August 28th a Date I Remember Well

August 28^th A Date I Remember Well

My brother John was next to the youngest of four boys. John joined the army in 1971 shortly after the death of his infant daughter. John was an infantryman and served one year in Korea at Camp Casey along the DMZ, before finishing his time on active duty at Fort Carson. I visited John at Fort Carson, in 1974 shortly before his honorable discharge (ETS), as I was headed to an assignment in the Panama Canal Zone at that time. After John returned to Boise, ended up getting married a couple of times and had more children and lived a few houses away from mom and dad. John worked for the city of Boise at the water treatment plant near the airport and Gowen Field and kept a watchful eye on the folks.

It was around June 1997 when I received a frantic phone call from John who was concerned about my having a full physical exam. I told John not to worry because I was in pretty good health and didn’t have high blood pressure or any medical issues.

John informed me that he had been diagnosed with melanoma cancer and although he was beginning treatment the cancer was very aggressive. Over the next couple of months I made a few trips back home to check up on him, and our folks and our other two brothers. John had been treated at a local hospital and by July or early August they sent John home with a morphine drip. John knew the end was near and wanted to die at home with family around him.

I made one last trip to see John. It was a fast trip that weekend in August and I talked to John about his condition and asked what he wanted from God. John said he was ready for whatever God decided and on August 28^th, 1997 John went to be with the Lord. It was both a sad and a happy time for our family in that John’s body had been wracked in constant pain so although we were sad to let him go, we were happy that he left that pain filled body behind.

The viewing and memorial service was a tribute to John’s character and a witness of his faith in Jesus Christ. The funeral home was packed and the standing room was filled with family and friends. It seemed pretty remarkable for someone who said he never affected anyone.

Fast forward to August 28^th, 1998 as I sat at my computer, sipping a cup of coffee I suffered a heart attack. It felt like someone was pressing a brick on my chest and I had turned completely pale. My wife sensing something was wrong drove me to Peterson AFB (2 miles away) and at the USAF clinic they began checking my blood pressure, asking lots of questions and feeding me nitroglycerin tablets. I saw my wife’s doctor and told him I was worried about my wife who had a history of high blood pressure.

What really got my attention was when one doctor called 911 and said over the phone they had what looked like a 90 year old male suffering a heart attack. I mean my birthday was coming up in 3 days and I was going to be 49 years old (if I made it). The doctor was calling for a civilian ambulance to transport me to a local hospital for immediate surgery and the surgeon was standing by.

All the way to the hospital they kept feeding me nitroglycerin tablets and nothing was happening,  I feared I might explode.

They did an x-ray of my chest and heart to determine that I had 1 main artery with a 99% blockage. The blockage was cleared and a stint put in to keep the artery from collapsing. I was kept in the hospital for 2 nights. My parents came from Idaho and stayed a few days to make sure they weren’t going to lose another son so soon.

Here we are on August 28^th, 2024, mom and dad are buried next to John just outside the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery in Boise and it is one of the first stops when going north to visit my two remaining brothers in Ola.

FYI – my 75^th birthday is just 3 days away. – RTM