Letter to parents of Lance Cpl. Robert "Skip" Bye

From a letter sent by Lance Cpl. James Futch in South Vietnam to the parents of Lance Cpl. Robert “Skip” Bye in Euclid, Minn., Feb. 4, 1969:

“I feel a great personal loss in Skip’s death. We were closer than even brothers could have been.

“You have so much to be proud of in Skip. … He was the greatest inspiration within the platoon and saved many lives. He was the most unselfish person I’ve ever had the privilege to know. I’ll never be the same without him.

“I have a few of Skip’s personal belongings that I know the family will want. Among them are a picture of Mickey and some of Dawn, his rosary and some prayer books.”

In May 1971, Futch married Skip’s sister, Carol, who had started writing to him in Vietnam in 1969 at her brother’s suggestion.

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