GOLD STAR FAMILY and Friends Page Upon this page are posted tributes to our fallen friends submitted by comrades, friends and family. If you wish to honor someone from Alpha - please contact Bruce at bhbim@webtv.net

TONY HARPER

2nd LT Tony Harper is memorialized at the Thomas P. Mitchell Wall of Honor on the second floor inside the Harpe-Johnson ROTC building at Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. Located off Wildwood Drive east of the Leach Student Recreation Center. The building is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tony was from Jacksonville, Florida, and a 1967 FSU graduate honored by the university in 1996. His name is also listed on the Florida Vietnam Veterans Memorial near the Capitol.

John Chaves

IN JOHNNY'S MEMORY Johnny was a much-loved boy By friends and family; Off to a foreign land he went To unchain the unfree. A little while he tarried there, And then he was no more, And the old world goes rolling on, Just as it did before... But not quite as it was before, For each soul bears the mark Imposed upon its Author To extend His divine task: The lessening of suffering, Through justice and redress, The uprooting of enmity Through love and forgiveness, The lessening of misery To bring more happiness, The abatement of bigotry To make a world more blessed. A little while Johnny stayed here, Each day making his mark, Caring, sharing and diligent, True to his divine spark. - Priscilla Laveaga (John's aunt)

MY LITTLE BROTHER JOHN When John was born twenty years before, I was five and my sister four. I barely remember, as I was too young, But when he cried, you could see his lungs. A head of thick black hair he had And curly just like Mom and Dad. When John was about te age of nine, We all got along well most of the time. We used to play hide and find And I remember John being it most of the time. When John was about twenty years We all had concern to shed our tears, For he left his family, friends and home To enter the army without a groan. When John was in Vietnam a short time He was seriously injured from a mine. He now lies in a hospital bed With thememory of all this in his head. But being the person only John can He is bound and determined to fight it like a man. For this, dear John, I am proud And I don't mind telling you even out loud, That my little brother John Has been special since the day he was born. 1972: and now he is gone..... - Linda DeFelice March 13, 1970 and 1972

THREE YEARS LATTER Three years have passed. So much has happened Since he breathed his last. A child was born Never to know her Uncle John. She will miss that smile That could brighten a room And rid us of our gloom. She will miss his gentleness, Touched with a bit of ruggedness, And in a loving sort of way The tricks he used to play. She will miss the knowing him, The treasure of loving him, Of him holding her And loving her. But someday we will all meet, I hope in Gods arms, And how happy we will be To say hello to our John And it will be as if we were never born. - Linda DeFelice March 6, 1973 (Submitted by Susan Perry - the "...child...born never to know her Uncle John".)

GOOKS by John C. Chaves December 1969

Gooks are raised on rice and wine And have no need for a sence of time. They harvest fields in the hot winter season, For something to eat and for a reason. The Gooks are raised for a mission in life. The men become soldiers and leave their wife. The children are born with no future in store, Brings joy to the mother who acts as a lure. For a Gook's life is a simple one, Which consists of a little fun. If this friend that we defend Would like to have their freedom, Stop the fighting, Send our men home, And ask God to lead them.

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