Archive » R.I.P.

Retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale has died. He was a war hero. Medal of Honor recipient. Patriot. From AP:
During the Vietnam War, he was a Navy fighter pilot based on the USS Oriskany and flew 201 missions before he was shot down on Sept. 9, 1965. He became the highest-ranking naval officer captured during the [...]

One of the most famous cats of the blogosphere, Laurence Simon’s Edloe, has passed away.
Send your condolences.
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Flashback:
All roads lead to Edloe
Edloe and Alf
Edloe and IDOI

Via AP:
Wal-Mart heir John T. Walton, who threw his considerable financial support behind efforts to educate low-income children, has died in the crash of a homemade, experimental aircraft.
Walton, of Jackson, Wyo., crashed shortly after takeoff Monday from Jackson Hole Airport in Grand Teton National Park, the company said. The cause of the crash was not [...]

Just learned of the untimely passing of milblogger Michael James Reed, aka “Bunker Mulligan.” His last blog post is here. He’ll be laid to rest on Friday. Deepest condolences to the family, which is requesting that any memorials for Bunker be made to Homes for Our Troops.
Update: Mudville Gazette has a tribute.

Iraqi police hero Maj. Imad Shakir Mahmoud died last week stopping a suicide bomber on Sunday, May 15, in the city of Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad. There was a memorial parade for Mahmoud today. His young daughter, carrying a large portrait of her slain father, led the way.
R.I.P., Maj. Mahmoud.

The outspoken retired Army colonel died of cancer yesterday, WND reports. Didn’t agree with much of his work, especially over the last few years, but he lived a fascinating life of service to this country.

My tribute to Deputy March is up at The Immigration Blog.

Quadratullah Wardak, 17 months old
Heartbreaking news: The Afghan toddler who underwent successful heart surgery in the U.S., and returned home just two days ago, has died unexpectedly:
Capt. Michael Roscoe, an Army medic who examined the boy’s body, said the his death is “like the loss of our own child.” Roscoe said that the cause of [...]

Pope John Paul II, 1920-2005
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- “The angels welcome you”
- The silver hammer, the tolling bells
- The Different Facets of Pope John Paul II
- Excellent coverage at The Corner
- Other bloggers on watch: Don Singleton and PunditGuy; Buzzmachine covers the coverage; the Anchoress is off to Mass, but has done some wonderful live-blogging throughout the night [...]

123pm. Fox reporting that the Holy Father has died. Sky News also reporting and Italian news agencies. Not yet confirmed by the Vatican. The Bronze Door has not yet closed.
142pm Fox is correcting itself. Reports that Vatican sources say Pope’s “heart and brain are still functioning.”
157pm Shepherd Smith apologizes for inaccuracy based on Reuters/Sky [...]

May Terri Schindler-Schiavo rest in peace and God have mercy on us all.
And Death Shall Have No Dominion
And death shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though [...]

The former Republican congresswoman from Florida, who specialized in defense issues, died today of complications from a brain hemorrhage. She was 62.
Fowler was known as the “Steel Magnolia,” and the AP carries this colorful anecdote:
Before running for Congress, Fowler served seven years on the Jacksonville City Council. In 1989, she was council president, becoming [...]

First reports in from AP:
ASPEN, Colo. - Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counter-culture author of books such as “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” fatally shot himself Sunday night at his Aspen-area home, his son said. He was 67.
The King of Gonzo’s last column for ESPN.com was published Feb. 15:
Shotgun Golf with Bill Murray.
Denver Post [...]

From AP:
LISBON, Portugal (AP) - Sister Lucia Marto, the last of three children who claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary in a series of 1917 apparitions, has died, Portuguese media reported Sunday. She was 97.
Sister Lucia, a Roman Catholic nun, had been ill for the past three months and died at the Convent of [...]

It’s not online, but Ladies’ Home Journal has an incredibly moving article on the wife and children of the late NBC reporter David Bloom. Bloom died in Iraq last year due to DVT–deep vein thrombosis–brought on by sleeping cramped up in a tank. Next month is DVT awareness month, and Bloom’s wife, Lisa, is helping [...]

Democratic Rep. Bob Matsui of California died last night of complications related to a rare stem cell disorder (ABC and others refer to the disease as “Milo Dysplastic Disorder,” but I think they mean this).
While I disagreed strongly with Matsui’s stance on the WWII evacuation/relocation/internment and his opposition to anti-terror threat profiling (see [...]

Spc. David Mahlenbrock is being laid to rest today at Arlington National Cemetary. In honor of his final request, here are the lyrics to his favorite song. God bless him and his family.
Toby Keith - American Soldier
I’m just trying to be a father,
Raise a daughter and a son,
Be a lover to their mother,
Everything to [...]

The San Francisco Chronicle has a morbid story on the latest in gangsta fashion.

Moved by the barbaric murder/beheading of American contractor Eugene Armstrong in Iraq, a reader remembered this poem by American poet/novelist James Dickey about a friend who was a pilot beheaded by Japanese captors during World War II. Coincidentally, the surname of the subject of Dickey’s poem was also “Armstrong.”

The Performance
by James Dickey
The last time I [...]

Brenda McCormick died over the weekend. For 18 years, her non-profit organization, Mothers Inc., has served needy children and seniors with an annual Thanksgiving turkey drive and Christmas toy drive. The organization also provides families with back-to-school supplies and helps locate shelter for the homeless. To the consternation of some of her [...]

Kathryn Lopez at NRO notes that journalist Mort Kondracke’s wife, Millie, has died of Parkinson’s Disease. He wrote movingly of their experience in his book, Saving Millie. Janice Krouse reviewed the book in 2002 and noted:
After the Clinton scandals, there’s little about celebrity marriages that surprises Washington anymore. But the tell-all book that has [...]

The name will be unfamiliar to most, but Constantine Menges was a great American dedicated to the preservation of freedom and security. He served under President Reagan as Special Assistant for National Security Affairs and at the CIA as a National Intelligence Officer. He was a scholar, author, university professor. Menges oversaw the design of [...]

Bill at INDC Journal has launched a fund-raising drive for the family of Captain Daniel Eggers, his high school friend who was killed in Afghanistan after his HUMVEE drove over a landmine while he was serving as the leader of a team of Green Berets. Capt. Eggers left behind a wife and two young sons. [...]

Hostage Kim Sun-Il has been beheaded. For now, South Korea remains stalwart against the Islamobarbarians. From AP:
Kim’s kidnappers had initially threatened to kill him at sundown Monday unless South Korea canceled a troop deployment to Iraq. The Seoul government rejected the demand, standing firm with plans to dispatch 3,000 soldiers starting in August.
Pray for Kim’s [...]

The family of fellow American Paul Johnson is asking for our prayers.
Pray hard for his soul, because the sad fact is that the Islamofascists have probably already killed him. Hope I’m wrong.
UPDATE: News of the beheading just broke. Paul Johnson, RIP. Will be interesting to see if we can verify when the savagery took place.

Read this. Then wipe away your tears and read my friend Mike Fumento’s important piece on defeating Alzheimer’s.

I’ll be leaving for D.C. later on today for President Reagan’s arrival. Will attend the public viewing this evening. From the Washington Post today: Anthony Ferrari, a Miami businessman, traveled up here for the funeral procession. “The man had a big impact on America. He really loved this country and it showed.”