#eod memorial

Saturday morning started off chilly, with a grey sky and the threat of rain. At the Wall, the fallen were remembered and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Greenert gave tribute. Eleven new names were added.

Towards the end of ceremony the sun came out, blue skies appeared, and the temperature noticeably warmed. 

Old friends and teammates were in abundance, and the day moved from grief towards the celebration of life at the Memorial Ball that night.

The NY Times just ran a tribute to EODCS Tim Johns, USN -- a great warrior who tragically is no longer with us. I didn't know him as well as my friends Jeff, Sparky, Scott, Sarah, or many others did, but I was lucky to have known him at all.

Across the globe, there is a community of EOD Technicians who are in mourning over Timmy's death. And this Saturday, many of us will gather. Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines. Active duty, retired, and separated. And we will grieve together at the annual EOD Memorial service.

For those of you who weren't fortunate enough to meet him in life, this is Senior Chief Tim Johns, USN. He was a Navy EOD Tech, and he deployed to combat over and over again so you didn't have to. He went to Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times and did a job most people would never think of taking on. He did it gladly, and he was one of the best there was.

But now he's dead. Al Qaeda didn't do it, and neither did the Taliban -- although both groups tried pretty damn hard to do so. It was a car wreck near China Lake, CA 4/27/2013 that got him. And he'll never go on the EOD Memorial because he didn't die "doing the job."

That won't stop lots of glasses being raised in his honor in a lot of Florida bars the next few days.

You should raise one too, and say thanks.

He was a warrior. And a friend.