I had a wonderful encounter with a man of the Greatest Generation today. I presided at his funeral.

I walked into the chapel, and his family was gathered in a semi-circle in front of the casket. There were talking about him, their memories and all that he had accomplished.

This man was amazing! He was naval intelligence in the cold war, briefing Presidents’ Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon weekly.

He designed the hulls of Arleigh-Burke class Naval Destroyers.These vessels are the backbone of the Navy, with 74 currently in service, and nineteen more in production.

If that wasn’t enough, he also worked for NASA as a mechanical engineer. It was his idea in the 60’s to have astornaunts in their full EVA suits get into pools to simulate weightlessness.

He was involved in both the Apollo and Gemini missions, counting Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Gus Grissom and other space pioneers amongst his colleagues and his friends.

We need another Greatest generation don’t we? We need men and women who had a greater sense of self- civic duty minded, altruistic and willing to serve the greater good. So few of them left… without new people to stand up and replace them, I believe we will be in deep trouble in this nation.

May God continue to bless les him, and bring peace to his family.