19841211 Tuesday
The Extroduction
This book is dedicated to, in alphabetical order only:
Al Burke, my friend, an editor, and a warrior, who got me a long way down the literary highway.
Choo Choo Chuck Lipe, my friend, an air force jet transport jockey, he cheered me on from the sidelines when others would not.
Bill Cleveland and his good friend Kat, my friend, my dentist, the only one I will allow to put implements of destruction inside my mouth, a warrior, and a writer, Bill tolerated my erratic ramblings that I committed to paper and kept me going mostly forward in my writings.
Donna Wallace, my friend, a writer, her life mate is a Viet Nam veteran with PTSD, she told me one time, in war, only losers line both sides, even when you survive it you carry its after affects with you all your life.
Jeanne Dees and her good friend C J, my friend, a warrior, and a writer, Jeanne encouraged me to continue to write when I became discouraged.
Pamolu Oldham, my mentor, a warrior and a writer, who kept me out of the ditches on the literary superhighway.
Su Burke, my friend, a warrior, and a writer, who got me started.
The Warrior Race, from the beginning of time, by ballot, pen, or sword.
Tom Davis, a fellow writer and a warrior, who exposed the dark - warped side of my mind to the light of day and the printed page, and who turned my dreamless nights of blissful oblivion to shrieking, big screen, Technicolor - with reruns and no remote to change the channels or shut it off.
Val, my friend, a Reverend, and a warrior, who first extracted my emotion, with pliers.
The on ramp has finally been located and it is hammer down in the fast lane.
"In memory of our fallen team mates
who were men of vision, daring to be different.
Men who had confidence in themselves,
trusted their comrades, and left their fate to God.
They were men of courage
who earned and wore the Green Beret."
Columnist George F Will, who writes from the bullet, riddled woods of central Pennsylvania. "Gettysburg had an ordinance against the discharging of firearms."
War is Hell.
General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891)
Was meant to be.
Always was.
Always will be.