The Last of the True Heroes.
Friday, 19 May 2006 07:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rosiedoesI just read the death toll of Easy boys who have died since the series was filmed. I cried on the tube.
Dick is the only Toccoa officer left.
I know we've been quibbling about dates, recently, so here is the list, according to Dick himself:
In the order given by Dick:
Staff Sergeant Leo Boyle - December 1997; Parkinson's Disease
Colonel Robert Sink - 1965 - complications from chronic emphysema.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Strayer - December 2002 - cause not listed.
Lieutenant Colonel Clarence Hester - 2000 - complications due to kidney failure.
Moose Heyliger - 4 November, 2001 - cause not listed.
Lewis Nixon - January 1995 - he had been bed-ridden for several years before his death, and cared for by his wife, Grace. Dick describes their relationship as 'true love'.
Harry Welsh - 1995 - heart failure (Kitty followed, three years later).
George Luz - 1998 - no cause given.
Carwood Lipton - December 2001 - pulmonary fibrosis.
Denver 'Bull' Randleman - June 2003 - a staph infection.
Johnny Martin - late January 2005 - no cause given.
Joe Toye - 1995 - no cause given.
Popeye Wynn - March 2000 - no cause given.
Burt Christenson - December 1999 - no cause given.
Salve 'Matt' Matheson - 8 January, 2005 - no cause given.
The thing that made me cry, is that I took comfort from the fact that so many of these men - the last of the world's true heroes, as far as I am concerned - were still with us. And yet, it now seems that some of the characters we loved best in the series waited for their story to be told before they left us.
I can add to this list that Lester Hashey died in December 2002, which really affected me when I found out.
It is easy to forget that the interviews for the series were taken largely three-quarters of a decade ago. It's a long time. One by one they're going back to their buddies, and I'm sure they're glad of that, but the world won't be quite as honourable a place without them raising the tone.
Dick is the only Toccoa officer left.
I know we've been quibbling about dates, recently, so here is the list, according to Dick himself:
In the order given by Dick:
Staff Sergeant Leo Boyle - December 1997; Parkinson's Disease
Colonel Robert Sink - 1965 - complications from chronic emphysema.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Strayer - December 2002 - cause not listed.
Lieutenant Colonel Clarence Hester - 2000 - complications due to kidney failure.
Moose Heyliger - 4 November, 2001 - cause not listed.
Lewis Nixon - January 1995 - he had been bed-ridden for several years before his death, and cared for by his wife, Grace. Dick describes their relationship as 'true love'.
Harry Welsh - 1995 - heart failure (Kitty followed, three years later).
George Luz - 1998 - no cause given.
Carwood Lipton - December 2001 - pulmonary fibrosis.
Denver 'Bull' Randleman - June 2003 - a staph infection.
Johnny Martin - late January 2005 - no cause given.
Joe Toye - 1995 - no cause given.
Popeye Wynn - March 2000 - no cause given.
Burt Christenson - December 1999 - no cause given.
Salve 'Matt' Matheson - 8 January, 2005 - no cause given.
The thing that made me cry, is that I took comfort from the fact that so many of these men - the last of the world's true heroes, as far as I am concerned - were still with us. And yet, it now seems that some of the characters we loved best in the series waited for their story to be told before they left us.
I can add to this list that Lester Hashey died in December 2002, which really affected me when I found out.
It is easy to forget that the interviews for the series were taken largely three-quarters of a decade ago. It's a long time. One by one they're going back to their buddies, and I'm sure they're glad of that, but the world won't be quite as honourable a place without them raising the tone.