Never had the honor of meeting Nonnie. So may stories…
In September, PG and I spent 2 days with some wonderful new friends in Wheelersburg Ohio. We met Gary & Brenda on our Holy Land tour in 2014 in Egypt. (Sounds a little funny to say that we met friends from Ohio in Cairo, Egypt). PG & Brenda became friends and visited throughout Egypt, Jordon and Israel and then stayed in touch via Facebook. PG contacted Brenda and asked if we could stop by and take them to dinner on our way back to Iowa towards the end of our 2 week vacation. It’s funny, they said No – but we could come stay a couple of days. They love having company as much we do.
The reason that Gary & Brenda come to mind with the pictures of Nonnie is that Gary served in Vietnam; he was severely wounded by an explosion and also shot. His description of his 5 ½ months in Vietnam struck me at a personal level and I thought of the Randolph / Krell families. Nonnie didn’t get to come home to tell his story, but Gary’s description gave a vivid idea of what Nonnie must have gone through. I’m never comfortable re-telling such stories, or even writing about them on this personal blog. Perhaps I’ll get Gary’s permission someday because Gary’s dad gave him a small 8mm movie camera to take to Vietnam and I have digital copies of the images to burn to DVD for Gary. It’s about 30 minutes of video. I hope someday to share them, but again, I don’t have Gary’s permission and I haven’t asked. Somethings are just too close to home.
So for Vernon C. Randolph – with gratitude from a grateful Nation.
Thank you
