Bob was soft spoken and built like a weightlifter. He had a lot of the best that the midwest has to offer, while I was just a city kid from the east coast. We wouldn’t seem to be natural friends, yet we kept in touch for 47 years. Our wedding anniversaries are just days apart, and my wife, Valerie and Diane get along as well as Bob and I did.

For a number of years I had been trying to coax Bob into coming to a reunion. He confided to me that he hadn’t spoken to anyone but me since overseas and he’d feel funny about it. Then just this past winter he agreed to go San Diego if I picked him up. All was set until he needed an operation on his back. Even though he couldn’t attend the reunion, we couldn’t go across country without seeing them. I wish that we had spent more time together, but at least we had a few hours.