Hey guys,
Thank you for your service, and all that you continue to do to help the people that need it. I have to say After reading some of the stories from other listeners, this is not a never quit story, I’ve been so fortunate to get the chances I have, that I don’t know how to start this story. January 4th 2014 I was 26 yrs old, living a pretty awesome bachelors life. That evening I was shooting in an archery competition, when I got a phone call that nobody wants to get. “Nic, get to your Dad’s house, it appears he’s taken his own life.” My dad and I weren’t real close, I loved and respected him but we just never had a deep father connection. My father was a Vietnam Veteran, volunteering for 2 tours and earning a Bronze Star with a “V”. Like most veterans he never shared his stories but they left him scared for the rest of his life. The only glimmer of it I got was when I wanted to join the army right after high school, and he told me to go to college first because he’d seen “enough dead bodies, and bloody water for the both of us.” So as I am rushing to his house all of our memories our rushing through my head, plus what am I going to see when I get there. As I pull up there are squad cars all over and an ambulance that is now being used for us to sit in cuz it was pretty cold that winter. I get in the rig and my aunts and a cousin are there and really emotional. So I’m just like well I’ll have to be the one for the family to lean on. After a few hrs when everything was done at his house it started to set in…my dad is gone, and now I have to arrange a funeral and all the emotions that entails.
Honestly the whole week of the funeral planning was the easy part. It happened so fast I never had time to think. It was the months after dealing with all of his stuff that was the hardest. Dealing with his house loan and getting a different person every time and repeating the story just got mind numbing. It all worked itself out by that summer though and I was finally able to move forward and figure out what was next. Even though we weren’t close I still want to live a life he would be proud of. Fast forward about a year and Marcus, Morgan, Taya Kyle, Pete Scobell and Mike Thornton were in Iowa for an event and motorcycle run with Rick Perry just after he announced his run for president. So I hoped in the bike rode a couple hrs on the kinda cold dreary day to check it out. I kind of felt like a fish out of water but the best was whe yours truly, Marcus comes up to me and goes “hey man you have some gloves I can borrow?” I can’t remember if I said it but I know I was thinking to myself, yea but will they even fit? Well they did…barely I’m sure, but it was on that ride with all these people that have been through so much for the country that I realized just living life to the fullest and taking advantage of every chance I have is what wold make my dad proud.
Both my Dad and I hate pictures, and no one want to see my ugly mug, so here is one of my dad from the newspaper while he was in Vietnam.
Again thank you TNQ for all that you do.
Nic
