October 3, 2009

Gene's brother-in-law Bob Edwards shares this memory of Gene. 

In the fall of 2004 Frances and I drove Gene and Emily to Washington DC, primarily to visit the WWII memorial that was newly completed.  Joyce was there for a NAMI conference and joined us on our sightseeing.  We took a taxi cab from the hotel to the WWII memorial.  The main part of the memorial is one level lower than the surrounding territory. There are entrances at each corner with ramps leading down to the floor of the memorial.  Gene was wearing his Airborne cap.  Before he got half way down the ramp a lady approached him and asked him if he had been in the war and in Airborne.  When he said yes, she asked if she could introduce her son who was interested in Airborne and WWII.  She also asked Gene if he would tell the son about his war experience.  The son, a high schooler, came over and was introduced.  The mother asked to take a photo of her son with Gene.  They were with a high school band from Missouri and were in Washington to participate in a band competition.  As soon as the word spread the rest of the band swarmed around Gene asking questions.  Then other people were attracted to the crowd and gathered around to hear what Gene had to say.  It was almost an hour before Gene was able to proceed down the ramp to the floor of the memorial.  A number of times he attracted a small crowd when someone noticed his cap and asked him to tell some of his tales.