Posted by Keith Garner on May 31, 2011:

I met Nick as a Plebe during Beast Barracks in 6th Company. As fellow "runts" from Texas, we saw each other often. After graduation, I went through Ranger, Airborne, and Artillery Officers Basic Course with him and voluntered with him for Special Forces, where we became "DASLs". We were assigned to the Army Language School at the same time and he drove with me to Amarillo from Monterey, CA, so I could be married. My wife, Bobbie, and I had him over to our home several times both in Monterey and later at Ft. Bragg after we returned there from the language school. We were dispatched to Vietnam as executive officers of Special Forces "A" teams at the same time. I was in Vietnam when he was captured and all the "A" teams volunteered to go look for him; however, that was denied. We were overjoyed when he escaped and were able to visit with him in Virginia and later at Ft. Bragg when he threw a tremendous "promotion party" to celebrate the two promotions he had received while a POW. After he briefly left active duty, he came to Abilene while running for State Comptroller in Texas in the mid-1970s. I arranged for him to speak at several functions in Abilene, including all three universities' student bodies and several civic clubs. At a banquet for the ROTC cadets at Hardin-Simmons University, I had the honor of swearing Nick in as a Major in the US Army Reserve. I will never forget the morning I was getting ready for work when Paul Harvey announced that Nick had been assassinated in the Philippines. I attended his funeral at Arlingon National Cemetery. Bobbie attended the dedication of the momument to Nick in New Jersey. Nick is my Hero! I could never have done what he did. I miss him every day. Keith Garner A-2

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