Submitted by Dad's lifelong friend, Steve Carver
I have known Carl since we met in March of 1971 on our way
to basic training for the Air force Reserves. Basic has a way of forging strong
bonds of friendship as people go through tough trials together and it was there
that we formed a lifelong friendship. With
his distinctive red hair Carl was never overlooked in a crowd. Carl was chosen
as the first Dorm Chief of our flight of about 30 trainees. That meant that he
was in charge of us all when the drill sergeants were not there. When we had KP duty and everyone got the crap
jobs Carl was picked as the Cook’s gopher because he could find him easily. At
Tech school following basic Carl had someone drive his Black VW bug over to
Denver so we would have transportation.
That made him a hero at tech school.
Back at Hill AFB there were seven or eight of us in the same
class from basic. We would have our one weekend a month training days where we
all got together. From that Carl got me
a job at Redman warehouse working with him in the damage bay. I was just married
and going to college and Carl and Marilyn were soon to be married as well.
Those were great times. We all did fun things together. Carl
and I studied together and worked hard to get through school.
One day Carl or Max came in to work with a .22 cal pistol. I
wanted to shoot it so we just set up a stack of flattened cardboard boxes
against the wall. I was shooting at them when our superintendent of the
warehouse opened the door and leaned his head in to see what the noise was
about. The door was right next to the target but I ceased fire of course. The boss said “What the hell is going on
here? And Carl, with a grin on his face nonchalantly sauntered over to him and
calmly explained that we were checking out the gun. No big deal. I thought I was going to get fired for sure
but he smoothed it over and everything was fine.
When I look back on my very formative early married life and
becoming a husband and young father, Carl and Marilyn played a huge part in
those years. They were our best friends and we did a lot of things together.
Carl and I worked at Redman, went to college, were in Reserves, went hunting
and camping, hiking, played tennis, played toilet paper tag in the warehouse on
Saturdays, body surfed at sandy beach in Hawaii and whatever thing was fun or
exciting. As much fun as we had we knew what mattered most and made sure we
took care of important work and relationships. He was a great worker, student
and a superior friend, brother, son, husband and father.
I cherish the friendship we had and will never forget the
great memories we made. Carl lived life
with an eternal perspective. He dared to
live to the fullest and accepted every bump and bruise that came with experiences
that only brave men will ever have. He left us too soon for certain but he made
his mark in the world and left a great legacy for all of us to follow.
Sincerely,
Steve Carver
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