I just did an edit. If you would, please do Wollf a tiny favor and scroll down before you read this. It's an important Posting to me, and I'd like you to click the music so that it plays in the background........thanks.
Stewart Michael, "Mike".....my Brother, in more ways than blood, died in March six years ago. I always associate January with him and the other three Loved ones I've lost. Mentor? Nah, just a pain in the a$$ big brother, seven years my elder, with a penchant for leaving punched shoulders, bruised egos and fond memories.
Probably the archetype, besides our Sire, of what my Grandmother called our Clan of Men.....Charming Ruffians. Handsome in a Michael Landon way, big, powerful, and with a voice that would set you back with it's silky tones.
Couldn't fight his way out of a sack though, and with quite the sarcastic tongue, they were fairly often. I remember as adults stepping in and removing him from harms way on many an occasion. We could beat on each other, all well and good, but No One else is ever allowed to bring harm to one of the Brothers Wollf.
He made it through the 'Nam in the middle years, relatively unscathed, but his last duty killed him anyway. Manned the 50 on a mud boat....swift boat, my a$$, patrolling up and down the Delta. Dangerous M.O.S.......espescially that smelly, oily substance that the slow movers would drop on the riverbanks, and him, time after time after time.
Agent Orange. Good for clearing vegetation and taking away Charlie's advantage.
Bad for the Marine who scuttled back to his hooch and collapsed, exhausted, to dream of "back home" with the stench of chemicals still in his lungs.
Mike was a Marine. Not your fantasy Marine, although he could've done recruiting posters, he was your basic avoid responsibility, but get the job done, cover your a$$, but kill the enemy, drink hard, but make muster, "so many Women, so little time...." kind of Marine.
The Eleanor Roosevelt kind of Marine, “The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!”
Cancer. Smoked two packs a day, but not a sign of it in his lungs. Lymphatic. Diagnosed before Christmas, gone within a couple of months. 'Nam killed him as surely as it killed his 58,148 Brothers in Arms.
Agent Orange. We didn't know. As he told me be before he died, he didn't begrudge the chemical or it's use. "Probably kept me alive over there, let me raise my kids".
A good Man was Stewart Michael. I miss him.
For his sake, I hope the Angels in Heaven are females. For the sake of Heaven...I don't.
Listen to the music. Young Men and Women, just like him are right now....doing what they believe in.....
Rest peacefully, Mike......58,149
Carry on.
Wollf
