M14 Forum

USMC6094 · February 17th, 2012, 07:56 AM

Its amazing what we lose when we lose touch (sometimes forever) with the people that had a great affect on us.

I met Top Pfanner when I was in high school and was frequenting the Marine Recruiter Sub-station in New Bern NC. He'd taken over the office and was a Gunny at the time. He never turned me out when I came looking to shoot the bull and talk about joining. Later her moved to the area office in Jacksonville and kept me as one of his contracts even though he was Staff NCOIC of the area.
After his hitch as a recruiter was up he went to the communications school at Camp Gieger and thats where he retired from.
The last time I talked to him, I was a newly promoted Corporal stationed at MCAS Miramar getting ready to go on my first deployment and he was getting ready to retire.
I got curious as to where he was and what he was doing last night and googled his name. To my dis-appointment I found that he'd been called away on 2004 very suddenly at the age of 44.

Rest in Peace Top, youre greatly missed.

GeneCo · February 17th, 2012, 08:23 AM

RIP TOP,,,,,,,,OOOrah!

Quote:

If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven’s scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
By The United States Marines.......

And when he goes to heaven,
To Saint Peter he will tell:
Another Marine reporting, Sir,
I've served my time in hell!"

willriskit · February 17th, 2012, 12:00 PM

Sorry to hear about the passing of your friend. He was being born about the time I was in boot camp, so he had a short life indeed. One of the reasons I've been out of touch with the Marines I served with was that it seemed that every time I talked to one of the old gang I'd hear that someone else had passed on and that got to be depressing. As we age the last thing we want to be reminded of is our own mortality.

God bless and Semper Fi!

MODD, MCL Life, VFW Life, VVA Life

USMC6094 · February 17th, 2012, 04:23 PM

By the time he passed I'd been in 7 years.............I only keep up with one of my buddies from my time in, and we're still catching up from six years of not knowing where the other was. I'm not gonna let that happen again

willriskit · February 17th, 2012, 05:41 PM

I used to go to reunions where we toured MCRD and had a great time, but the last few were mainly composed of career men, many of whom I wasn't wild about fifty years ago and spending a couple of grand to go hang out with them for a week isn't a very attractive option. The problem is that my buddies (being mostly snuffies) avoided these but friendships from fifty years ago still continue via correspondence and the Marine Corps grapevine. Of the brown baggers, nobody is married to the same wife I knew now and we seem to be more absorbed by the lives of our kids and grandkids. I tried to get my son on the yellow footprints, but he went to college first and the Air Force gave him a better deal, so now he flies fighters. Oddly, one of his buddies is a descendent of locals I knew back in J'ville when we used to hunt on their property. I couldn't believe this at first, but he described in detail an arrangement these gentlemen had with a perticular lady and I knew what he telling me was genuine. I guess it's inevitable that we'll all keep running into each other.