John and Me

 

 

I'm putting this blog on hiatus through the end of this week to honor a son of Menasha- a 1960 graduate of St. Mary's, a 30-year US Air Force veteran, and my beloved oldest brother- John Galassie. 

 

John, or Jack, as he was later known, passed away on December 20th of last year.  It was his wish to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.  Due to the many services requested for other veterans, scheduling at Arlington had became quite backlogged.  As a result, his service was not available for seven months until this week.  His service is tomorrow at 11:00. 

 

As shown in the photograph above, you can see the huge age difference between the two of us- over 15 years in fact, but we spent our lifetimes erasing what distances there were between us, both geographically and socially. 

 

Jack left home after high school graduation in 1960 when I was three years old and as a boy, he was my hero, who'd come home from, what were to me, exotic places, in his resplendent blue uniform.  At the height of my GI Joe obsession, he was my very own lifelike model.  As he progressed through the ranks, I was the lucky recipient of his castoff stripes and I wore them proudly. 

 

When I was a young man, he became my mentor and as a result of his influence, I entertained ROTC as a means to finance college and eventually donned a uniform myself, though it was Army green.  Unlike his long career, my tenure as a soldier was brief, only five years.

 

As I matured, he was always there for me, though we might be separated by many, many miles.  But he was never far from my heart.  With the advent of email and the internet, keeping in contact became even easier.  Our adult years were a constant barrage of electronic communications for the distances had become too great and our paths didn't physically cross that often anymore. 

 

Sadly, to my chagrin and everlasting regret, when he passed, I had not seen him since January of 2008 when our mother passed away.  I am so thankful for the time we did spend together in her final weeks. 

 

So, here's to you, Jack.  You were my first hero and undoubtedly, my finest.  Godspeed, Big Brother.