- Joined
- Feb 20, 2005
- Location
- Ocala, FL (as of December, 2015).
To all,
A dear friend of mine, Ron Goodwin, whose logon ID was oldreb, has passed on, leaving me, and many others, much poorer for his absence.
Ron came from Mississippi to Ohio many years ago, bringing his family with him. As there were no Rebel reenacting units (at that time) Ron fell in with us of the 49th and 76th OVI, wearing the blue, but always complaining that by doing such, "it itched him mightly."
Then Ron had the idea of forming the 17th Mississippi Infantry Regiment by recruiting us Union boys to go gray at other reenactments "just for fun." We immediately voted Ron to be our Captain (at which he was utterly appalled) as he had no military experience whatsoever as an officer. But he soon fixed that shortcoming by appointing me the company first sergeant.
We had a grand time. We fell in with the Army of Northern Virginia at the 135th Gettysburg reenactment, Balls Bluff, the 135th Battle of the Horseshoe, and many others. When I was in the ranks as a Reb, Ron would tease me and call Abraham Lincoln names, but I had my revenge. Poor Ron forgot his wallet one time at home when he traveled with me to an out-of-state reenactment and was forced to ask me for a loan so he could eat that weekend. Part of the deal was he HAD to agree with everything nice I said about Lincoln for that whole time. Drove him absolutely crazy, but as a true Southern gentleman, he kept his word and endured.
Then came the time I was broke and Ron lent me eatting money for a weekend. But he could not take satisfaction from making me swear to bad mouth Lincoln, as I would eat my food cheerfully and agree with every bad thing he said about my beloved President.
I will miss him. It was he that informed me of this forum and invited me to participate here, oh so long ago. oldreb had many a running battle here about slavery, the cause, and his beloved Confederacy.
May he rest in peace.
I am going to attach a picture of the 17th Mississippi, the unit Ron formed so that all of us Ohio boys could wear the gray.
I am standing on the right of the picture and Ron is seated in a chair next to me.
Those were the days.
Goodbye, Ron, glad to have known you and I look forward to seeing again.
Sincerely,
1stSGT Taylor J. Hamilton
17th Mississippi
A dear friend of mine, Ron Goodwin, whose logon ID was oldreb, has passed on, leaving me, and many others, much poorer for his absence.
Ron came from Mississippi to Ohio many years ago, bringing his family with him. As there were no Rebel reenacting units (at that time) Ron fell in with us of the 49th and 76th OVI, wearing the blue, but always complaining that by doing such, "it itched him mightly."
Then Ron had the idea of forming the 17th Mississippi Infantry Regiment by recruiting us Union boys to go gray at other reenactments "just for fun." We immediately voted Ron to be our Captain (at which he was utterly appalled) as he had no military experience whatsoever as an officer. But he soon fixed that shortcoming by appointing me the company first sergeant.
We had a grand time. We fell in with the Army of Northern Virginia at the 135th Gettysburg reenactment, Balls Bluff, the 135th Battle of the Horseshoe, and many others. When I was in the ranks as a Reb, Ron would tease me and call Abraham Lincoln names, but I had my revenge. Poor Ron forgot his wallet one time at home when he traveled with me to an out-of-state reenactment and was forced to ask me for a loan so he could eat that weekend. Part of the deal was he HAD to agree with everything nice I said about Lincoln for that whole time. Drove him absolutely crazy, but as a true Southern gentleman, he kept his word and endured.
Then came the time I was broke and Ron lent me eatting money for a weekend. But he could not take satisfaction from making me swear to bad mouth Lincoln, as I would eat my food cheerfully and agree with every bad thing he said about my beloved President.
I will miss him. It was he that informed me of this forum and invited me to participate here, oh so long ago. oldreb had many a running battle here about slavery, the cause, and his beloved Confederacy.
May he rest in peace.
I am going to attach a picture of the 17th Mississippi, the unit Ron formed so that all of us Ohio boys could wear the gray.
I am standing on the right of the picture and Ron is seated in a chair next to me.
Those were the days.
Goodbye, Ron, glad to have known you and I look forward to seeing again.
Sincerely,
1stSGT Taylor J. Hamilton
17th Mississippi