(OT) A Fun Phone Call

I ran across a letter yesterday afternoon. It was sent to my mother last
May, from Walt & Rita, offering condolences
about my father's death. I know she read it but she never replied to it.
The return address stated USMC. Oh, this was one of Dad's military buds. I
looked the name up online and called. (Don't ask me why, I just feel a need
to do stuff like this.) I wanted to let them know Mom died, too.

The man who answered the phone said, "Max's daughter? Have you got a
minute? I have a story to tell you!" Sure, I have a minute.

Turns out they were stationed together in Hawaii. (This was before I was
born; I completely missed out on Hawaii, dammit.) Dad came down with
hepatitis (I'd heard about that) and was in the hospital. His buddy, Walt,
came to visit him. The night shift nurses (according to Walt) were all
two-ton Nellies with grey hair and bad attitudes. And Walt was on the
lookout for a bride. LOL Only in the 1950's could that actually work,
right?

He said my dad told him all the cute nurses were on the day shift. So he
made a point of coming to visit my dad during the day shift.
This nurse popped her head in the door to say he'd visited long enough. Dad
and Walt were watching a Clark Gable movie on the TV in his room. She
started to leave and he said my dad called her back in and introduced them.
Walt started talking to her. Her name was Rita. They made a date. You can
guess the rest... yes, Dad introduced Walt to his bride. Isn't that cute?

He and Walt met up again years later in Vietnam. They were trying to hold a
line in the DMV. He said Dad used up all the firepower of some sort of
grenade that exploded like fireworks above the ground. Didn't actually kill
people but lit up the area so they could see what they were up against. Dad
ran out of the grenades. After a time a helicopter came in to evacuate
them. He was evac'd out of there but my father (then a Lt. Colonel) stayed
on the ground with a few men, holding down fire. He yelled across the
chopper to the Major, "That guy down there introduced me to my wife!" LOL

Walt & Rita have been married for 50 years now. I asked him if he could
write all this down and mail it to me. He said sure! I think it's a
fantastic tribute to my father.

Jill

jmcquown wrote:
I ran across a letter yesterday afternoon. It was sent to my mother
last May, from Walt & Rita, offering condolences
about my father's death. I know she read it but she never replied to
it. The return address stated USMC. Oh, this was one of Dad's
military buds. I looked the name up online and called. (Don't ask
me why, I just feel a need to do stuff like this.) I wanted to let
them know Mom died, too.
The man who answered the phone said, "Max's daughter? Have you got a
minute? I have a story to tell you!" Sure, I have a minute.

Turns out they were stationed together in Hawaii. (This was before I
was born; I completely missed out on Hawaii, dammit.) Dad came down
with hepatitis (I'd heard about that) and was in the hospital. His
buddy, Walt, came to visit him. The night shift nurses (according to
Walt) were all two-ton Nellies with grey hair and bad attitudes. And
Walt was on the lookout for a bride. LOL Only in the 1950's could
that actually work, right?

He said my dad told him all the cute nurses were on the day shift. So he
made a point of coming to visit my dad during the day shift.
This nurse popped her head in the door to say he'd visited long
enough. Dad and Walt were watching a Clark Gable movie on the TV in
his room. She started to leave and he said my dad called her back in
and introduced them. Walt started talking to her. Her name was Rita.
They made a date. You can guess the rest... yes, Dad introduced Walt
to his bride. Isn't that cute?
He and Walt met up again years later in Vietnam. They were trying to
hold a line in the DMV. He said Dad used up all the firepower of
some sort of grenade that exploded like fireworks above the ground. Didn't
actually kill people but lit up the area so they could see
what they were up against. Dad ran out of the grenades. After a
time a helicopter came in to evacuate them. He was evac'd out of
there but my father (then a Lt. Colonel) stayed on the ground with a
few men, holding down fire. He yelled across the chopper to the
Major, "That guy down there introduced me to my wife!" LOL
Walt & Rita have been married for 50 years now. I asked him if he
could write all this down and mail it to me. He said sure! I think
it's a fantastic tribute to my father.

Jill

That's a lovely story. :-)
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy, Bagheera & Shadow)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

That is a delightful story and better because it has a happy ending.
Charleen



"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
I ran across a letter yesterday afternoon. It was sent to my mother last
May, from Walt & Rita, offering condolences
about my father's death. I know she read it but she never replied to it.
The return address stated USMC. Oh, this was one of Dad's military buds.
I looked the name up online and called. (Don't ask me why, I just feel a
need to do stuff like this.) I wanted to let them know Mom died, too.

The man who answered the phone said, "Max's daughter? Have you got a
minute? I have a story to tell you!" Sure, I have a minute.

Turns out they were stationed together in Hawaii. (This was before I was
born; I completely missed out on Hawaii, dammit.) Dad came down with
hepatitis (I'd heard about that) and was in the hospital. His buddy,
Walt, came to visit him. The night shift nurses (according to Walt) were
all two-ton Nellies with grey hair and bad attitudes. And Walt was on the
lookout for a bride. LOL Only in the 1950's could that actually work,
right?

He said my dad told him all the cute nurses were on the day shift. So he
made a point of coming to visit my dad during the day shift.
This nurse popped her head in the door to say he'd visited long enough.
Dad and Walt were watching a Clark Gable movie on the TV in his room. She
started to leave and he said my dad called her back in and introduced
them. Walt started talking to her. Her name was Rita. They made a date.
You can guess the rest... yes, Dad introduced Walt to his bride. Isn't
that cute?

He and Walt met up again years later in Vietnam. They were trying to hold
a line in the DMV. He said Dad used up all the firepower of some sort of
grenade that exploded like fireworks above the ground. Didn't actually
kill people but lit up the area so they could see what they were up
against. Dad ran out of the grenades. After a time a helicopter came in
to evacuate them. He was evac'd out of there but my father (then a Lt.
Colonel) stayed on the ground with a few men, holding down fire. He
yelled across the chopper to the Major, "That guy down there introduced me
to my wife!" LOL

Walt & Rita have been married for 50 years now. I asked him if he could
write all this down and mail it to me. He said sure! I think it's a
fantastic tribute to my father.

Jill

Very cute story. One interesting part was that they had Motor Vehicles
offices in the trenches in 'Nam. And it sounds like the lines there were as
bad as here! Oh wait...maybe you meant the DMZ? 8^)

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
I ran across a letter yesterday afternoon. It was sent to my mother last
May, from Walt & Rita, offering condolences
about my father's death. I know she read it but she never replied to it.
The return address stated USMC. Oh, this was one of Dad's military buds.
I looked the name up online and called. (Don't ask me why, I just feel a
need to do stuff like this.) I wanted to let them know Mom died, too.

The man who answered the phone said, "Max's daughter? Have you got a
minute? I have a story to tell you!" Sure, I have a minute.

Turns out they were stationed together in Hawaii. (This was before I was
born; I completely missed out on Hawaii, dammit.) Dad came down with
hepatitis (I'd heard about that) and was in the hospital. His buddy,
Walt, came to visit him. The night shift nurses (according to Walt) were
all two-ton Nellies with grey hair and bad attitudes. And Walt was on the
lookout for a bride. LOL Only in the 1950's could that actually work,
right?

He said my dad told him all the cute nurses were on the day shift. So he
made a point of coming to visit my dad during the day shift.
This nurse popped her head in the door to say he'd visited long enough.
Dad and Walt were watching a Clark Gable movie on the TV in his room. She
started to leave and he said my dad called her back in and introduced
them. Walt started talking to her. Her name was Rita. They made a date.
You can guess the rest... yes, Dad introduced Walt to his bride. Isn't
that cute?

He and Walt met up again years later in Vietnam. They were trying to hold
a line in the DMV. He said Dad used up all the firepower of some sort of
grenade that exploded like fireworks above the ground. Didn't actually
kill people but lit up the area so they could see what they were up
against. Dad ran out of the grenades. After a time a helicopter came in
to evacuate them. He was evac'd out of there but my father (then a Lt.
Colonel) stayed on the ground with a few men, holding down fire. He
yelled across the chopper to the Major, "That guy down there introduced me
to my wife!" LOL

Walt & Rita have been married for 50 years now. I asked him if he could
write all this down and mail it to me. He said sure! I think it's a
fantastic tribute to my father.

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
I ran across a letter yesterday afternoon. It was sent to my mother
last May, from Walt & Rita, offering condolences
about my father's death. I know she read it but she never replied
to it. The return address stated USMC. Oh, this was one of Dad's
military buds. I looked the name up online and called. (Don't ask
me why, I just feel a need to do stuff like this.) I wanted to let
them know Mom died, too.

The man who answered the phone said, "Max's daughter? Have you got
a minute? I have a story to tell you!" Sure, I have a minute.

Turns out they were stationed together in Hawaii. (This was before
I was born; I completely missed out on Hawaii, dammit.) Dad came
down with hepatitis (I'd heard about that) and was in the hospital.
His buddy, Walt, came to visit him. The night shift nurses
(according to Walt) were all two-ton Nellies with grey hair and bad
attitudes. And Walt was on the lookout for a bride. LOL Only in
the 1950's could that actually work, right?

He said my dad told him all the cute nurses were on the day shift.
So he made a point of coming to visit my dad during the day shift.
This nurse popped her head in the door to say he'd visited long
enough. Dad and Walt were watching a Clark Gable movie on the TV in
his room. She started to leave and he said my dad called her back
in and introduced them. Walt started talking to her. Her name was
Rita. They made a date. You can guess the rest... yes, Dad
introduced Walt to his bride. Isn't that cute?

He and Walt met up again years later in Vietnam. They were trying
to hold a line in the DMV. He said Dad used up all the firepower of
some sort of grenade that exploded like fireworks above the ground.
Didn't actually kill people but lit up the area so they could see
what they were up against. Dad ran out of the grenades. After a
time a helicopter came in to evacuate them. He was evac'd out of
there but my father (then a Lt. Colonel) stayed on the ground with a
few men, holding down fire. He yelled across the chopper to the
Major, "That guy down there introduced me to my wife!" LOL

Walt & Rita have been married for 50 years now. I asked him if he
could write all this down and mail it to me. He said sure! I think
it's a fantastic tribute to my father.

Jill

I love stories like that. It so cool to 'see' your parents as they
remember themselves, not as old and tired and sick as our final
memories of them tend to me.

Jo

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
I ran across a letter yesterday afternoon. It was sent to my mother last
May, from Walt & Rita, offering condolences
about my father's death. I know she read it but she never replied to it.
The return address stated USMC. Oh, this was one of Dad's military buds.
I looked the name up online and called. (Don't ask me why, I just feel a
need to do stuff like this.) I wanted to let them know Mom died, too.

The man who answered the phone said, "Max's daughter? Have you got a
minute? I have a story to tell you!" Sure, I have a minute.

Turns out they were stationed together in Hawaii. (This was before I was
born; I completely missed out on Hawaii, dammit.) Dad came down with
hepatitis (I'd heard about that) and was in the hospital. His buddy,
Walt, came to visit him. The night shift nurses (according to Walt) were
all two-ton Nellies with grey hair and bad attitudes. And Walt was on the
lookout for a bride. LOL Only in the 1950's could that actually work,
right?

He said my dad told him all the cute nurses were on the day shift. So he
made a point of coming to visit my dad during the day shift.
This nurse popped her head in the door to say he'd visited long enough.
Dad and Walt were watching a Clark Gable movie on the TV in his room. She
started to leave and he said my dad called her back in and introduced
them. Walt started talking to her. Her name was Rita. They made a date.
You can guess the rest... yes, Dad introduced Walt to his bride. Isn't
that cute?

He and Walt met up again years later in Vietnam. They were trying to hold
a line in the DMV. He said Dad used up all the firepower of some sort of
grenade that exploded like fireworks above the ground. Didn't actually
kill people but lit up the area so they could see what they were up
against. Dad ran out of the grenades. After a time a helicopter came in
to evacuate them. He was evac'd out of there but my father (then a Lt.
Colonel) stayed on the ground with a few men, holding down fire. He
yelled across the chopper to the Major, "That guy down there introduced me
to my wife!" LOL

Walt & Rita have been married for 50 years now. I asked him if he could
write all this down and mail it to me. He said sure! I think it's a
fantastic tribute to my father.

Jill

How lovely! You decided to do something nice and were richly rewarded.

Joy