About a week ago, a helicopter crash off the cost of Hawaii claimed the lives of 12 marines. A sober reminder that merely being prepared for combat is, itself a dangerous.
I went to high school with one of the victims of this crash, Capt. Kevin Roche. I wouldn’t say I was a good friend (good friends don’t lose touch so quickly after graduation.) But we ran in some overlapping circles. We knew each other, at the occasional lunch together, group projects etc. Like most teenage boys, for some odd reason we referred to each other by last name only.
As soon as I saw the picture I knew it was Roche, either the picture is old or he hasn’t changed a lick since school. (He even already had the Marine haircut.) I don’t have to have kept in touch to know Kevin was a good marine. He was always a stand up guy. Levelheaded, friendly, all the things you’d expect in an exemplar member of the armed forces even before he joined. The training accident claimed a good person.
Remember those who serve, always, even in peace time.* They put their lives on the line to be ready to protect us whevever and whenever their needed.
Godspeed Capt. Roche.
*Yes, I know it’s not really peacetime. It may not be during my lifetime. The point stands.
