HE'S DEAD

HE'S DEAD

By Andy Weddington

Thursday, 04 July 2024

Death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back. - Marcus Aurelius

Little more than an hour ago my wife and I finished our traditional 4th hamburger and beer celebrate America dinner. Happy times!

Retiring to the library and iPad an email caught my eye - from a Marine friend not heard from in a few weeks. Not too unusual but concerning.

Via the computer Bob befriended me nearly 16 years ago when I first opened this forum. Unbeknownst to me he was reading. And reading. And one day came note asking if it was okay for him to forward to his rather large distribution. Of course.

Bob - prolific author. He has published all sorts of books ranging from poetry to his experiences in uniform (Vietnam veteran) to advice for his granddaughter to one of my favorites, 'Quotes for the Conservative Heart' - he graciously cited me several times in the book with by-name credit. And we co-authored an article on leadership published in Leatherneck some years ago.

Bob is done writing. But his words live on. I surely recommend his terrific books. 

Robert A. Hall. Bob to friends. His moniker 'Tartan Marine.' 

Bob wrote (republished as received) ...

Yup, I’m kaput. Snuffed it. Croaked. Taking a Dirt Nap. Gone West. Bought the Farm.

Got a Mole for a Mailman. (Please not that ghastly euphemism I’ve always hated,

“Passed Away.”)

You’re waiting for a punch line, right?

I’m sorry, but I regret to inform you that I really have died. I left this for my loving wife,

Bonnie, to send out, as I don’t trust obit writers. You know how they write: “Harry

passed away after a courageous battle with hangnail, surrounded by his loving goldfish.”

Dreck.

Bonnie can give details, but I’m assuming it was complications from my pulmonary

fibrosis and lung transplant. Please extend to her the help, support and love you would to

me, if I needed it.

I’m sorry I couldn’t stick around longer, but I have no real complaints. First, I won the

lottery—I was born in the United States, whose citizens have had the greatest freedom

and opportunities in history (or so it has been), thanks to free market capitalism, property

rights and political freedoms. I’ve lived longer and better than 99% of the humans ever

born, and been happier than 98% of them as well, so I don’t have a bitch coming. I’ve

been privileged to love and be loved by and married to Bonnie, privileged to love my

granddaughter, Britnye and grandson, Dale, and to have their love in return, privileged to

serve the people of Massachusetts in the senate and the members of some great

associations as their executive, and privileged to wear the uniform of the United States

Marine Corps, Privileged to work part time at the Madison VA writing over 300

veterans’ life stories. I’ve also been privileged to have a lot of people read and comment

favorably on my columns, books, poetry, articles, short stories and blog. (Bonnie has a lot

of my writing on the computer, if you want to read any of it.) That’s all a lot of privilege

for one guy. Since I volunteered for Vietnam and had an easy tour, I figure the rest of my

life has been a large gift. And death comes to all of us.

I’m mostly sorry I won’t be there to help Bonnie, Britnye, and Dale. I’m not happy about

the world I’m leaving them, but I did all I could to make it better. I hope they grow up to

be strong, independent and self-supporting people, who contributes to the world, not just

takes from it. That will make her happy. At least I left them my books: Advice for my

Granddaughter: For When I’m Gone. And Advice for Boys.

As I write, I think I still have things to contribute to the world, but them’s the breaks—we

play the cards we are dealt. I did have some warning that my days were drawing short. In

fact, I recently changed my party registration to Democrat. I figured if someone had to

die, better a Democrat than a Republican! (Yes, it’s an old joke.)

I have far too many great friends and wonderful relatives to start thanking you all by

name. But I have appreciated your love and friendship more than I could put in words. I

hope that I have usually deserved it. If you were part of that circle, you know who you

are and how valued you were in my life.

For more information about my life:

Books by Robert A. Hall

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html

Resume: Robert A. Hall

http://tigertoothresume.blogspot.com/2014/02/resume-robert-hall.html

Bob Hall's life story

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2014/04/bob-halls-life-story.html

Bob wrote this for the Collingswood (NJ) High School Class of 1964 50th Reunion May

10, 2014, since he couldn't attend. It has a lot of details.

Please no posies—I don’t owe the floral industry a thing. If you feel moved to do

something in my memory, a memorial contribution to the Marine Corps Heritage

Foundation, the Semper Fi Injured Marine Fund, the Marine Corps Scholarship Fund or

the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation would be nice.

http://www.marineheritage.org/

http://www.semperfifund.org/

http://www.mcsf.com/site/c.ivKVLaMTIuG/b.1677655/k.BEA8/Home.htm

http://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org

Well, I don’t want to make this too long, as I’m quite busy right now. (Okay, to be

faccurate, right now I’m dead and not busy at all. I mean I was busy back when I wrote

this.)

So, I’ll close with a request for you to do all you can to preserve the Republic and the

Constitution—with its wise separation of powers—free markets and individual rights,

including property rights, the basis of freedom—for future generations. These may have

been lost since 1932, but you have to try. And Bonnie will need all your prayers and help.

Family joke: “Hey, Britnye and Dale—I love you more!”

Semper Fidelis,

Bob Hall

Once a SSgt, Always a Marine.

This is Bob's wife, Bonnie.

He made me promise to post this, so this is my promise made good. Bob didn't die of complications with his lung like we thought he would. Instead he was struck down by Biliary Adenocarcinoma (bile duct cancer). It is very nasty and doesn't show symptoms until the very end. He was as surprised by the diagnosis and quick decline as the rest of us were.

Below is the obituary. Any of you reading this are invited to his Celebration of Life. If you would like to send in a story to be read at his Celebration, please send it to me at TartanBonnie@gmail.com.

https://www.gundersonfh.com/obituaries/Robert-A-Hall?obId=31776749

An update to this post is that our granddaughter, Britnye and her husband, Kaleb are expecting our great-grand baby and today I learned it will be a girl. Life does continue. No matter what.

I will be monitoring his email for a while yet. Just can't bear to let it go.

Thank you for being a big part of Bob's online life! You were very much appreciated.

God Bless you all!

Bonnie Hall

Post Script: Bob had a lung transplant a few months after my dad. That means Bob lived nearly 10 years post transplant - the outcome we had prayed for for my dad who had a flawless procedure but died little more than four months post-op from a virus complication the best of doctors could not conquer. Bob, on a waiting list at the time, sent me a nice note.