'Anthony Buncum... Another Lost Shipmate'

As we get older one thing rings clear to all of us. At some point… you know you’re gonna have to come face to face with the problematic revelation of your own demise. Now I don’t plan on meeting my maker anytime soon so don’t get your panties all in a wad!!!

It just seems pretty dog-gone evident as the years blow on past a lot of family and friends seem to be crowding up God’s waiting room standing in line for their one way ticket to the other side.  In the past year my mother had gone… my wife’s mother… as well as a few shipmates I had lost touch with over the years…

One in particular shipmate has come up in recent days… not sure how he passed but its’ a shame someone of such fine young vintage and diligence to duty had to expire so soon.  Anthony Buncum was his name… didn’t know him as well as others but he was a helluva shipmate I can assure you!!!

I remember seeing Buncum, Merrill, Shulke and Magner bouncing off the passageways of the ol’ Rainier Lucky No. 7 back in the day… they all seemed like pretty cozy shipmates… swapping sea stories, hang’n out on the mess decks, doing what sailors do best…

I asked a couple of those shipmates if they could let me know of some of their fondest memories of Anthony, this is what I got and it’s word for word, beautifully written and no need to adlib…

“I met Tony a long, long time ago… during the Westpac of 96-97. We became good friends, whether I was working in the pit, or doing some temp duty up in Hazmat. And while we had the occasional disagreement, we always managed to get over it and be buds again. I remember tooling around in the old Chevy pickup he had, listening to whatever passed for music in those days. There are stories of things happening that can never be told in detail. Buncum, Magner, and I eventually got an apartment together off base... the world’s worst bachelor pad. A lamp with no shade next to the front door, a couch we picked up on a roadside. But it was ours, and we partied. Then came the time when he started dating a gal living in Vancouver, WA. So, plenty of road trips down there on the weekends, venturing out to explore Portland during the Rose Festival. Eventually, he married her just prior to Westpac 98-99. And it was just a month or so into deployment when he found out he was going to be a father. He couldn't have been happier. And even after I left the ship, I still kept in contact, as much as I could. I had the good fortune to talk to him on the phone just a month ago on Sept 4th. We just BS'ed like it was the good old days. Sure, things had changed in his life, as it does in anyone's. But it was good to talk to my old shipmate, a man I could call my brother. And in the end, I can only hope that his heart found peace. We all must go, sometime. Sometimes, that time comes too early. But I have to believe that it brings an end to those things that hurt ones soul. I'm sad that I won't have the opportunity to talk to my shipmate again, but take solace in knowing that his pain is over, and hope that his heart is at peace now. Life is not an easy road to travel by any means, and it's even harder to travel it feeling alone. But, now he has a new road, with others that have gone before him. Thank you Tony, for being one of a few friends I had back then.”

Jeremy Shulke wrote those breathtaking words as he remembered our shipmate.  I read in his obituary that he was a proud young American who loved his family and his country… and will be sorely missed by all!!!

We hope to meet again on that great ship in the sky… until then we’ll have to keep each other company down here while your keep’n the decks swabbed and the boat in ship shape condition for our arrival… fair winds and following seas dear friend… we hope to meet up again someday soon!!!