Joe *Pegleg Smith* Sykes............for those of you that knew him, RIP

[otto]

Condolences from the Weddell family.
I'll miss pegleg, Joe too.

[Collin]

Joe did not suffer fools glady, I remember him getting into it with a DIY by the name of 747Mike. In the end, the OP was told to pound sand up his ass, and good old Pegleg was banned.

But Joe was a good guy at heart, here is a story Mel from All Temp posted over at Gil's many moons ago:
"It's not often you get to meet the guys on the other end of this forum.... Here I've met two of them PegLeg, Joe Sykes and his Buddy Druid pictured here a few weeks back in Upland,CA after helping me out on a control problem on this dinosaur

Joe and Druid dropped everything they were doing in the middle of the morning a drove a good hour over to help out on solving my situation ... A couple of great guys ..."

Another thing Joe believed in was honoring his fellow servicemen, I snipped it from another post:
"I have participated in over 500 burials at Riverside, performing Final Military Honors once a month on the second Thursday of every month. It is a humbling experience yet the most honorable thing I have ever done.
www.usv-jsc.com We need help in most areas of the nation."


Semper Fi Joe Sykes.

[Collin]

"I honor Veterans at least one day a month when my unit goes to Riverside National Cemetery and performs Final Honors at their grave sites. We post Colors, fire the three volley salute, play Taps, and then fold and present the flag.
We wear Class'A' Army uniforms, complete with swords and sabers. We fire M-1 rifles supplied by the cemetery or some old bolt action Springfeilds our National Command Sergeant Major has.
It isn't something that I do for ****s and giggles, I do it because if I don't, no one will. It is a terrible thing that in this time of national patriotism that we have been going through, everybody is willing to wave the flag, but nobody wants to be bothered honoring those who served.
My dad made all 4 combat jumps into Europe during WW II as an Army paratrooper. When he passed on there was no one to render him the honors due him. That is one of the reasons I volunteer to do the Honors. I am a Vietnam vet,a Marine. My oldest son is in Iraq right now. My middle son is do to go over next Febuary. Their both Marines."

QFT

[jpb2]

I had not the chance to meet him but it is a great loss. My prayers go out to all involved and connected.

[jmac00]

"I honor Veterans at least one day a month when my unit goes to Riverside National Cemetery and performs Final Honors at their grave sites. We post Colors, fire the three volley salute, play Taps, and then fold and present the flag.
We wear Class'A' Army uniforms, complete with swords and sabers. We fire M-1 rifles supplied by the cemetery or some old bolt action Springfeilds our National Command Sergeant Major has.
It isn't something that I do for ****s and giggles, I do it because if I don't, no one will. It is a terrible thing that in this time of national patriotism that we have been going through, everybody is willing to wave the flag, but nobody wants to be bothered honoring those who served.
My dad made all 4 combat jumps into Europe during WW II as an Army paratrooper. When he passed on there was no one to render him the honors due him. That is one of the reasons I volunteer to do the Honors. I am a Vietnam vet,a Marine. My oldest son is in Iraq right now. My middle son is do to go over next Febuary. Their both Marines."

One class act thanx Collin, for remembering that.

[Some Dude]

Had a brother with ptsd, Keh Sahn 1968, died a few years ago. This is a terible problem with no real cure , It is very hard if not imposible to monitor for those on the outside watching. I wish his family the best , i know what if feels like.
Vietnam vets had it worse than any other generation of vets.
They went from Vietnam back to the 'world' the states in 24 hours. No time to decompress or talk things out with their buddies and were often spit on or called babie killers by wicked , stupid people who had enough money that they didnt have to go to Vietnam. They could go to college.
Losing People like this leaves us poorer for their passing and should make some people in this country ashamed of what they did or didnt do.
This post should go to 4000 plus.

[coolwhip]

I remember him freakin out a few times on certain sites.

RIP

[Texas-Tech]

I never knew him but am very sorry for his loss, you have lost a friend and an honorable man. PTSD is very real and impossible for some to deal with and I am fortunate not to have suffered from it myself.

[Diceman]

I remember him freakin out a few times on certain sites.

RIP

Every site.

[coolwhip]

Every site.

Yeah...no kiddin.

[hvac r us 2]

I thought he was great! He flipped out on me on many occasions, and made a few grown men cry! LOL

But, behind the curtain he was kind. I know when I was going into the hospital or something was going wrong he was always there saying "good luck H2, hang in there".

He also showed me how to make the great "Peg Leg Peppers" they are awesome! I posted about the peppers a little while ago asking a question and he didn't respond...thought that was a little odd.

[AllTemp]

I am deeply saddened by this news, I didn't know Joe as well as most. I met Joe a few times around the nieghborhood, he was an excellent refrigeration mechanic and knew his way around!





RIP Joe