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Thanks for sharing Don. May it not take until our father's death to pen the important things.
Wish I could do justice to Dons, but here is a little.My Father, Fred Sr was born in 1936 and raised in a foster home by a man I called uncle Harold. I spent many a Christmas at his house and others as my father had joined the Marines a age 17.He served 3 terms in Korea, 2 in Viet Nam. I remember the picture of him from there as we moved from base to base with small stints of him being home with us until I was in high school. One night I remember in a small apartment in Minn getting woken up and seeing him there and hugged him long, asking if was staying home?He was big on scouts, camping, fishing and hunting. I guess trying to make a man of me. He retired from the Marines in 1977 as a gunny.He got me into security and finally I became a corrections officer, then a Deputy Sheriff. At the graduation he was allowed to pin my badge on as he was a Commander in the Mare Federal Police. It was a great day for us both. My younger brother was killed about this time in 89 earthquake, this brought us closer as we had wait days for to find him, much less ID the body. After this he and I went on a few hunting trips and I remember him getting Buck Fever. I would arrange for trips without his knowledge from his job and he hated it but loved it all the same. I would come into his office and rub his head, driving him crazy. His favorite movie was "Purple Hearts' and he told how he lived "Bat 21"The last thing I remember is I asked him to go fishing and he said he was to busy at work. He passed a week later at work, just 63. He never got to see any of his 3 grandchildren, but somehow we think he is here watching over them.
One thing I can say so far a re-curring theme here is going to be all of us "real-men" having had great patriarchs for mentors-