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Not everyone we remember this day died in combat, died in a war on some forgotten shore, some died in peace waiting for what they hoped would never come again.

I'd like to remember one such Marine, a Captain, who delighted in making me laugh when I wasn't supposed to even smile.

I was assigned to the wardroom of the USS Guadalcanal for mess duty, to serve the officers from breakfast to dinner, in a white jacket and my duty trousers. The XO of the ship had laid down the law, we weren't even supposed to talk, just bring the food, pour the coffee and clear the tables.

But Capt. Burrows had other plans, every time I cleared his table he would do something to try and make me laugh. One day a Lt. sitting with him, called me over, and pointed to the Capt's plate, and said there was something wrong with the Capt's ham and eggs.

I looked down at his plate and other than a half empty glass of green GI kool aid, there was nothing on his plate.

I should have known better, but I said "Sir, there are no eggs and ham on the Capt's plate". Capt. Burrows unspeaking looked up at me and dropped his jaw to reveal a mouthful of eggs and ham awash in green kool aid. "green eggs and ham" and yes, I got my ass chewed out for laughing so hard I got the hiccups for two days, and no, I never said why I burst into such a continuous fit of laughter.

He later flew into a cloud only to find a mountain inside of it, outside of Ashville, North Carolina in 1977. He survived the crash with two broken legs and a broken arm and attempted to crawl away from the flames and the wreckage, and nearly made it when he passed out and only then did the flames burn away his lower half of his body.

I guarded the wreckage for a day, while news crews tried to get pictures of the crew.

He was a great Marine Officer, and I will always remember him not in death but with a mouthfull of Green eggs and ham.