Text 3261, 146 rader
Skriven 2004-10-10 22:34:00 av ED HULETT (1:275/311)
     Kommentar till en text av ED CONNELL
Ärende: A SAD MESSAGE
=====================
-=> ED CONNELL wrote to ED HULETT <=-


 EC> Hey, ED.
 EC> 
 EC>  EC>> Hey, John.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> Really - for all of Charles Doll's friends and admirers -
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> VH>>> I got the following from Chip, Charles Doll's son:
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> VH>>> This is Chip Doll, Charile Doll's son. I have bad news im
 EC>  EC>> VH>>> afriad. My dad passed away last nite, here at home surrounded
 EC>  EC>> VH>>> by his family.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> This is a draft of my column for next week.....
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> Valhalla is a happy place today. A soldier is home to rest.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> I have talked many times in the space about a group of people 
 EC> I
 EC>  EC>> SH>> met online (before the Internet) and with whom I maintain a 
 EC> close
 EC>  EC>> SH>> and continuing friendship.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> Others have come and gone over the years, but our core group 
 EC> is
 EC>  EC>> SH>> Richard Helm, John Massey, Vern Humphrey, Jeff Binkley, John
 EC>  EC>> Hull,
 EC>  EC>> SH>> Ed Connell and Charles Doll. Our band of brothers is one fewer
 EC>  EC>> SH>> today.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> This morning, I was copied this email from Vern:
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> "This is Chip Doll, Charlie Doll's son. I have bad news I'm
 EC>  EC>> SH>> afraid. My dad passed away last night, here at home 
 EC> surrounded by
 EC>  EC>> SH>> his family.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> "I'm writing you to tell you as he spoke highly of you and 
 EC> would
 EC>  EC>> SH>> have wanted me to tell you directly. I ask that you pass this
 EC>  EC>> news
 EC>  EC>> SH>> on to the Politics echo folks with which he used to converse. 
 EC> I
 EC>  EC>> SH>> know he spent hours and hours reading, sorting and replying to
 EC>  EC>> the
 EC>  EC>> SH>> folks there and would want them to know...
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> "Thanks, and thank you for the friendship you and he held."
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> I will never forget in mid December 1994 Mr. Doll posting this
 EC>  EC>> SH>> message to our group.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> "December 16, 50 years ago today, was a bad day."
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> And it hit me. The man writing those words had been at the 
 EC> Battle
 EC>  EC>> SH>> of the Bulge.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> Charles Doll was a Lieutenant of Engineers on that winter 
 EC> night
 EC>  EC>> SH>> when German artillery began raining down on him and his men. 
 EC> The
 EC>  EC>> SH>> next morning, Lieut. Doll watched as Panzer tanks crossed to 
 EC> his
 EC>  EC>> SH>> front. Mr. Doll told me, "We had lost so many men the night
 EC>  EC>> before
 EC>  EC>> SH>> that we could not take another hit. I prayed hard that the 
 EC> tanks
 EC>  EC>> SH>> would keep going before they turned. They continued about 
 EC> another
 EC>  EC>> SH>> half mile before turning into units on our flank."
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> Mr. Doll and his generation prevailed in that awful battle 
 EC> and in
 EC>  EC>> SH>> that bloody war - and, in victory, they saved civilization. 
 EC> Those
 EC>  EC>> SH>> men also came home and formed the greatest institution in the
 EC>  EC>> SH>> history of man - the American middle class.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> Mr. Doll was recalled to the battlefield in Korea but 
 EC> eventually
 EC>  EC>> SH>> came home to his family and to a profession as an engineer 
 EC> with a
 EC>  EC>> SH>> Florida power company.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> Charlie was, like me, staunchly conservative and a Reaganite. 
 EC> His
 EC>  EC>> SH>> political insight was keen and he had a wonderful sense of 
 EC> humor.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> I saw him last at his spread in Tampa, where he kept house 
 EC> with
 EC>  EC>> SH>> his beloved Peggy. We all sat around his dinner table and 
 EC> talked
 EC>  EC>> SH>> about life and politics. We talked about wise men and fools.
 EC>  EC>> Peggy
 EC>  EC>> SH>> asked me to make her a martini and we lifted a toast to our
 EC>  EC>> SH>> friends - my toast, especially, was to my great fried Charles
 EC>  EC>> SH>> Doll.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> Rest in peace, old friend. Say hello to Greg Yoha and Ed 
 EC> Hackett
 EC>  EC>> SH>> for us.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> SH>> Valhalla is a happy place today.
 EC>  EC>>
 EC>  EC>> JH> That is a beautiful piece, Stan.  I'm sure Charlie is grateful 
 EC> for
 EC>  EC>> your
 EC>  EC>> JH> kind words, but he would probably tell you he doesn't deserve
 EC>  EC>> them.
 EC>  EC>> JH> This has been a hard afternoon for me since I read Vern's 
 EC> message
 EC>  EC>> JH> earlier.  I keep getting something in my eye that makes it 
 EC> hard to
 EC>  EC>> see. Well said, everyone.  I too am saddened by the news, but am 
 EC> glad
 EC>  EC>> that Charles is beyond the petty barbs of this earth.  He no longer
 EC>  EC>> has to have oxygen from a tank.  He no longer has a wheel chair. I
 EC>  EC>> will miss Charles Doll - ever the insightful gentleman.  His body
 EC>  EC>> deserted his mind which was still delightfully sharp.  We are all
 EC>  EC>> better for his having shared a time with us, and I am sure that
 EC>  EC>> Charles knew that we were all with him in spirit.
 EC> 
 EC>  EH> When I first saw the subject of Vern's post and then read the first
 EC>  EH> line, I knew that we had lost a good man. My heart sank with the
 EC>  EH> realization that I would not read Charles' wit and wisdom in this 
 EC> echo
 EC>  EH> again. He will be missed, indeed.
 EC> 
 EC> Yeah.  I've been to battle with Charles in the Holy Smoke echo and it is 
 EC> great to have someone on your side like that.  I miss him too.

Charles was a good man and a real American Hero. Even though I may not have
always agreed with him, I respected his wisdom. His mind was sharp to the end.
His wit was always a pleasure to witness.

Ed


 

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