Two Tragic Lsses For Us

Over the past week, two people who I admired very much passed away. They had little in common. One was a hard drinker was completely capable of telling people to shove it when he was tired of their bullshit. The other went out of his way to be kind-hearted and forgiving to everyone, even me. They did have one thing in common.  They cared. 

The former is John Kachmar, who died Friday after a lengthy illness. After graduating from Notre Dame Green Pond, he served in the Marines, ended up in Vietnam and was wounded in action. 

My father, a WWII vet who was wounded in action himself, never talked to me about the war or his experiences as a POW. After being released from the service, Kachmar attended Moravian and wanted to interview my father about the war. Although my Dad tried to duck the interview, Kachmar's father was a bigwig with the local Democratic party and put the heat on. 

During the interview, my dad was initially evasive when asked about his war experience. But he eventually let John have it.

"Excuse me, but what the hell makes you think you know what it was like?"

"Because I was wounded myself in Vietnam."

My father talked to Kachmar after that. They actually became drinking buddies. One night, Kachmar had a tap on his door, and it was my dad with acclaimed novelist Kurt Vonnegut. That trio formed an unlikely bond while Kachmar was still a student at Moravian College. 

Many people think if they wear camouflage or prance around wrapped in a flag and a bazooka at a Trump rally, that makes them patriots. Getting shot in the gut for your country is what makes you a patriot.  

I eventually met John as well, mostly when he worked for former Congressman Don Ritter and was administering Lehigh County.  Kachmar spent several years managing municipalities throughout the country, mostly in the South. In fact, he actually helped establish several local governments.  

We became re-acquainted again when he returned to Bethlehem and took on Willie Reynolds in the Bethlehem Mayoral race.

The latter is Deacon Anthony Koury. 

If you attended Notre Dame Green Pond athletic contests at any point in the past century, you undoubtedly saw him. He worked there for 43 years. 

During his time with the Crusaders, Koury did it all. He was a gym and social studies teacher, traffic director and maintenance supervisor. He was also the school's athletic director. In that role, he was able to persuade Alberell Electric to contribute outdoor lighting for football games. He sweet-talked Young Volkswagon into building a scoreboard. He also lobbied for and finally succeeded in getting Notre Dame into a league. But the accomplishment of which he is proud is convincing the PIAA to allow small schools to join forces for a team sports. As a result, Notre Dame became the beneficiary of gifted football players from Moravian Academy. And Moravian Academy added some Notre Dame girls to its field hockey teams.

I got to know him when he worked as a tipstaff. We were frequent lunch companions. In the years I knew him, I never once heard him say a negative thing about anyone. He would fail as a blogger. But as a human being, he excelled.