Rest In Peace theoldcoach

[theoldcoach]

This is Malinda. I am a Daughter of theoldcoach. I am here to inform everyone that he passed away of natural causes two months ago. His heart just finally wore out. One of my brothers finally found his login information for several websites. Mom said that this was one of his favorites. As she is not very computer savvy, she asked me to give you all the news of his passing.

Dad was just short of 76 years old. He was a good man and a wonderful Father who taught us strong values and to manage our lives in such a way that we would be proud of our actions. One of his favorite sayings to my brothers and I was “Life isn’t fair. No one is going to give you anything. You have to earn your way in life.” It was a great lesson and although we sometimes failed, we have tried hard. Now I will tell you some things about the guy who posted here, that he probably never told you.

My Dad was a proud Marine. He served almost four years during the Vietnam Conflict with the 1st Battalion/9th Marines. They were known as The Walking Dead because during Vietnam they had the highest mortality rate in the history of the Corp, as they served mostly on or near the frontlines of any and all battles. For nearly all of Dad’s time in the country virtually all of it was spent in combat zones.

He was wounded twice. One minor and one seriously. His platoon was ambushed while on patrol near the Cambodian border. The loss rate was over 80% killed or wounded. Dad took shrapnel from a sniper bullet that struck the tree next to him, some of which remained in his body for the rest of his life. They were pinned down for nearly 8 hours until another platoon finally fought their way through to rescue the few remaining troops. He was awarded The Purple Heart.

He often wondered why he was spared while so many of his brothers in arms were lost. He said he never thought that he would ever make it out of that jungle. And he said that none of them did. He was proud of his service. But he was also haunted by it. The things that he saw and the things that he was forced to do in order to stay alive.

Some of the greatest time that my bothers and I spent with our Father was several years ago when he took Mom and us to visit Vietnam. He wanted to go back. He said, “I need to go back there. I just have to go back.” He hired a local guide to take us around. We couldn’t get back to the spot where they were ambushed as the jungle had reclaimed the land. But we could see that hill from a distance. At least he was quite sure it was the spot. The same was true for the locations of several of the firebases where he spent time. It was like they were never there. The jungle just takes over. About all that was still there was some remnants of Vanderbilt Air Base. It was all very emotional. He shed many tears that day for his friends who never came home alive. That day brought us very close to our Father. It was a difficult trip and Dad was never sure that he did the right thing by going. But I do believe that it left him with some sense of closure.

Dad was a lifelong conservative. He enjoyed hunting and fishing. He was an outstanding athlete in high school and had several scholarship offers in three sports. But Vietnam got in the way. He was an excellent golfer and played until his health would no longer allow it. Dad was very proud of us kids and no matter what he had to do, he never missed any of the events of our lives. He cherished our Mother and he loved her unconditionally.

Ok. That is enough and I’m sure more that he would have wanted me to tell you. But Mom wanted me to let you a little about the man that you communicated with here for several years. I will give the login information to both of my brothers and they may want to visit this forum too. I don’t know.

Anyway, thanks for your time and thanks for the enjoyment that you all gave my Father here during the last days of his life. By the way. His name was Bradley and he was an avid and lifelong Chiefs and Royals fan!

God Bless. Malinda

[Otter]

Sounds like a great man! I'm sorry.

[R8RFAN]

Thank you for your service sir, Rest in peace.

[Rukdafaidas]

RIP. So sorry for your loss. Sounds like a tremendous man and father.

[ROYC75]

Oh my, I did not know this. My condolences to you, his wife and the family.

RIP buddy, I'm going to miss our conversations!

[booger]

Sorry to hear this news of his passing. Sharing the memories of his life will hopefully have an impact on the younger generation in your family and people who read about him. Just like the WWII vets and Korea, Vietnam vets are now getting up there in age and we are losing them. I know it has plenty to do with sacrifice and discipline from the military and war but it’s just life experience with our elders we can and have learned from. That’s one major thing the younger generations need to work on. Listen to the stories and lessons from the elders in their family and neighborhood. Such a great resource taken for granted or even ignored.

God Bless

[burt]

May he RIP, yet live in the hearts of his loved ones forever.

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[stevieray]

RIP

It's always heartwarming when a child or spouse logs on and make these kinds of posts.

The kind of post that shows you what a great Dad/husband someone was , not only just by what is said, but also in the way it's written. We are all so much more than just what we post here.

Thank you for sharing.

Godspeed to you & your family.

[Chief Roundup]

R.I.P.

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