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My cousin, USMC Vietnam 1967- 197-. RIP 4/3/19.


aerialbridge
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Greg was my oldest cousin, and the oldest of two boys. Even though we lived cross-town from each other in D.C., because he was eleven years older than me, I rarely saw him and didn't know him well. He went to Gonzaga and Archbishop Carroll High Schools. The actor, John Heard, from the Home Alone movies was a year ahead of him at Gonzaga. Greg joined the Marines and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He was a quiet and intense guy, and pretty intimidating to a 10 year old. When I was about that age, I learned what "fragging" meant from overhearing a conversation his parents were having with mine while we were at their house for a birthday or holiday visit. They were talking about what Greg had told them happened to another junior officer he knew in Vietnam. After he came back from the war (I don't remember what year), I maybe saw him two or three times the first several years and not since. I know he moved first to North Carolina and married a nice girl from there. Hearing my mother and aunt talk, I got the impression that marriage was a casualty because of what Greg went through in Vietnam. He moved to Florida, and ran a bait and tackle shop for years, and his second marriage lasted. He loved fishing, like our grandfather, whose name we each got as our middle names. I just discovered that he died earlier this year, and learned that he had been awarded the Purple Heart when he was in Vietnam. My aunt, whose house we used to go to every Christmas Eve, turns 100 next year. Rest in Peace, cuz,

 

https://rlwilliams.com/tribute/details/1346/Gregory-Gehrig/obituary.html#tribute-start

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  • 2 weeks later...
aerialbridge

Thanks for all your thoughts. I know my cousin would appreciate them and I believe he's in a good place for eternity and undoubtedly with some of the men he served with.

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