This is my dad. He past away Nov.2012 after a long battle with Cancer. It has been over a year since his passing and it still feels like it just happened. I may live half a country away from him and didn't see him as often as I would have liked, but he was always on my mind and every day I feel the world is worse off without him in it.
As you can tell from the picture above, my dad was in the military. The USMC (United States Marine Corps.) to be more specific. He believed in the motto Semper Fidelis and loved his Marine Corps. with faithful abandon. He carried over the marine corp. motto into his personal life as well as he was Always Faithful to his family.
He met my mother, Margaret Hendrix, by chance, as I have led to believe. His best friend from school was going out on a date with my mothers best friend. They set up my parents up and they all went out on a double date. They hit it off, but then my dad shipped out. He didn't call my Mom. She though he was gone. She eventually got a letter from him as he was overseas and had shipped out. In this letter he professed his love for her, she wrote back and confirmed her love for him. Even though she was not 100% sure, she knew he was special. When he got back to the states in 1963, they got married.
Wow, it was as if they knew they were meant to be together. They had two children together, Dianne and myself. There was a lot of love in the house. A lot of strife too, but love was always there.
My Dad ended up serving two tours in Viet-Nam. He was injured from a Grenade blast, but it was not a major injury. He went out on patrols looking for the Viet Kong (he never told my Mom this until well after he has retired). He was also a light weight boxer in the Marines as well. However, his main job in the military was working in the Motor Pool. I remember him always working on engines. He really knew what he was doing with an automobile and the military vehicles.
While in the military, he got the chance to travel. He lugged us along and we all enjoyed the adventure. We lived in North Carolina, Philadelphia, Albany, Ga., and Hawaii. It was always fun moving from one place to the next. Always got to make new friends. The last move from Hawaii back to Albany, Ga. was out last. He retired once we got back to the states because his reenlistment was not legal somehow. I am still not sure about that.
After the military, he eventually got a job with the Civil Service on the Marine Corps. base in Albany, Ga. He continued serving his country and the Marine Corp. We were not rich, by no means, but I never felt like we were poor. He worked very hard, as did my Mom, to make sure I didn't know what poor meant. You see, when my Dad grew up, they were poor and he knew it. I never got too many stories about how hard it was or what he went through. Much later in life, I heard about how poor they were when he was small and he played it down. I think those experiences made him strive to make it better for his kids. I never appreciated all the sacrifices that both of them made for me. Later in life I did, but as a kid and adolescent I didn't think that they made sacrifices.
He is missed deeply by his family and the many people who knew him through the years. He touched many lives and those he touched were better for it.
