Captain Tom

In my last blog entry, I made a side note that the commander of our Legion post died on Thursday. I feel he deserves more than just a side note. I have stopped by the post a couple of times since Tom died and it is very strange not to see his car in the parking lot or him sitting in his spot at the far end of the bar. He hasn't really been there for the last couple of months. The last time I saw him in there was at our first meeting in June. You could tell he was in pain but at that point all we knew was that he was waiting for hip replacement surgery. The canteen manager even joked that the canteen staff wished the commander a speedy recovery as sales of Micholobe light were way down. Everyone laughed including Tom. After the meeting he came out to the bar area, had a coke and then went home. That was the last time I saw him. Two weeks later we had our induction of new officers for the up coming year. Although Tom couldn't come-his wife said he was in too much pain- he was inducted as the commander. After that the news got worse and Tom passed a month after that last meeting.
Today, the Legionaires, the Auxillary and the Sons will provide casket guards at his wake. We will then conduct a Poppy Service which is a very moving ceremony. Tomorrow he will receive a 21-gunsalute after his funeral mass. He is entitled to full military honors and the members of our post will do the best we can to provide those honors. Normally it is Tom that commands the firing squad and the color guard. I guess we will be on our own.