The best years of their lives

After the forum last week at the First Baptist Church, I was approached by Dale Taylor, the Post Commander down at the American Legion Post No. 199.

Commander Taylor shook my hand and asked me what I thought the City might do to help the Legion. “What do you need?”, was my reply.

It’s a pity that at one end of our beachfront we spend millions to refurbish the municipal pier, while at the other end there sits a historic building…

…which has been vacant and unused since Sally. There has been a lot of discussion about the future of the American Legion Hall, but progress has been slow, much too slow. I visited the Fairhope Yacht Club a couple of weeks ago for the first time, for another candidate forum. They have a wonderful clubhouse, which is for members only. Our veterans deserve an equally impressive space. And by the way, the space that our veterans use for their meetings is open to the public.

The picture at the top of this post is of my hero, Dick Gibbens. He and my Aunt Brenda were stationed in Germany when the Berlin Wall went up. Because of that crisis, she was sent home to Louisiana with two small children, and pregnant with a third. Dick and Brenda really did give some of the best years of their lives in service to our country. Let’s show a little gratitude.

That picture with the truck was taken before I was born. Here’s how I remember Spec 5, Richard Thomas Gibbens III, U.S. Army…