Fw: A must read, no comment required

[ENRIQUE M LABAO]

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Robert Rice <rdri...@hotmail.com>
To: Dik Labao <diki...@sbcglobal.net>; Ed Williams <crat...@hotmail.com>; Gary Zintak <gzi...@gmail.com>; Jeff Pensak <jpe...@ec.rr.com>; Neta Rice <rice...@gmail.com>; Randy Corbett <rdco...@hotmail.com>; Randy Kimmey <kimme...@verizon.net>; Robert Stanley <bobst...@yahoo.com>; Ron Clour <ronc...@yahoo.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2014 10:05 AM
Subject: FW: A must read, no comment required

 

Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2014 11:37:53 -0600Subject: Fwd: A must read, no comment requiredFrom: wilso...@gmail.comTo:

Do you get tired of all the attention the druggie movie stars get when they die of an overdose of heroin on what ever, and here is a genuine WW2 hero that dies a quiet death and no one knows or cares. !!!!

 

A must read And think of the media circus, flags at half staff, and all the things that were said of Whitney Houston when she died. This hero died with barely anyone's notice. No Comment required "Shifty" By Chuck Yeager Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy  Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st  Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the  History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10  episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.  I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't  know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having  trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle," the symbol of  the 101st Airborne, on his hat.  Making conversation, I asked him if he'd been in the 101st Airborne or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the  101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.  Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so,  and was in until sometime in 1945 ..." at which point my heart  skipped.  At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training  jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . do you know where Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped.  I told him "yes, I know exactly where Normandy is, and I know what  D-Day was." At that point he said "I also made a second jump into  Holland, into Arnhem." I was standing with a genuine war hero ...  and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of  D-Day.  I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France, and he said  "Yes... And it 's real sad because, these days, so few of the guys are  left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart  was in my throat and I didn't know what to say.  I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in  coach while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to  get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came  forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have  it, that I'd take his in coach.  He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are  still some who remember what we did and who still care is enough to  make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.  Shifty died on Jan. l7 after fighting cancer.  There was no parade.  No big event in Staples Center.  No wall-to-wall, back-to-back 24x7 news coverage.  No weeping fans on television.  And that's not right!  Let's give Shifty his own memorial service, on line, in our own quiet way.  Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to the veterans.  Rest in peace, Shifty.  Chuck Yeager, Maj. General [ret.]  P.S. I think that it is amazing how the "media" chooses our "heroes" these days... Elvis, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston & the like. NOW JUST THINK ABOUT THE CRAP THAT'S RUNNING OUR COUNTRY TODAY, DID YOU VOTE THEM IN?? "SHIFTY" - an incredible American hero. Please do me a favor and pass this on so that untold thousands can read it.  We owe no less to our REAL heroes. “Most of the shadows in life are caused by standing in our own sunshine.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson