A Gathering of Eagles

A church full of veterans gather for lunch

And of course, one turkey - me.  Just a short photo entry into my pantheon of heroes blog - you see assembled the Christ Church - Presbyterian, of Longboat Key veterans group.  The fellow sitting (left) closest to the camera is Chuck Fuller, age 90, who was part of a B-29 aircrew in the air over Japan.  The youngest member is the guy in the Hawaiian shirt, age 66, who was "on the air" over Thailand and Vietnam.

Each guy told about his most memorable times during their service.  One guy ran a PX in Korea, another was also in the Army Air Corp in B-29's.  There was a post WW II dentist on Okinawa, and a Marine Infantry Captain from Vietnam (he's the guy next to me, wearing white, still looking fit).  One fellow told of dancing his way into special services - he was an original Jet in West Side Story, and proved his talent by hopping on the recruiter's desk and tap dancing.  There was one fellow who was not a US vet, but we adopted him into our group.  A Canadian, he was a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  Sadly, his name wasn't Dudley - that would have made this blog do right.