The nicest kid I went to school with from 6th grade through high school wanted to join the Army

[NNN0LHI]

His dream was to become an Army tank driver. He joined up the day he turned 18 at the Army recruiter across the street from our high school. I went with him that day.

This kid was no dummy either. Straight A student in every subject every year I knew him. And he wasn't just book smart either. He was life smart too. I always asked his advice about stuff. But thats not all. He was probably one of if not the nicest people I have ever known in my life. He would literally give someone the shirt off his back if they needed it without hesitating.

But I don't remember people ever trying to get over on him either. He was too well respected and admired by everyone who knew him for that. Racial fights were common during our high school years but my friend Anthony (Tony) Samolis, never was involved in any of them. He got along with everybody.

Someone needed help with a tough school subject Tony was right there to help. Someone came up a little short at lunchtime Tony was the first one with the money out to pay for them and tell the person not to worry about it. That kind of decent.

Tony joined the Army in 1973, the year that the draft ended and it had become apparent the war in Vietnam was coming to a close. But he still went anyway. And I know if anyone went to war with the dream of trying to help other people less fortunate it was Tony.

After Tony returned from his tour he was still the most likable person he always was but he was also addicted to heroin. Tony never even drank a beer much less took drugs before he enlisted. I know that. He was Mr. Clean at a time when the stuff was everywhere. And no one was going to convince him otherwise. He had a very strong will.

A few months later his body was found laying near some railroad tracks about a block or so from his family home dead from a self inflicted gunshot wound.

I miss Tony to this day.

Don

[w8liftinglady]

1. I cant help but think of a John Prine song when I read that

Sam Stone
©John Prine

Sam Stone came home,
To his wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knee.
But the morphine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back.

Chorus:
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
Mmm....

Sam Stone's welcome home
Didn't last too long.
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
And Sammy took to stealing
When he got that empty feeling
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.
And the gold rolled through his veins
Like a thousand railroad trains,
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...

Repeat Chorus:

Sam Stone was alone
When he popped his last balloon
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair
Well, he played his last request
While the room smelled just like death
With an overdose hovering in the air
But life had lost its fun
And there was nothing to be done
But trade his house that he bought on the G. I. Bill
For a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill.

Repeat Chorus

[amerikat]

6. See this video........JP discusses how the song came to be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=206XaNxQ5LQ

peace

[Freedomofspeech]

2. Thank you for sharing...

there are so many stories like this, and will be so many more from this latest fiasco. This however is not a war, as we all know, it's an invasion of a country that we should be so ashamed of.

[Beregond2]

3. A lot

of people of our age group have stories like that. I say "our," but it sounds like I'm a bit older. Vietnam ended when I was in college. Every single guy I knew who ended up in the Army either came home dead or an addict. Remember that old song: "Be the first family on your block to see your boy come home in a box?" Gallows humor. The only good thing about it was, I thought Americans would never again be so stupid. Was I ever naive.

[KoKo]

4. That's really a rough story..

and, it's why we should only go to war when it's necessary .....when it's crucial. Wasting folks for ill gotten "invasions" causes the trauma that the country and those who serve never get over.

Yet...it seems we never remember...Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan.

All in many of our lifetimes. And, so much effort went into trying to get us out of Vietnam...and to stop the Iraq Invasion...and we still wonder..."Where have all the flowers gone..." And folks like Tony either dies somewhere far away or come home so scarred they just can't deal with it anymore.

Thanks for the post, Don. You keep the Invasion alive with your posts...you and a few others. But, for the Dem Party...the "war is off the table." Just like Impeachment. American people don't want to talk about it, the pundits say. And, for many of us it's too painful to keep at it every day worrying about it with all the rest going on. But, that war and that greed...is why our Economy is going down the tank. We've got to get out of there...but I think us "oldies" around here are starting to think it's Vietnam all over again. Promises ...Promises.. We will bet there until they throw us out or the killing gets to OTT or we are bankrupt. It could take many more years before the "Powers that Be" really get it.

Rest in Peace, Tony....

[Mojambo]

5. The cost of war shouldn't just be measured in soldiers lost in the field

The positive impact this kid, Tony, would have had throughout his life would have been so significant. We can't lose people like him, and we are again...

Sad.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. why does this post only have 1 Rec?

RIP Tony.