David Francke
Dear 50thCompany:
Lou and I have some sad news to pass on. It hurts us to say it, but we just learned that classmate David Francke passed away on July 6 in his hometown of Sellersburg, Indiana. Classmate Randy Kimler, who attended Scout Dog School at Benning with David and remained close friends with him over the years, learned of his death from his daughter. Lou has sent a condolence message to the family on behalf of 50th Company.
So far, I have been unable to find an online family-approved obituary, but many of us got to know David through his participation in our reunions and Shoot-the-Breeze Zooms. (The photo below was taken at the Gettysburg reunion.) At the Benning reunion, he led us to the Scout Dog Memorial and gave a talk about the program and the many lives the dogs (and their handlers) saved. David bonded with several classmates, including John Morrissey and Chuck Granner. In March, he and his wife Linda (of over fifty years) hosted a small 50thCompany get-together in their home in Cape Coral, Florida, and were planning another one next May.
By way of background, David got tired of the OCS B-S and left the program. He volunteered for the three-month Scout Dog School at Benning and shipped off to Vietnam in October 1969, assigned to the First Infantry Division. When Division S-1 found out he could type, they made him a clerk-typist and he enjoyed a cushy assignment in Division HQ. However, when the First Division was pulled out of Vietnam as part of the Vietnamization program, it forgot to take David back to the States with them.
As he described the situation: “I got transferred to the 1st Cav with the 37th Scout Dog Platoon. I picked Brutus to be my best friend. (Or he picked me?) Brutus never let us get ambushed or sniped at. Along the way, we invaded Cambodia. I refused a Purple Heart because I couldn’t tell anyone how I got my wound. (Another guy’s dog bit me.) I am probably one of the few SPC-5s who got a CIB, Bronze Star, and Army Commendation Medal. I should have had also gotten an Air Medal, but since I was not making the Army a career, it did not matter.”
After Vietnam, David went to grad school at Ball State University in Indiana. That’s where he met Linda. They settled in Sellersburg, Indiana, near Louisville, Kentucky and only eight miles from where David was born. They had three girls and a son and were blessed with lots of Grand-Blessings. David worked as a certified general real estate appraiser and a real estate broker. Linda’s career was in teaching. In retirement, David owned and managed a self-storage complex. When he found out about 50th Company’s effort to reconnect, he embraced the opportunity to reunite with his classmates from a half-century before.
May he Rest in Peace. Linda and his children (and grandchildren) will greatly miss him. So will we from 50th Company. David's Obituray
Regards from Brian and Lou.
Photo taken at the 2022 Gettysburg Reunion
Lawrence (Sandy) Kirkland
Sandy Kirkland 2nd Platoon
CARROLLTON, Ga. — Lawrence (Sandy) Kirkland, age 75, passed away on August 12, 2021, in Carrollton, Georgia at the Oaks Nursing Home as he succumbed to a 20-year battle with Parkinson's Disease. He was surrounded by family at his time of death. He is interred at Rosemont Cemetery, Newberry, S.C.
Lawrence was born in St. Augustine, Fla. on November 22nd, 1945, to Lawrence Alexander Kirkland Jr. and Elizabeth Ingram Kirkland. He attended college at Newbery College where he met his surviving spouse, Jeannette Bergen Kirkland. He graduated and attended graduate school at the University of South Carolina where he obtained a master's in early childhood education. He was a captain in the United States Army (1968-1972) as a platoon commander at Ft. Wainwright, Alaska. Lawrence was a longtime nursing home administrator for Regency and Pruitt Health. He was a loving father and husband who loved to ride motorcycles and living life as a free spirit.
Lawrence is survived by his wife Jeannette Bergen Kirkland: Sons – Alexander Howell Kirkland, Arthur Baker Kirkland along with Arthur's bride Marianna: Grandson – Alexander Blane Kirkland: Siblings – Douglas Ingram Kirkland, Julie Kirkland Berger, Isabella Kirkland
Colin J. Grey
Colin J. Grey / 5th Platoon
Colin Jerome Grey, age 76, of Birmingham, Alabama, departed this life on Thursday, December 5, 2019. Services celebrating his life were held on Saturday, December 14, 2019 at Grey-Bushelon Chapel. On December 16 at 11:00 A.M. he was interred in the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo, AL.
Richard Robert Myers
Richard R. Myers / 5th Platoon
Richard's spouse, Karen Peterson Myers, announced with great sadness that her husband, Richard R. Meyers of Florence, South Carolina, passed away unexpectedly on November 17, 2018 at the age of 74. Professionally, he worked in various capacities at several aluminium plants. His hobbies were RVing, woodworking and bridge.
Richard was born in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 16, 1944. He was predeceased by his father, Robert Lee Myers, but was survived by his mother Lois, his spouse, and his two daughters and their children, and his two sisters.
Timothy Dale Mendez
Timothy Dale Mendez 5th Platoon
BIRTH 7 Jun 1949 DEATH 4 Jun 2020 (aged 70) BURIAL California Central Coast Veterans Cemetery Seaside, Monterey County, California (Obituary not found)
Robert Burdette Tomas
Bob Tomas 3rd Platoon
It saddens me to have to report that our classmate, Bob Tomes, passed away on October 11, 2024. Bob, as a member of the 3rd Platoon helped many of us make it through the program. I also had the opportunity to spend some time and reconnect with Bob during our Washington, D.C. reunion. Bob exemplifies the phrase "officer and a gentleman". We will miss him at future reunions but he will be with us in spirit.
Bob's obituary can be found at the link below.
https://www.turrentinejacksonmorrow.com/obituaries/robert-bob-tomes
Rest in Peace, Bob
Lou Lallo