Steve Smith - Not Forgotten

Jeanine, thank you for sharing this. In return, I will share too. Yesterday, before going to pick up my veteran friend and his wife, we stopped at a local Wal-Mart. On the way into the store was a board where you could write the name of a veteran on a piece of paper on the table in front of the board and tack it to the board. I stood there for at least ten minutes remembering my boyhood friend Steve Smith who was blown to bits in Vietnam. I still grieve for him - and the waste of his potential. He wanted to be a medical doctor; he had gone through ROTC, and when he graduated with his bachelor's degree, he had to report for active duty. He was a helicopter pilot; he sent his wife of one year her Christmas, birthday, and anniversary gifts all at the same time in one package. He knew. Steve won his letter rowing on the crew of the University of Wisconsin - Madison national championship team. The last I saw him alive was in the locker room coming off the lake after a rowing practice. All of these thoughts and emotions washed over me. I simply could not bring myself to tack his name to a board in a Wal-Mart. He deserved a better remembrance; God willing, someday, I want to do this for him, perhaps a prize for an outstanding athlete or scholar the high school from which we both graduated. Yes, I can relate to your grief. Dr. Rux