After having disowned my parents, penury and ill health forced me back into their house. One day, answering a knock on the door, I saw Dave, who was making the rounds, showing off his Marines uniform and 20 pounds of boot camp muscle. He would soon be leaving for Vietnam. A year or two later, Dave had returned, and was making another tour of old friends, this time to show off his new prosthetic legs. The nightmare his life had become was difficult to be around, and I couldn't imagine what it must have been like to live. Apparently, the date of the end of Dave's tour of duty had already come and gone,but he happened to be locked in the brig at the time, having been caught violating an anti-substance ordinance, which was only sporadically, and capriciously, enforced. The place was shelled, and in an instant Dave found himself legless, and surrounded by buddies who were not so lucky. For the rest of his life, Dave served as a living reminder of the horror and senselessness of warfare. Remembering Dave helps me think straight. Thank you, Sir.
David was on the tennis team, was a better player than I, and although not our best player, had BEAUTIFUL form. There was even a "joke" that we talked about amongst ourselves which was that the coach could/should play David at the top of the ladder (player ranking position) and although he would probably loose (due to being in the higher position), the rest of the players would probably now win because they would be playing against competitors who were "below them". NOTE that we did NOT do this, however joked about it as David LOOKED SO GOOD when playing.
I had heard about his going into the Marines and was deeply sorrowed when I heard that he had lost his legs, due to a mine I heard, as knew that he would most likely never play tennis again (at least as well as he had). I later heard that he suffered from depression and spent most of his time at home.
We can't understand why things happen as they do in this world, but as others have said "there but for the grace of God go I", and my prayer is that David is in Heaven enjoying his new and perfect body.
P.S. I don't know why my picture is not amongst those for the team in the 1965 Echo, and for all I know, maybe I didn't play on the team in my senior year (yes, memory is failing), however I do still have a small gold charm tennis ball with '65 and my name engraved on it ... which I believe was given to each player because we won the section title in '65 ... see picture of pennant at https://marks50thsrhsreunion.shutterfly.com/ ... which is #15 in the album for the tour on Saturday
John Howe
We miss you David!!! You fought for us and lived a hard, hard life as a result. Thank you!
Tom McIntyre
After having disowned my parents, penury and ill health forced me back into their house. One day, answering a knock on the door, I saw Dave, who was making the rounds, showing off his Marines uniform and 20 pounds of boot camp muscle. He would soon be leaving for Vietnam. A year or two later, Dave had returned, and was making another tour of old friends, this time to show off his new prosthetic legs. The nightmare his life had become was difficult to be around, and I couldn't imagine what it must have been like to live. Apparently, the date of the end of Dave's tour of duty had already come and gone,but he happened to be locked in the brig at the time, having been caught violating an anti-substance ordinance, which was only sporadically, and capriciously, enforced. The place was shelled, and in an instant Dave found himself legless, and surrounded by buddies who were not so lucky. For the rest of his life, Dave served as a living reminder of the horror and senselessness of warfare. Remembering Dave helps me think straight. Thank you, Sir.Rick Van Krugel
Too many feelings and thoughts, more than I can say.
Well said, Tom...Amen!!
Mark Gilbert
David was on the tennis team, was a better player than I, and although not our best player, had BEAUTIFUL form. There was even a "joke" that we talked about amongst ourselves which was that the coach could/should play David at the top of the ladder (player ranking position) and although he would probably loose (due to being in the higher position), the rest of the players would probably now win because they would be playing against competitors who were "below them". NOTE that we did NOT do this, however joked about it as David LOOKED SO GOOD when playing.
I had heard about his going into the Marines and was deeply sorrowed when I heard that he had lost his legs, due to a mine I heard, as knew that he would most likely never play tennis again (at least as well as he had). I later heard that he suffered from depression and spent most of his time at home.
We can't understand why things happen as they do in this world, but as others have said "there but for the grace of God go I", and my prayer is that David is in Heaven enjoying his new and perfect body.
P.S. I don't know why my picture is not amongst those for the team in the 1965 Echo, and for all I know, maybe I didn't play on the team in my senior year (yes, memory is failing), however I do still have a small gold charm tennis ball with '65 and my name engraved on it ... which I believe was given to each player because we won the section title in '65 ... see picture of pennant at https://marks50thsrhsreunion.shutterfly.com/ ... which is #15 in the album for the tour on Saturday