritos, and his lips pursed on a gigantic soft drink straw.

The 20-year-old sophomore would simply explain in his deep New Jersey accent that he was hungry.

"He was not a sterling cadet at everything," Oberoi said. "But the few things that he did, he did real well."

That included his avid participation in the tenor drum section of the Highty-Tighties. The Corps is led by seniors who hold the majority of superior positions within the regiment. Cadets who are also members of the Highty-Tighties can seek leadership roles independently of their colleagues such as band company commanding officer, drum major and section leader.

Sophomore year La Porte lived in Brodie Hall room 211 with Nathan Boggs. His other hallmates all were members of the Highty-Tighties. Because of their isolation from the rest of the band members living in Monteith Hall, they called themselves the "Brodie Bunch," said current Band Company Commanding Officer Cadet Michael Hercula.

Cadet Collin Hu, his Brodie hallmate and sophomore-year tenor drum section leader, felt confident Cadet La Porte wouldn't have ventured far from his fellow HTs.

"He definitely would have stayed in the band," Hu said. "It was one of those things where he felt he belonged."

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