![\"Crooks](\"http:\/\/69.89.31.195\/~sukofami\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Crooks-2_2-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLast week America lost a hero but you probably didn’t hear about it. His name was William Crooks. He was a husband, a father and a US Marine.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He was a fighter pilot in the South Pacific and the Philippines Islands during WW II and in Peking, China following the war. For service in WW II he was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, five Air Medals, the Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Unit Citation with one star, Navy Occupation Medal, China Service Medal, the Asiatic Pacific campaign medal with two stars, the Philippine Presidential unit Citation and the Philippine Liberation Medal with one star.<\/p>\n
During the Korean War he was awarded his third Distinguished Flying Cross, sixth through eighth Air Medals, United Nations Service Medal, Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the National Defense Service Medal with one star.<\/p>\n
For service in Vietnam, 1968-69, he was awarded the Legion of Merit with Combat V, the Joint Services Commendation Medal, the Vietnamese Medal of Honor 2nd Class, the Vietnamese Psychological Warfare Medal, and the Vietnamese Service Medal with three stars.<\/p>\n
![\"My](\"http:\/\/69.89.31.195\/~sukofami\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/DSC00358.jpg\")
My last visit with “Uncle Bill” and “Aunt Bobbe” in 2011<\/p><\/div>\n
Despite his rank as a colonel and all his medals I simply knew him as Uncle Bill. In reality he was much more than an uncle to me.Since all my grandparents died before I was 10 Uncle Bill took on the role of grandfather for me and my\u00a0siblings.<\/p>\n
He was more than just a military hero, he was a hero at home. He faithfully loved\u00a0one woman for nearly 67 years! \u00a0His family was always a priority and he exemplified honesty and decency in every other aspect of life too.<\/p>\n
After spending time with him I always left his presence feeling as if I was standing a little straighter, more confident and ready to do things right. He had that kind of positive effect.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Uncle Bill lived his life in way that is rarely seen today. He didn’t offer excuses, he just did what was right. He didn’t wait for others to do the hard work for him, he stepped up and got the job done and then helped those around him. He held to a higher standard of decency and respect for all men. He was the kind of man you wanted to have around when times were tough but he was also just as enjoyable to be with when times were good.<\/p>\n We need more William Crooks in this world! He will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by our family!<\/p>\n Last week America lost a hero but you probably didn’t hear about it. His name was William Crooks. He was a husband,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[36,31],"tags":[142],"class_list":["post-2273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-writing","tag-memorial-day"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Crooks-2_2-1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-AF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":106,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/a-heros-honor-sgt-gabriel-de-roo\/","url_meta":{"origin":2273,"position":0},"title":"A Hero’s Honor – Sgt Gabriel DeRoo","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"September 1, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"In Memory of Gabriel DeRoo April 1st 1981 - August 20th 2006 A loving husband, father, son, and noble hero, is now at rest with his Savior in heaven. Gabriel was born April 1, 1981, to David and Laura DeRoo, and he grew up in Paw Paw, Michigan. As a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family"","block_context":{"text":"Family","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/family\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gabe in Iraq","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Deroo28.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Deroo28.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Deroo28.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3811,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/is-this-war-russian-troops-on-ukraines-border\/","url_meta":{"origin":2273,"position":1},"title":"Is this War? Russian Troops on Ukraine’s Border","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"March 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Valdimir Putin caught us all off guard when his troops marched into Crimea and very quickly and somewhat quietly took over. What will happen now that the annexation of Crimea is pretty much complete? Will Putin go in and take another bite out of Eastern or Southern Ukraine? Unfortunately there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Updates"","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/war-ukraine.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/war-ukraine.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/war-ukraine.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11918,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/resurrection-greetings-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2273,"position":2},"title":"Resurrection Greetings","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 24, 2019","format":"video","excerpt":"Christina and I want to send you our greetings as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.\u00a0 This Sunday was Palm Sunday in Ukraine, (you can watch my sermon in Russian here) we will celebrate Easter next Sunday. It was also presidential election day. Many Ukrainians\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4824,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/unbroken-what-angelina-jolie-isnt-telling-you-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2273,"position":3},"title":"Unbroken, What Angelina Jolie Isn’t Telling You!","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"December 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"What Angelina Jolie left out of her new film \"Unbroken,\" changes the whole story! The film chronicles the story of Louis Zamperini who survived 47 days on a life raft in the South Pacific before being picked up by the Japanese Navy. The following two years of his life was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/unbroken.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/unbroken.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/unbroken.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2477,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/how-to-love-your-enemies-and-be-a-millioniare-giver\/","url_meta":{"origin":2273,"position":4},"title":"How to Love Your Enemies and Be a Millionaire Giver","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It's easy to say that we love our neighbors but how do we show that in real life? Everyone wants to be a millionaire but wouldn't it be crazy to try to give away a million dollars? Theological education is great but why are there so many seminar grads just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Dr_Oh1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Dr_Oh1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Dr_Oh1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5080,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/49-peace-in-war-time-a-story-from-eastern-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":2273,"position":5},"title":"#49 Peace in War Time a Story from Eastern Ukraine","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"February 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Can there be peace in Ukraine after the latest ceasefire deal has completely crumbled? 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I also share with you a story of people finding peace right\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Gospel Today"","block_context":{"text":"The Gospel Today","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/bread.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/bread.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/bread.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Questions: How do people feel after they have left your presence? What do you want to be remembered for? What will you be remembered for?<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"