Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet Mike until our first day of indoctrination at United Air Lines.  His friendly and easy going style made him stand out in our class of 26 new pilots.  After realizing we had a lot in common with our backgrounds in the USMC and young families, I looked forward to seeing him around the training center in Denver and comparing notes.  He always seemed to have a handle on what we could expect from training and I'm still grateful for his advice about study guides for the 737.  He was just one of those guys who went out of his way to help others when he had the "gouge."

Although he planned to be based as close to Philadelphia as soon as possible, we both had initial assignments to San Francisco as commuters.  We ran in to each other several times while roaming the halls of SFO flight operations and it was always a pleasure to see that friendly smile.  I feel fortunate to have known  "Rocks"  and I'm certain we would have been close friends if we hadn't lived on opposite ends of the country.  Those of us who were lucky enough to know him will never forget the positive affect he had on our lives.  Semper Fi.