On 01/05/2014 10:50 AM, Gordon Shumway wrote:
On Sun, 05 Jan 2014 08:51:45 -0600, basilisk
wrote:


My FIL passed away New Years day, another of the Greatest Generation,
that did not know the meaning of "quit" or "couldn't".

The article below says he was a light machine gunner, but he was
much more, he fought in the Japanese island also as an advance scout and
sniper.

After the war he worked as a millwright in Tennessee Coal and Iron
rolling mills in Birmingham, survived cancer in his fifties, survived a
heart attack in his sixties and again at 85. After surviving cancer
he turned to farming and coon hunting for entertainment.

Very tough and independent up until my wife passed in 2011, her passing
took a lot out of him and he declined rapidly over the last two years.

He lived a full, well lived life.

The article below appeared originally in the Shelby County Reporter.


basilisk

I'm sorry for your losses. I hope you were able to tell your FIL
"thank you" for his service before his passing.

On more than one occasion I did just that, although he wasn't in service
all that long before the war ended he was a Marine until the day he died.

basilisk