Thanks for the note and tribute. I got a call this afternoon that the family has been called in tonight for a very close friend of mine. He loved guns and at the last auction we attended he was bidding on an old Win. 97. He bid it off fairly cheap and I asked him later what he liked about it. He said, "It had some kind of bird on the bottom, looked like a pigeon." I took a look and he had bid off an original 97 pigeon grade for under $300.
He retired as a tree trimmer from the U.S. Park Service after 30 years, born and raised in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, just a great old gentleman who talked if he liked you and said very little if he didn't. For some reason we hit it off and I have been fortunate to call him a friend for some time.
I mention this because one thing I have noticed is the friendship and the respect you guys show for each other, even when your discussions get a little heated, the respect never goes away. It is a pleasure to stay in touch with you through this forum. As Gene Hill said shortly before he passed, I believe to Michael McIntosh, "Enjoy all things, for the bullet with your name on it was fired a long time ago." Being a veteran of a number of years in the army, that statement really stayed with me.
I hope my friend makes it through the night so I can see him in the morning, even though the morphine may not let him know I am there. If this reminds you of someone who you miss or wish you had more time to see, give them a call tomorrow and just say Hello!
Thanks for listening, the words on this page are getting a little hard to read right now but that is how it goes some times. Time to get some sleep but just not yet, too many friends already gone home.
MSG Al Greeson. U. S. Army, Retired.
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