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Craig Smith died at the age of 66 from lymphoma. He was one of my dad's best friends growing up and che, bunnygrrl, and I met him years ago in Indianapolis. He worked for the local democratic party; if you were in democratic politics in Indy you knew who he was. He was very liberal in his ideology if not mildly socialist and strongly pro-union. He wasn't afraid to speak his mind and quite often did so loudly. That much I knew about him.
That he served in Vietnam as a medic we also knew (he was an anti-war protester afterwards). But we were surprised to find out that he had earned both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. By we I mean myself and his best friends- my Dad and another friend Alan. Like a lot of vets he didn't talk about his service, but his sister told us that he earned both medals at the same time. He pulled some men out of a burning tank while under fire, taking 3 shots in the leg and hip. He also had another medal but I didn't hear what it was, maybe one of you army guys know (they looked like cufflinks and had a French-sounding name).
So why am I posting this? Well thinking about him and my dad made me think a little about this place. See, our dad is very right-wing. So far to the right he thought Bush was a good leader except the spending, and buy into the repubs good-democrats bad + Obama= socialist lines. And Craig, like I said, was borderline socialist if not 2 feet in. But they were still good buddies: at the end Craig was asking for my dad to show up at the hospital, unfortunately he didn't find out until after he had passed which upset him greatly. Still he could reminisce about all the good times they had in the past. So if they could still be friends after all these years, maybe we could be a little more tolerant of each other around these parts as well.
2 last thoughts: He had been coughing for a while and his sister had been pestering him to go to the doctor. He shrugged it off for months until he finally decided to give in, but by then the message was he had 0% chance for survival. So those of you playing tough guy, go see a doctor.
Lastly on his deathbed the priest read him the story of Jesus's arrival in Jerusalem. "Aha!" he cried. "Proof that Jesus was a Democrat!"
When the priest asked him why, he replied,"Well he arrived on the back of a donkey. You don't see any elephants!!"
That he served in Vietnam as a medic we also knew (he was an anti-war protester afterwards). But we were surprised to find out that he had earned both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. By we I mean myself and his best friends- my Dad and another friend Alan. Like a lot of vets he didn't talk about his service, but his sister told us that he earned both medals at the same time. He pulled some men out of a burning tank while under fire, taking 3 shots in the leg and hip. He also had another medal but I didn't hear what it was, maybe one of you army guys know (they looked like cufflinks and had a French-sounding name).
So why am I posting this? Well thinking about him and my dad made me think a little about this place. See, our dad is very right-wing. So far to the right he thought Bush was a good leader except the spending, and buy into the repubs good-democrats bad + Obama= socialist lines. And Craig, like I said, was borderline socialist if not 2 feet in. But they were still good buddies: at the end Craig was asking for my dad to show up at the hospital, unfortunately he didn't find out until after he had passed which upset him greatly. Still he could reminisce about all the good times they had in the past. So if they could still be friends after all these years, maybe we could be a little more tolerant of each other around these parts as well.
2 last thoughts: He had been coughing for a while and his sister had been pestering him to go to the doctor. He shrugged it off for months until he finally decided to give in, but by then the message was he had 0% chance for survival. So those of you playing tough guy, go see a doctor.
Lastly on his deathbed the priest read him the story of Jesus's arrival in Jerusalem. "Aha!" he cried. "Proof that Jesus was a Democrat!"
When the priest asked him why, he replied,"Well he arrived on the back of a donkey. You don't see any elephants!!"
Sounds like a great loss.
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