My Friend Cory Sziraki

The following is a post I made in a Facebook Group dedicated to my friend who lived  09MAR1986 - 14MAY2012.


Well I finally got the time to post on here about my memories of Cory. I honestly didn't know Cory as well as I knew Andy. That said, I find my Cory Sziraki story to be strangely similar to Aaron Ridebmx Taylor's story. lol. I honestly don't remember what year is was anymore but given that he was in high school also at the time, I'm going to say it was my junior year of high school, but we all were out on Cougar Lane doing the whole Southview football fans thing, and I walked up behind him and jokingly put him in a rear naked choke (although I didn't do it properly or effectively on account of joking around and not knowing what I was doing...then again maybe it was given what happened). He ended up losing consciousness and while trying to bring him to the ground, I lost control and he fell on his face and broke some teeth. Needless to say I ended up suspended and went to court for it (which in hindsight, I would say that was the appropriate consequence...BTW Karen and Steve, thank you for pressing the issue, it ended up being an important life lesson for me. Go figure, even in a situation such as that, the school counselor, whether intentional or not, found a way to teach me a life lesson. But I digress.)

While I eventually smoothed things over with Andy and continued being friends with him, but Cory held a resentment over it for a while, and I can't blame him for that either, but given that I went to school elsewhere the next year and joined the army guard after that and Cory joined the Marines by the time I got done. So we never did get the chance smooth that incident over.

So 10-11 years go by and one random day I get a message on Facebook from Cory telling me how he joined the Marines, grew as a person, that he forgave me for the incident at Cougar Lane and he was over it, and that he wanted to get together the next time I was in town. We then proceeded to bullshit for a while on Facebook and got to talking about tattoos (surprise surprise, Cory Sziraki talking about tattoos), and despite not really having a lot of money to spare, he flat out refused to let me pay for a tattoo if I wanted one simply because I was a veteran.

All of that aside, the memory of Cory that sticks with me the most, and will always stay with me, was the time I spent with Cory when I was in Toledo in April. I was up in Toledo for Passover but I had just found out earlier that day that three men from my old army unit died in Afghanistan 4 days earlier including one that I had known for the better part of a decade. I concluded that I needed to go out and mourn three good men in the proper infantry manner. Given that I hadn't yet seen Cory since he hit me up on Facebook and that he was a fellow infantryman, I gave him a call and let him know what was up. His answer, without hesitation, was, "fuck yeah man, there's nothing else I'd rather do." We pretty much spent the day shooting at the range, had a couple beers and a few shots to remember our fallen brothers and shared a few stories bout our experiences in the military ranging from the good, the bad, and the ugly. Not once did he ever say anything that indicated he had earned two bronze stars for valor. The only impression he ever gave on the topic of being a hero is that if ever asked about it he would say something along the lines of "I'm no hero, but I served with heros". That first day was all I needed in order to know the character of Cory Sziraki, but that aside, at the end of the day I had no place to crash because my parents were out of town, my brother's cats shed something fierce and it caused an allergic reaction, and my sister had no couches at her place; while Cory didn't have any couches where he was staying and with my back injury from the Army, I couldn't rack out in a chair. And to be honest, I wasn't really in the state of mind where I wanted to be alone anyways and I guess Cory figured that out right quick because next thing I know we were rounding up sleeping mats, sleeping bags, and ponchos because we were going to do it up Infantry style. For two days Cory stayed outside in the elements with me so I didn't have to be alone while mourning my friends. Oh yeah, BTW, it warrants mentioning that both nights it was pouring down rain and flooding. But Cory couldn't have given a damn if it was hell and high water. My impression of the thought likely going through his mind was,"this is a friend, a brother in arms, and an Infantry brother and thats all I need to know" and for that I will forever be grateful. He went out shooting with me, and that would've been enough. He went out drinking with me, and that would've been enough. He bought my drinks despite my objection, and that would've been enough. But for him apparently it wasn't enough, and he had nothing to gain by doing what he did, no angle to play. He did what he did for one simple and pure reason; he simply felt it was the right thing to do. And I honestly believe that if I didn't tell this story today, no one would've ever known the details of what he did. 

Karen, Steve, and Andy Sziraki, I took the time to write this out, in this detail for the three of you. I want you to know the details of what happened because, as I've said, my loyalty and respect are not easily earned and the actions of your son/brother pulled off that feat inside of 24 hrs. The three of you raised a great person who was destined for great accomplishments had God not greater plans. To my friend Andy, take it from someone who was the youngest child and had an older brother, an older brother has more effect on the growth and development of their younger brother in ways that the older brother will never truly know. An older brother provides a role model, a friend, a confident, a partner in crime but above all an older brother fills a certain void that parents can never fill because at the end of the day, parents are just that, parents; a brother however provides an example and provides advice to the younger brother and often times neither one knows about the life's lessons that are passively taught as part of the inter-brother relationship, so I can promise you that you should be proud of your brother and your part in Cory becoming the man I described earlier in this post. You're influences are just as influential as your parents and as your friend I just wanted to explain to you the importance of the older brother from the perspective of the younger brother. 

Karen and Steve, your words to me at the showing meant a lot, It gave me peace to know that I had an influence on Cory in his final days and to know I had your forgiveness for what what happened in high school. May the Lord keep your family safe and healthy for many years to come; you've already made your sacrifice to his plans.