Odd at the things you chuckle at.

[Abbey]

I'm down to a 5" high stack of papers from Old Bill for the book. I get to this one paper that is written in heavy sharpie black and it says:

WARS I'VE SERVED IN. (he doesn't mince words.)​

1) WWII. It should be obvious that it came after WWI. (Thanks, Bill, for the heads up.)

2) President Johnson's War on Poverty.

This one cracked me up:

3) War on Ignorance. (He was a principal, teacher and counselor for many years.)

Actually, he has been in many, many more wars. I can hardly read his writing and don't know the spelling of many of the places. Africa was huge, Britain, India, Australia (never heard of a war there), China, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Spain, Luxemborg (really?), Italy, Malta, Greece, Switzerland...I could go on and on.

In fact, I have text and photos of 44 places. Other than the major world wars, these were battles Americans were sent into just to basically 'get er done'. Belgium? Who fights in Belgium? Denmark? I thought these were neutral countries.

Geez...I wish I was a historian. I have a couple calls out to people who ARE really history buffs to help me with this.

Bill is/was one of those people in life that does whatever you throw at him. His primary duty in the early days was being a medic, but if he needed to do battle...he was there. The troops loved him as he was a sports fanatic and always brought that to wherever he was.

(Insert calls to a couple of guys who do nothing but sports. I don't know these names, other than Dimaggio, but they all do.) I never knew writing someone's life story could be so interesting, yet frustrating at the same time.

Bill will be 90 in August. I will hitchhike to see that happen.

Abbey

 

[Lothlorien]

I hope they are throwing him a huge party. He does sound like he had a very fulfilling life.

 

[Star*]

Deb,

I think if you write to the White House, and ask for some ceremonial award or medal, certificate for Bill - they would give it to him for (forget the name of it) lifetime of service. THAT would be a really awesome ending to Bill's book. Don't you think??

It would be nice that he's honored for giving his service to our country and apparently the jungle called high school.

-Random Star

 

[Abbey]

You know, Star...that's not a bad idea.

He was/is known quite well in the sports arena. Most people don't know who he infused sports into a war ridden world.

I talked to him a few days ago and he wants me to put off the finishing of the book because he still has things to do that he wants in it. Just give me some time to send you some stuff. Geez, Bill. I haven't finished the last!

Remarkable guy. I might have to give up Jimmy Carter as my idol.

Abbey

 

[mstang67chic]

That does it. The next board get together will be in Las Vegas and Bill HAS to be there!!!!

Also, I'm not working and bored out of my ever loving mind. Would you like some help editing, putting things in order, research...ANYTHING??? You don't even have to pay me....just put my name in the acknowledgments!

And yes, the things people write down sometimes....I'm not sure they think about who reads stuff later on. I used to work in a doctor's office. I had to go back into someone's chart once to see when the patient had his vaccinations so he could turn a form into school when he started college. His doctor at the time (had since passed on before I started there) had written something in about a particularly bad diaper rash this patient had as a baby. Cracked. Me. Up. His recommendation was Dr. SomethingthatstartedwithaP something something Pe*ker cream. I showed it to a nurse who had been this doctor's nurse and was there forever. She laughed but commented on how she used to tell the doctor to watch what he wrote. I'm guessing he never listened but he WAS a character.