We lost another one of our few remaining World War Two heroes on January 2. One of my friends, Hugh Edward Hall, age ninety-five. Mr. Hall served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Theater, mostly aboard a tanker ship. He told me once that he and his fellow sailors never worried about life preservers. They knew that if they ever got torpedoed, that would be it. He served offshore of two of the major island battles, but I forget which ones. After the War, he used his G.I. Bill to go to college. He earned three degrees eventually, his last one being a PhD. in Physics. He worked in oil exploration for Texaco for a number of years, and then he taught at The University Of Houston, and then at Sam Houston State in Huntsville, TX. He was an incredibly interesting man to talk to about just about any subject. Very mild mannered and unassuming. By his cowboy hat and worn jeans, you would never think that he was a retired college professor and he wouldn't tell you either. You would find that out later from someone else. It was unfortunate that because of The Plague, his funeral was not well attended. A friend of the family that was once in the United States Army Band honored him and his family with Taps at the graveside. Yes, I had tears in my eyes; Hearing Taps and burying a Veteran, and a friend, does that to me. MM