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Don was my best friend when we were attending Infantry OCS (Officers Candidate School) at Fort Benning, Georgia. We graduated on June 22, 1967 and were commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants in the United States Army. Don had already served two tours in Vietnam prior to attending OCS; in fact, he had to get a waiver to be admitted to OCS because of his age of 32. We called him "Pappy" and he was a well known figure with his cigar. We both went our separate ways and served with different units in Vietnam. Years later I tracked him down living in Beaumont, Texas and I was living in Muskogee, Oklahoma and we met up at a Special Forces National Conference in 2007 in Oklahoma City. Since then, I have reunited with Don and Betty at several of our annual OCS Reunions; in fact, we were planning on meeting at our 50th anniversary graduation from OCS in June 2017 at Fort Benning. Don was a great soldier, terrific friend and a model citizen. I will miss Pappy tremendously, but I know he is now in a better place relaxing in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Thursday, December 29, 2016 |
