I've been away for awhile if you haven't noticed.  The title of this post is taken from a sign at the entrance of Bath National Cemetery located in Bath, NY.  My father was buried there with full Military honors on February 23rd, 2009.  He was 61.  Over the past month, my Dad had been suffering from the effects of liver cancer (we know he'd been sick much longer now).  He passed away on February 19th, 10 months to the day that my Grandfather passed.  It's been real rough lately for my family, but we are strong and we will persevere.  My Dad and I were separated when I was only 8 years old and for the next 16 years we never spoke.  So my memories of him are very limited.  But I'm finding out that he was quite a guy.

My Dad served in Vietnam from 1968 until the end of the conflict.  First with the Air Force and then as an Army Ranger.  In that time, he shed much blood and earned a chest full of medals, most notably the 4 Purple Hearts for wounds he suffered during combat.  The stories I've heard in the last two weeks about my Dad have made me very proud to be his Son and sad that my early views of him were poisioned by the opinions of others.  I'm glad I got to spend some time with him before he went.

I'm also so thankful for all the kind folks at the Canandaigua, NY Veterans Hospital who made my Dads last couple of days as comfortable as possible for him.  They and anyone that works with Veterans are truely gifted human beings in my opinion.

I've found that it's hard to watch a hero die.