We’ve been talking about the details of the Coroner’s authorities and duties, both official dictated by law as well as unofficial as we try to care for the community. Because my deputies and I see death a lot more often, it gives us a much greater appreciation for the blessings of life so this article will be a little more personal, reflective and inspirational than I’ve previously written.
As a Special Forces Green Beret, I was assigned to special units with classified, secret missions, sometimes for a short, temporary duty, sometimes for years. I recently attended a reunion of one of those classified units and it was quite a wake up as to how we ALL age and eventually pass on. When I was a Green Beret, we sometimes carried rucksacks on our back weighing as much as a hundred and thirty pounds. This was in addition to ammunition and water which might add another thirty pounds or so. We had to move cross-country as much as forty miles and arrive at checkpoints in a certain amount of time. Thankfully, this was with half the weight of above, but it was still grueling.
Doing all of the above and being entrusted with the security of our nation and our fellow soldiers’ lives, really gave us a feeling of the fullness of youth and invincibility. That feeling, when reinforced over twenty-plus years, really becomes ingrained in an individual’s psyche. So, when I went to the reunion, I was still hanging on to memories of young, super-fit, patriotic Green Berets. When I arrived at the reunion, I was met with a variety of aging, sometimes overweight (myself included), graying old men who exchanged stories of parachuting, mountain climbing, skiing, scuba diving, and shooting; all almost thirty years ago.
But the real wakeup call came when the too-long list of those who had passed on before us was read out. Some had died from strokes, some from cancer. We were emplacing a large, granite, memorial stone to my unit at the US Army Special Operations Headquarters in Fort Bragg, among the other, secret at the time, units who had defended the nation during the Cold War. Each of those men who had passed had his name read out and one or more of his friends would step forward and tell a good, usually funny story about how that particular individual had left his mark on all our memories. While most all stood, I sat the entire time with my head bowed in reverence and my mind engrossed in memories. How could they be gone so soon? How could they be gone while the rest of us were here? Trying to pretend we are still young. But always mindful that you don’t stop doing things when you get old; you get old when you stop doing things.
As we answer Coroner’s calls around the county, I and my deputies, Joe Trussell and James Hargett, see all too many times when someone leaves their family and both they and the family are unprepared. It’s small consolation, but in some recent cases, individuals died while doing something they loved. Whether fishing, landscaping, or whatever, they lived their lives to the very end doing what they loved. While it doesn’t take away the pain of the loss, it provides some comfort and solace that they were getting the most out of their life.
As you read this, I ask you to think about how you are living your life. Are you living it to its fullest? Are you and your loved ones ready? Each among us has to determine what ‘ready’ is to themselves. I know that I used to joke about how if I died before age sixty, people would say, “He was such a young man,” and that once I turned sixty, they would say, “He lived a good life.” My neighbor is ninety-eight years old and still acts young, mowing his yard and keeping as fit as possible for a man who recently had a hip replaced. What an inspiration he is. Even more, he served his county as a young sailor Seabee during World War II, building defenses on Okinawa. He’s retired from multiple full-time jobs as a civilian and has more knowledge than I’ll ever be blessed with. No one will ever be able to say he didn’t live a full life. And there is always the possibility I will go before him. Nothing in this life, especially tomorrow, is ever guaranteed.
President Trump’s recent University of Alabama commencement address was an inspiration so I pulled the video up at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZYvjXDZ-2E What struck me the most were President’s Trump’s admonishments to be successful and focused in your youth. Never wait until you’re older, until you’re ready, until something else is more complete. If you want to do something, do it now, don’t wait for tomorrow. If you think you’re too young to do something great, you’re wrong. You can have great success at a young age; young people can do anything. I was the oldest in my Special Forces Qualification course at 30, while all of those around me were in their 20’s. Steve Jobs founded Apple at 21, Trump developed the Grand Hyatt Hotel in mid-town Manhattan at 28, Walt Disney was 21 when he founded Disney, James Madison, James Monroe, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, were all no older than 25 when they began their journeys that etched their names into the history books for all time. Don’t waste your youth. Now is the time to work harder than you have ever worked before. Find your limits, then smash through them. Find something that you love in life and think big, then work hard. Most importantly, never, ever give up.
If you’re partying instead of preparing for a successful life in your twenties, chances are you will never live the full life you could have.
Danny Leo Green, Cedar County Coroner
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