[RubyCamaro]

Hi guys. I have been MIA for a while here. I need to tell a story. We just lost my husband's hero father after a long battle with Agent Orange induced leukemia. What a great man & hero we have all lost. He was a highly decorated retired Command Sgt Major, special forces army survivor. He would say he cheated death more times than he could count & was not kidding. He was slashed in the face with a bayonet severing his nose, was the only survivor of his unit carrying a wounded comrade out but he did not survive, was a POW & escaped jumping into an icy river while being transported to another place, just to name a few. He was also a very talented musician & artist. He served in The Korean war before he was old enough & won several of his medals then including bronze stars, purple hearts & a silver star. Then it was discovered he lied about his age & he was sent home. He then went on tour as guitar player for Bob Wills. He did not like life on the road touring & as soon as he was old enough, rejoined the army. He eventually also served in Vietnam, chased Che Guevara around South America & went on many highly classified missions that remain classified to this day. He had to jump out (parachute) out of a crashing plane, did tons of parachute jumps, once without his parachute opening. He saved a baby (in Vietnam) that was thrown into a well along with many others that did not survive & left it wrapped in his jacket at an orphanage. Years later the grown woman that was that baby tracked him down to thank him. These are just a few of the stories he could tell. He refused pain meds to the end afraid he would have flashbacks & talk about classified things. After retiring from the Army he had several jobs including teaching homeless people construction trades while housing them, teaching courses on post, selling investments & in the end building cedar Adirondack chairs, porch swings, benches, etc. & toys like dump & logging trucks, baby beds, etc. & cute woodpecker door knockers. He suffered much, loved lots & was good to everyone. He was a hard ass, bad ass & was tough on his soldiers, kids, grandkids, neighbors & everyone he loved but was still loved. He made us all strong. I loved him & will miss him. Just needed to share.