Gotta tell you guys about Sarge. Hard to believe he's gone, I just found out last week. Was wondering why I hadn't heard from him.
Green beret. Patriot through and through. Spent 7 years in SE Asia straight. First in Nam then later in Cambodia. After getting out of the Army he ended up fighting with the Cambodian guerrillas against whatever communists they could find. Crazy stuff. Had a family, a Vietnamese wife and 2 kids who were killed by a drug lord who found out Sarge was an American fighting in a war against him. He cried when he told me the story about losing his family.
I met him when he came into my office (I'm a chiropractor) to get fixed from his latest adventure, which happened to be in (IIRC) Panama where they got dropped a mile off their LZ into a mango grove where he got tangled 30 feet up and had to cut himself out of his parachute rigging. The guy was in his 60's! When I saw the marks on his body during my exam he told me about how many times he had been shot. 7 times. He told me the stories of each one. Absolutely crazy. I had never met a guy like him before. I saw the scars but his stories seemed unbelievable at first. He should have been dead many times over, but here he was in my office.
We became good friends and talked about what was happening in our country. He was an excellent source of intel as he was connected to a network of other warriors and they kept their finger on the pulse of what was happening in the world. To put it mildly, he led an interesting life. His main AO after he came back from SE Asia was Central America. Just when you thought the tale had gone into territory of fanciful yarnin', he'd pull out a picture and show you that he was really there. He had pictures with Pablo Escobar, told stories of the drug business through Panama and Nicaragua and Colombia. He rolled with some pretty rough characters in his day and lived to tell about it.
Wherever he went he wore his Kimber 1911 in a Galco shoulder rig with 2 spare clips. "Never know who you're gonna run into Whip." He was one of the most gracious and kind gentlemen you could ever imagine and would give his last nickel to someone in need, always helping the elderly, particularly the ladies. He was also hot tempered as hell, that trait having nothing to do with his Italian lineage. One time I emailed him a Pepe meme wearing a beret with the SEAL trident on it, smoking a stogie w/AR15 in his hands and told him it reminded me of him as he always wore a black beret. He came unglued and I thought he was gonna kill me..."WE (the Rangers) were the first to wear the beret Whip, they got the idea from us. Hell, we raised 'em and trained 'em in Nam 'cause we had been there and they didn't know sheeit. They had only just formed and were babies, but they had the best gear and the SWIFT boats so we threw in with them and taught them the ropes." I told him I didn't realize it was a SEAL trident and he let me off the hook, but he was still pissed. He was friggin' hilarious.
Twice since Trump was elected he went out on ops to rescue women and children from traffickers, once off the coast of Africa and once across the border out of Brownsville, TX. Both times the bad guys paid dearly for their transgressions. No trial for them...just good old fashioned justice. The Somali pirates went to Davey Jones locker. The camp they raided in Mexico was ISIS guys and Sarge told me when his men found out what they had done to the women and girls, they went ballistic and "got a little out of hand" in Sarge's words. What we have heard is true. There most definitely is stuff going on that we will never hear about. Thank you POTUS and thank you unnamed warriors carrying out his orders. God bless you all.
I found out from Sarge's neighbor that he was dead. His neighbor, who Sarge called "the old man" told me that Sarge had been stung by a bald faced hornet on the hand and it got all swollen and the old man had to get out the epi pen as he was going into anaphalactic shock and losing BP. He came out of it okay though. When he recovered Sarge told him, "I'm gonna napalm those MFers tomorrow!" The old man told him not to do it tomorrow as he had errands to do and wouldn't be there to help. You think Sarge listened? Hell no, he was a warrior and wasn't gonna take any sheeit from a damn bug. The old man found him when he got home that night with 3 stings on his face that he could see. He was getting into his med kit for the epipen, but apparently didn't get there fast enough. RIP Sarge.
I miss him, but I know he is at peace now. He was a tormented soul b/c of what he had lived through. So many of his Band of Brothers lost in war. He lost a second family to drug lords in Central America. He didn't talk about that. His heart had been wounded so deeply that he hardly trusted anyone. But I was his friend for 3 years and I count it a blessing that I had that time to share with him. He knew the Lord so I know I'll be seeing him again someday. I rejoice in that.
Just wanted to share that with you guys. It's going to be hard for a while yet knowing he's not around. So many like him with stories to tell also. Thank a vet next time you see one.
