---

Sometimes when I think about the state of the world today I try and think about things that have happened that assured me things can be ok.
Recently my thoughts go back to a crazy time in our country known as the 1960s and the one thing that was dividing our country, the Vietnam War. I was a college student at the time and was watching as fellow students were finishing their education and were facing the draft. One by one they were drafted and many were trained quickly then sent off to war.
I had injured my back and could not play football and was still trying to play basketball and baseball. But with the injury staying in shape was hard to do. Then one day a friend of mine over lunch asked me to consider joining the soccer team. At first I wasn't very interested but being one to have a hard time backing down from a challenge I decided to give the sport a try.
Because I had no experience and had to learn the rules along with learning how to play, needless to say I was not a great soccer player. I got a few starts and saw playing time and I realized that if I had the background I might have been pretty good. But with only two seasons to learn and liking basketball and baseball more I was just proud to be on a NAIA championship team while earning a couple letters. And on top of that I met some very great people.
And that leads me to the rest of the story.
A teammate from New York who came to UW-Platteville to study engineering was a solid player on the squad and someone we looked at as a true leader. Bill was physically tough and equally as tough as a leader. His leadership skill was to tell you the truth, give you encouragement with the ability to show you what he was asking you to do. I respected him and was honored to have him as a friend.
We both knew that military service would have to be in our future and it was. The path he took was OCS where he was trained as an officer. He was sent to Vietnam as a second lieutenant.
The next time I heard anything about him was when I learned he had been killed in action. He was leading his men, just like he led us, and when a grenade was tossed among them he did not hesitate. He dove on the weapon of death and became a casualty so his men could live.
Shocked and saddened when I heard, I knew I had to grieve and eventually find peace. I thought back about how he led us, how he helped us, how he loved us.
They say heroes are hard to come by sometimes but I had one in Bill. He taught me many things but perhaps the most important were to love one another and do the right thing.
He gave his men a chance to return home and to live. He wanted them to be able to return to the world, to their homes and their loved ones.
He loved his country so much he gave up his life. He reminds me I have to love our country too, no matter how crazy things get.
Thanks Bill, I continue to do that.