Besides his family, there were two things in life that my father really loved.  Those two things were baseball and the Marine Corps.  He enjoyed success in baseball.  He played several years of professional ball in the minor leagues and also in the Marine Corps.  He also was a successful coach of the Shelby pony league all-stars, taking teams the state championship series two years in a row.  He really loved the Marine Corps.  My father was a true Marine Hero.  We can tell that he was a hero in the traditional sense because of the units he served with; Among them the 1st Marine Raider Battalion, the 1st Marine Division, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, and 3rd Battalion 5th Marines.  We can also tell he was a hero from the wars he served in.  He saw action in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.  He fought in many of the most legendary battles that US Marines took part in including Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Peleliu, Okinawa and Chosin Reservoir.  We can also tell that he was a hero because of the decorations he received including the Bronze Star and five Purple Hearts.  Mostly I believe he was a hero because after living through all that he returned home to be a husband and father to eight children.  Marines have a set of rules that we live by – a code of honor that we’re always faithful to.  Dad was always faithful to this code.  Semper Fidelis Dad. Gunny.  Semper Fi!