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John was 17 years old when he joined the U.S. Air Force. While serving he graduated from his training and became a diesel mechanic. His first goal was to be a pilot, but he was color blind so was disappointed as that disqualified him.

The poem below was written 25 years later showing his talent. It says a lot about his life between the years. He was seriously injured at his work place in late 1990s, which he doesn't mention in the writing. From that injury he had a limp like Chester from Gunsmoke and after his hard work in therapy the limp totally disappeared.  Ken, Bob and I are proud of his accomplishments and the success he has made
of his life.
Note:  We are still proud, even now with him so sadly gone. Nothing can take away the many years he was drug free.

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He wrote the following while in rehab:
               BACK TO REALITY
Those eyes were so frightening to look at,
yet I could not turn away as they began to reveal
Train wrecks, car and plane crashes,
The destruction of a small village,
The dying cries of a small child,
The taste of the last breath of a baby,
not yet a month old.
Hundreds of dead empty eyes haunting from the past,
Each with a tale, I somehow knew so well.
There was such intense pain,
A deep, dark emptiness.
Reliving these memories each time he closed his eyes.
Remembering friends and loved ones who've departed.
Grieving from the loss of his true love,
He'd hidden for years within the false world of drugs.
He'd touched and changed the lives of so many,
some better, some worse.
Yet I could feel he was good deep down inside.
One who would give his life to save another.
Determined to make up for the past,
Giving everything to those in need.
He'd forgotten someone though.
Someone so very special.
He'd given of himself to everyone,
Everyone but himself.
This was the origin of the pain.
And as I drifted back to reality,

I recognized those eyes.
I vowed to help this man,
Then I turned and walked away from the glass.

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Excerpt from John's Eulogy by Ken
"I am so proud of his many fine qualities. I want
to speak first of how he treated others, which was
beautifully. I do not know of any instance where
he was deliberately hurtful to people, even when
he was hurt by them. I know of many, many
instances where he gave extravagantly of himself
to others in many ways, especially if they had
great needs and were floundering in life. This
made himself vulnerable to being hurt but he
never changed. In short, he had a huge heart."