Joe is missed
Joe is missed
I had a note from Joe Forrester last August in response to a letter I wrote to the Checkerboard in January 2000, about my husband, Roland O. Lang. He asked me to call him as he couldn't get my phone number. I remembered his name as Roland had talked with him several times. When I called Joe he said he was in Lt. Lang's platoon at Camp Van Dorn and how much he had helped him. He also told me about his two sons taking him to the 99th Convention in Philadelphia in July, and there was a limousine waiting for him when he got off the plane with a big sign saying: SGT. JOE FORRESTER. He was so proud of his sons.
Joe didn't say much about his disabilities, only that his doctor had told him he was going to "save his legs." I assumed by that that he had the same problem as my husband who was crippled by poor circulation in his legs caused by their getting so cold during the Battle of the Bulge. Roland died in 1992.
Thanks Joe, for talking to me. It meant a lot to hear from someone who had known Roland during the war. You said you would call again. I found out why you didn't when I read the "Taps" in the last Checkerboard. You and Roland are probably keeping the angels in Heaven enthralled with your war stories!
Nellie Lang
PO Box 275
Farmville NC 27828
E-mail: LangNB@aol.com
