Hi everyone
I'm Chuck's "middlest" daughter. It's so special to hear all of your memories of our dad. Of course I remember his many, many battlefield trips (especially the ones he dragged us to as kids, where we would burn off our pent-up road trip energy by running around on the grass while he read the plaques and literature), but I didn't realize how many events he attended and buddies he visited with around the country. Now that I think about it, he'd mention that he got to meet one or another of you when he'd tell us about whatever trip he just been on (often calling from the car on a long stretch of the drive home), but I never realized how special that must have been for him to connect in real life.
It's funny: any time we ever had a niche issue or interest, he'd tell us to find a forum. Us millennial kids were used to the internet being full of strangers, shallow one-off connections, and having an article to read for anything we need to know, so I never really took it seriously. I see now that he was thinking of you all: his community, true friends that he made around his biggest passion.
We're of course heartbroken. You never expect to lose your dad this early, and he was truly the best. But it really does warm my heart to hear of his kindness and generosity towards all of you. That's my daddy, through and through. So glad that his light reached you all.
Lizzie (the "L" in
@KLSDAD)