George Grba is dead.

His daughter called. George Grba died June 17 2009.
I joined B Co 27th Wolfhounds 25th Inf Div Sep 2 1950.
George came to the platoon Jan 25 1951. Men who
had known him in Aug 50 were astonished to see him.
He told me that in Aug he had gone down the hill to fill
canteens, and accidentally shot himself in lower leg
with his rifle. In Nov (?) he got out of hospital and
sat in the hall in the Pentagon for five days to talk
with a general. He explained his wound, and asked to go
back to B Co to prove to himself and to the world that
he is not a coward. The general shook his hand.
George and I were riflemen in First Platoon (Ent's
platoon). The mission of the infantry soldier is to
close with and kill the enemy with a rifle.
I was about ten feet from George when a rifle bullet
grazed the top of his left ear. We were together
daily until April when he was wounded by fragments
from an artillery air burst. He was evacuated and
never came back to the company.
I finished my tour in Sep 51.
George is one of the finest and bravest men I ever met.
It wll be my honour to serve with him again in Valhalla.


Ave atque vale
Through many countries and over many seas
I have come, Brother, to these melancholy rites,
to show this final honour to the dead,
and speak (to what purpose?) to your silent ashes,
since now fate takes you, even you, from me.
Oh, Brother, ripped away from me so cruelly,
now at least take these last offerings, blessed
by the tradition of our parents, gifts to the dead.
Accept, by custom, what a brother’s tears drown,
and, for eternity, Brother, ‘Hail and Farewell’.
Gaius Valerius Catullus