31 Days in the Moment - Uncle Bobby Joe, Part 2

27 October 2014

Uncle Bobby Joe served in the US Army in the early 1960s. He was stationed in the Mannheim, Germany area.
One day, my grandparents got a telegram that no parent wants to receive. It told them of the death of Uncle Bobby Joe. They were devastated and I do not believe that either one of them ever fully recovered from the loss of their firstborn.






Uncle Bobby Joe's captain wrote the following letter to my Papa Gunter:

Uncle Bobby Joe had been riding a streetcar and slipped off. He was dragged to death by the streetcar. The Statement of Casualty issued by the US Army describes injuries that, to me, must have caused him a tremendous amount of pain. I can only hope that it happened so fast that he didn't feel any of it or that shock prevented him feeling the pain of his injuries. Here is the description from the Statement of Casualty:

He was only twenty-four years old. To my knowledge, he never married nor had any children. I am awaiting verification on that information.

Now, he lies buried with his parents and his brother, my daddy.