From a block away, I saw Glen and his wife Sandy, dodging in and out of pedestrian traffic on the narrow sidewalk in New Orleans French Quarter. In 39 years since our return from Asmara, his physical appearance had changed very little even though he was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for the cancer that took his life just a few short weeks ago. Virtually anyone who served at Kagnew Station from January 1959 to November 1960, regardless of which company they were assigned to, knew Glen. He was big and robust, and so full of life which possessed all of us in those years. I knew Glen well. We were assigned to the same basic training company at Fort Carson, although not in the same platoon. I recognized him immediately upon our assignment to Fort Devons. We nodded and chatted when we saw one another on student status, but we really cemented our friendship with 22 months of constant companionship while in Asmara. We were the same age,shared the same induction date and therefore, shipped back in the same group and were mustered out together at Fort Jackson. We made our decision at the same time to extend in Asmara for another four months to ensure a three month early discharge and signed the papers together. After mustering, we boarded the same plane from Columbia,SC to Atlanta and from there went to Chicago, where he flew to the Quad Cities and I to Minneapolis St. Paul. Those of us who were in Asmara at the time, all have stories of Glen. He was fearless. He was fool hearty. He was fun. He was concerned, not only about his future, but also about the future of his friends. We talked about the things we were going to do when we returned to our Midwestern towns his was Tipton, Iowa. We drank beer, we caroused Asmara and Massawa,we worked the same trick, we slept in the same bay, we borrowed from each other,we laughed together, and we shared our thoughts and hopes for our lives after the army. Ì saw him only once after our discharge when he and his future wife, Sandy, came to Bemidji for a days visit in 1962. It was the only time I saw him until last August, on that sultry, too hot evening, in New Orleans, where nine of us from the 1959 60 era, gathered for an all too short, but very rewarding reunion. We shared pictures, we told stories, we reminisced, we hung out, but the amazing thing was that we caught up on each other as though we had been together only yesterday. For Glen,it was a very important reunion and at his funeral, those of us who were with him in New Orleans, were listed as honorary pall bearers. Along with his friendship, I cherish that honor. Together, we shared some important events and since leaving Asmara, the NOLA reunion ranks at the top. We all know the comradery we shared and at one time in our lives, were closer than family. Perhaps for some it is not as important as it is to others, but I for one, have never had better or closer friends than those I knew in Asmara. Glen's death places those years into proper perspective and his passing gives a special significance to the reunion. I shall miss him as though we never parted 39 years ago. I remember him and the others as though it were yesterday, as though we were locked in time at the same ages we were in 1959 60. I personally, never had better or closer friends.

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Created: May 2, 2000