My dad definitely deserves to go to Heaven, as he is the best man I have ever known in my 53 years on this earth. I'm sure the experiences of war have forever changed him, but I like to think it made him a better man. A man who appreciates life and family even more than he did before. He never volunteers any info about his combat experiences but will sometimes answer direct questions if I persist, sometimes not. He lost friends over there and I'm sure he likes to take comfort in the belief that they are in Heaven waiting for him at the "rally point". It's good that you had Cpl. Reeves to take you under his wing and I'm sure he is proud of the fact that he was able to inspire you in some small way. I intend to ask my dad when I see him again if he can recall a Cpl. Reeves-type that may have given him the strength to survive two tours of combat in that jungle hell hole. Wouldn't it be amazing if he knew the same guy? BTW, my dad was not a Marine, he was on a Gun Boat in the Mekong River but closely associated with many Marines and often supported Marine amphibious landings and even occasionally evacuated a wounded Marine or two if they were near the river. I'm sure you still feel cheated somehow that you never went to Vietnam, but don't. The 58,000 names on the wall in D.C. are the guys that were cheated. Cheated out of a life that was extinguished far too soon in the service of a civilian population that was enjoying the freedom that they provided by their sacrifice, yet were never given the honor and respect that they deserved. Not until quite recently have these veterans even been acknowledged for their service in that unpopular conflict. It sickens me to know that hippies threw rocks and spat on them when they returned home. I'm glad I was only a year old, otherwise I might have ended up on the other side of the bars for killing some of those hippy bastards that disrespected my father like that. I'm glad I wasn't old enough to understand things like that back then and I am thankful that my dad made it home to watch me grow up when so many fathers did not. Be thankful, BoBo for the life you have and try to live it to the fullest every day. Cpl. "Cool Cat" Reeves would want it that way. I hope you run into him again some day. Keep looking, he may still be out there somewhere, wondering what happened to that skinny 17 year old kid that he once gave advice to. Stay safe.
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