Special Notice 2516 Update on ADM Ron Hays
From ADM Macke:
Howard, here is an update on Ron Hays. I would appreciate it if you could get this out to all Golden Eagles.
From my last visit:
I went by to see him at the VA Center today for a few minutes. He is weak but the ready smile, good spirit and sparkling eyes are still there. They were feeding him lunch, but it looked like he could feed himself??? His arms were more mobile than the last time I saw him.
From Tom Hayward’s visit a couple weeks ago:
I had anticipated seeing Ron in a weakened condition, with an uncertain immediate future. I was pleasantly surprised, not that Ron was in good shape by any means, but he was mobile, argumentative with staff, delighted to see me and joined in our 90-minute exchange of old and new thoughts. We talked about our early days with Bud Zumwalt (Ron and I were just a few yards apart on the E-Ring as he was responsive to the CNO and I to the Secretary.) We talked about the Vietnam War, especially since I was soon to give a talk on Veterans Day, and I thought I could exploit Ron’s achievements in my pitch. We also talked about his experiences as CinCPac, while I was retired in Honolulu, and discussed both his leadership with the MISSOURI and the Pacific War Aerospace Museum, neither of which would exist today had it not been for Ron’s foresight, perseverance and commitment to naval history. About this time, he started falling to sleep on me, so I bid him farewell, being reassured that he would soon be over with the cancer treatment and on his way to recovery. Obviously, we all hope that is so.
Take care, Dick.
Dick Macke
dick.macke@mac.com
|