Tough Day

My father, retired Gunnery Sergeant, USMC, Johnny Tex Jones, died this morning.

 He had advanced bladder cancer and was also suffering from dementia, both possibly related to chemical exposure in the drinking water while we lived on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He served two tours on the front lines of the Vietnam War but only told me silly stories about stealing ice cream from the Air Force. My husband and I called him King Putz...he was always working on a project. One of his most successful projects was restoring a 1978 Corvette. My sons called him, "GP," short for grandpa. He loved that special nickname. He took great pride in his two grandsons...they were who and what he talked about the most the last few months of his life. He always called me princess. I couldn't have had a more loving and supportive father. He had many obstacles in his life but he never quit moving forward.