Patriot Day Tribute

My friend Major Barb Michieli, US Army (Ret.), thought you all would like to see this Patriot Day tribute that was posted on Military.com (this may take a few seconds to load).

I met Barb for the first time well over a decade ago when I began working at Seattle Children’s Hospital.  We both served on the Children’s Emergency Response Team (CERT) that was formed after the 9/11 attacks.  I believe she served in the Army’s Chemical Corps, so she worked with CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiation and training for our CERT Team at the hospital.

My "Cousin" Jim Darroch

I got some sad news last night from Janie Darroch that I wanted to pass on to you all.  Her husband and our friend Jim “Digger” Darroch passed away on 28 August.  When I saw Janie in San Diego in 2015 she told me that the reason Jim had not attended that reunion was that he had been suffering from dementia and that it would have been too hard for him to be in an airplane or be around crowds.  It turns out that he was ultimately suffering from a major neurological disorder equivalent to Stage II Alzheimer's.

I had known Jim for many years since I joined the Association.  He served on the flight line of the 73rd Aviation Company, so we didn’t know each other in RVN.  We did, however, strike up our friendship because of our last names; they are both variations of the same Irish name which means “oak”.  So we would greet each other with “Hey Cousin” even though neither of us really knew if we were actually related.  I will miss seeing my “cousin” at future reunions, although I believe he is finally at rest now.  Please pray for Janie as she works through the really tough time in her life.