2/27/2007
Dad,
This all started when I shared your story with a good friend of mine,
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.
Jeff and I have been friends for over 30 years. We first met when he
was playing guitar in a group that played in one of the clubs in
time Jeff was on his way out to
"Steely Dan". They went on to become one of the most important rock bands of
the '70s and '80s. He eventually left them and joined "The Doobie
Brothers" an equally important band from that time period. He and I
reconected while I was working at Yamaha and I used him frequently for
product evaluations. This continued when I moved on to Fender. Over the
years we grew closer and see each other pretty regularly when he is in
town.
Jeff is a very interesting person. He always had an interest in the
military and in weaponry. About 10-15 years ago he wrote a paper on how
he felt that the technology being developed for music synthesis could
be used quite successfully for modern weapons tracking and positioning.
His paper caught the eye of people in the Pentagon and on the Senate
Armed Services Comittee. For the past 10 years he has worked as a
consultant not only to both of them, but has become an expert in security as
well, working in an advisory capacity for a number of major
metropolitan police departments. Because of his past and present as a musician,
and, what he's been involved with for the past 10+ years, he has been
profiled on CBS' 60 Minutes, the Today Show and had a front page feature
article in the Wall Street Journal.
Through his work with the Pentagon he has met and worked with a number
of people in all branches of the service. For the past 20 years or so
I assisted him in getting guitars and amplifiers for many of his
friends in the military. In addition I helped supply guitars for charity
events for the U.S. Marshall's Fund for Families of Fallen Marshalls and
the Fallen Warriors Fund for the children of Special Ops forces who have
given their lives in defense of our country.
About a year ago, while Jeff and I were out to lunch we were talking
about modern air combat. I mentioned the missions that you had flown
during World War II and he was surprised that you'd flown both B-17s and
P-51s. You had given me a couple of copies of "Spider's Story", so when
we got back from lunch I gave him a copy. He was so impressed with
your story that he gave a copy to Lt. General Mike Wooley, USAF, (one of
the people in the military he works with) and asked him to read it.
They next time they got together they decided that they would like to do
something special to recognize all you had done for your country. It
took a while, but about a month ago I received the flag, the certificate,
photo and the hand written note from General Wooley.
Like I said when I gave it to you on Saturday - you deserve it.
Love,
Dan
