Final Duty Post

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    I am saddened to learn of the news of a long-time friend, brother-in-arms and wonderful father and husband has reported to his final duty post.
     Howard, on the right, passed away at the tender age of 61 from complications of a collapsed lung.
     He was a fellow Minnesotan and we lived in the same house about 25 years ago, when we first met.
     Everyone who met him was taken by his humor and infectious energy for all things football, life and his son, Gus.
     While he had a hard time reconciling his time in Vietnam and his wounds both physical and mental, he didn't want this to be what defined him.
     Years after returning home he wrestled with the events until a fellow veteran help him come to terms with what all transpired during that time.
     That was about the time he met his wonderful wife, Kathleen.  Together, Howard finally found peace and true happiness surpassed only be the arrival of his son, Gus, a few years later.
     Howie was almost beside himself with the arrival of Gus, and when Gus started school, Howie changed all his schedules to spend as much time as humanly possible with him.
     I would see the two of them at one of our local diners just hanging out and having fun.   The smile on Howie's face almost reached ear to ear.
     Always a presence in the dugout or the sidelines, he never missed one of Gus's games or matches.
     He will deeply missed by Kat, Gus and the rest of us here in our little valley.

    Saepe Expertus, Semper Fidelis, Fratres Aeterni