Monday, February 19, 2007
I work for the US Govt, I support the war, I support the troops in the field, I support Bush because by freeing Iraq we are helping the people... Today that war that I have supported for so long came WAY WAY too close to home... Sunday, 2/18, in Afghanistan a CHINOOK heliocopter went down with 22 aboard - 14 survived, 8 US personnel were lost... One of those 8 was like a brother to me - pilot CW3 John Andrew Quinlan... We grew up thru our teen years together, Eric was like a 2nd son... His parents were my parents, his parents my children's grandparents.... Today I found out that we all lost a piece of us... John joined the Marines back in the late 80s after high school - he served with the Marines in the first Gulf War... Then he switched over to the Army to become a helio pilot - he was a fast tracker - raising thru the ranks as quickly as possible because he was a great solider and he loved flying... My only comfort is that he died doing what he loved... He leaves behind a wife, 3 beautiful girls around the ages of my boys and more family than I am sure he realized that all loved him dearly... I love you John and we'll see you again someday...
