cincibuck
You kids stay off my lawn!
Joseph "Al" Lofton, 1LT USMC
Class of 1966
The Ohio State University
In our brief time together, Al Lofton and I struggled to get along. Fraternity brotherhood isn't always the way it seems during rush week. Al looked like Paul Newman without the blue eyes. During Spring Quarter he tanned, I burned. We didn't argue, never quarreled openly, or campaigned against each other in chapter politics, but we didn't seek each other out for friendship either.
I left the Phi Delts and Ohio State, accepted my ROTC commission in June of 1967 and never thought much about Al. In September 1969 I left for Vietnam where I ran into several brothers, Dennis Michalske, Dick Dent, Pat Rudy, and heard about others, Mike Creager and Carl Hirsch, all of whom ended up in Vietnam in the 68 - 69 time frame.
Al must have arrived about the same time I did. He wasn't an ROTC cadet so the draft must have caught up with him. He probably went through boot camp and then Marine OCS and flight school. I didn't find out about his fate until several years later at a reunion.
In November of '68 he was a First Lieutenant flying second seat in a Cobra gunship. They were hit by ground fire, managed to get the Cobra on the ground, but then were killed as they tried to make it back to friendly troops.
Al and I were never close, never really "brothers in the bond," but I stop by his place of honor on The Wall each Veterans Day and pause to honor him on this day.
Class of 1966
The Ohio State University
In our brief time together, Al Lofton and I struggled to get along. Fraternity brotherhood isn't always the way it seems during rush week. Al looked like Paul Newman without the blue eyes. During Spring Quarter he tanned, I burned. We didn't argue, never quarreled openly, or campaigned against each other in chapter politics, but we didn't seek each other out for friendship either.
I left the Phi Delts and Ohio State, accepted my ROTC commission in June of 1967 and never thought much about Al. In September 1969 I left for Vietnam where I ran into several brothers, Dennis Michalske, Dick Dent, Pat Rudy, and heard about others, Mike Creager and Carl Hirsch, all of whom ended up in Vietnam in the 68 - 69 time frame.
Al must have arrived about the same time I did. He wasn't an ROTC cadet so the draft must have caught up with him. He probably went through boot camp and then Marine OCS and flight school. I didn't find out about his fate until several years later at a reunion.
In November of '68 he was a First Lieutenant flying second seat in a Cobra gunship. They were hit by ground fire, managed to get the Cobra on the ground, but then were killed as they tried to make it back to friendly troops.
Al and I were never close, never really "brothers in the bond," but I stop by his place of honor on The Wall each Veterans Day and pause to honor him on this day.
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