Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Icefox on August 12, 2008, 12:03:56 PM

Title: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: Icefox on August 12, 2008, 12:03:56 PM: I figured you folks might like to know this little bit of news.

This morning, at around 0830 hours, we lost another veteran.

Major Joe Lynch, USMC (Retired) was a very good friend and a squadronmate of my grandfather. They both served aboard the USS Sicily during the Korean War in VMF-323 "Death Rattlers" flying F4U4 Corsairs. Maj. Lynch passed away of natural causes at Arlington Memorial Hospital this morning. He was 88 years old.

The number 12 always had a very special meaning to Maj. Lynch and my grandfather. On January 12, 1952, Maj. Lynch was shot down while flying a mission with my grandfather. He bailed out of the wreck and ended up in a rice paddy. My grandfather always, until the day he died, ragged on Maj. Lynch because of this. It was somewhat of a joke to them in their later years. He would say "there was Joe, water up to his ankles just wavin' up at us as we flew overhead." It was a serious situation back then, but after the war, they joked about it constantly. He and my grandfather always had a friendly rivalry going. When he made lieutenant colonel and Maj. Lynch didn't, he always said that he "one upped" his good friend.

Maj. Lynch suffered from severe back pain later in life and always walked hunched over supported by a cane. A exceedingly friendly man, he was well liked by everyone in my family.

My mother said that my grandfather was most likely waiting for him, asking, "What took you so long?"

He will be missed greatly.

<S> Major Lynch. Clear skies and tail winds forever.
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: Yenny on August 12, 2008, 12:06:35 PM: :salute
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: Shifty on August 12, 2008, 12:07:52 PM: Thanks for sharing that.

RIP and Thank You Major Lynch.
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: Boroda on August 12, 2008, 12:09:21 PM: :salute

May he rest in peace.
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: SkyRock on August 12, 2008, 12:33:39 PM: :salute
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: Maverick on August 12, 2008, 12:35:09 PM: RIP Major and thank you. :salute
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: Baitman on August 12, 2008, 12:37:20 PM: :salute
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: Redlegs on August 12, 2008, 12:41:19 PM: :salute
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: avionix on August 12, 2008, 01:12:19 PM: :salute
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: rabbidrabbit on August 12, 2008, 01:37:04 PM: :salute
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: FrodeMk3 on August 12, 2008, 01:39:01 PM: :salute
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: BaDkaRmA158Th on August 12, 2008, 02:03:39 PM: :salute
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: SuBWaYCH on August 12, 2008, 03:00:57 PM: :salute
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: Joker on August 12, 2008, 03:44:47 PM: :salute
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: gwano on August 12, 2008, 04:01:38 PM: :salute
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Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: Jester on August 12, 2008, 06:50:49 PM: Blue Skies Major Lynch

Thank You Marine. "SEMPER FI" :salute
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: alskahawk on August 12, 2008, 08:37:28 PM: I heard a few years ago that there were fewer than 5000 WW2 vets left. Korea war vets probably not much better. To me they were the greatest generation. Most of us grew up with expectations of college, jobs or in short a normal life. If you were a high school age person in 1940/50 your expectation was much different. Every person in the US (it was much worse in other countries) had their life affected not only by WW2 but by a terrible depression. They looked at the world through far different eyes than we can even imagine. Today our children can be little MTV, Mall rats, 90210 snots because of these great people. :salute

My father is a WW2/Korea vet. (Retired 1968) Still kicking at 83 years old.
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: Xargos on August 12, 2008, 08:42:15 PM: (http://www.dasmuppets.com/public_images/posters/snoopy_salute.gif)
Title: Re: Another veteran goes home.
Post by: Yossarian on August 12, 2008, 10:19:57 PM: God bless you sir, and thank you.

<S>