Terry Buttram's funeral was today. We worked together at the Cummings and Davis Funeral Home. Terry, a fellow vietnam veteran, accidentally drove his motorcyle into the back of a parked semi. Since he was a member of the American Legion his post provided a fitting farewell to a distinguished and decorated veteran. Part of the farewell service allowed veterans to line up and give a final salute to a fallen comrade. As it turned out, almost every man in the church was a veteran, so the line was long .
Later the family let it be known that the war changed Terry in a big way. And how could it not have. Terry, a smart and sensitive young man, baptised and christian, was taken to the jungles of Vietnam and assigned as a door gunner on a helicoptor. Who knows what horrors he witnessed during his twenty-seven combat missions. We never talked about our war experiences - it's better not to wake up the dragon. But, as Reverend Rogers so eloquently said, "Terry's war is over now".