RT40's Dad passed

I talked to RT40 recently and found out his Father passed last December. RT40 was and to some extent, still is in mourning for his old man. Raised RT40 from a pup, taught RT40 how to drive the Ford 601 tractor, to hate communism, bolshevism and all things unAmerican, to work tobacco and split firewood and do manly farmwork. RT40's Dad was a good guy, died suddenly and very abruptly from a massive heart attack that was unexpected. Died right after a snowstorm last December, going to work. Thin and thought he was fit for seventy six, turned out he had coronary artery disease and two blown valves.

At the funeral, the local honor guard performed, giving RT40's Father an M1 Garand three blank salute and gave his Mom a properly folded flag. All are in RT40's personal possession, including the three Lake City M1 Garand blanks. RT40's Dad was a total absolute workaholic, was self disciplined yet bad tempered and was smart. Creative and driven by nature, RT40's Dad was an accomplished artist and industrial designer by education and profession, he brought RT40 back to NC in 1980 to learn to be a tobacco farmer child, master outdoorsman, Eagle Scout, lifeguard, Geographer and several other things after burning out in the corporate world up North.

His Dad also qualified as sharpshooter on both the M14 and the M1 Garand rifles back in the sixties at Fort Dix, NJ in 1967 and at various times in subsequent years in the Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware Army National Guard. His Dad hated the Army, yet still served. His Dad beat the crap out of many, many, many communist sympathizing anti-war and black civil rights protesters in Philadelphia in riot control duty in the late sixties as part of the PA Army National Guard, using an M1 Garand with a bayonet attached to it with the scabbard on it. Marching in close proximity to each other holding M1 Garands, wearing face shields and making grunt sounds as his Guard unit taught him, his Dad pulled many laborious, sweaty, high stress weekends in Philly doing riot control duty in the late sixties. No doubt, RT40's Dad did his part to help protect this country from the wickedness of communism.

RT40's dad also qualified as a 106 mm recoilless rifle gunner, mounted on a jeep as part of his MOS, anti-tank. RT40's Dad also trained in C4 plastic explosives to make shape charges to drill holes in Soviet Army tanks at night time and also was taught to make specially made garrottes made out of certain grades of piano wire to quietly take out Soviet Army sentry's guarding tanks. He taught little RT40 some of these skills as a teen ager, before RT graduated from high school.

If you run into RT40 at Camp Butner or Camp Perry in the coming year or two, please say, "Im sorry for your loss."

Tyrone