Trigger Time

Well, I had planned to write next, about the good powder burn the Corps had at Bentonville, when last we shared this page. Since then, and by now I know many of you know, the focus of the blog has changed. I'll keep the title, but this "Trigger Time" refers to a very different kind of powder burn.

Our Corps Quartermaster, Captain Les Switzer is battling Stage III Cancer of the esophagus, having been diagnosed about two weeks ago. Right now, he is at Duke Medical Center, being radiated and treated with chemotherapy, to shrink the mass, prior to an expected June surgery.

It seems that cancer is no respector of person, and this is not the first time our ranks have been visited by this foe. Captain Switzer is given a good prognosis for survival, and by now you have hopefully read the letter the family asked me to send to all units in our Corps, concerning his condition.

I heard from him last night, after his first radiation and four hours of chemotherapy, and he sounds confident and strong, through his initial treatment. He wants you all to know that he feels your prayer and your concern for him and his family. Also, he says he has given his foe a name; he says he has always disliked the name "Earl" - no offense to any of you so named. So he has Earl in his sights and is set to meet him in mortal combat. He assures me that there is no overt link to this name and the Dixie Chicks song "Earl Must Die."

Any way, this will be the first of several posts, to give you updates on his condition. I hope you will join me in holding up our brother in prayer and thought. Like many of you before him, he is determined to beat this foe. Let's help him do just that.

Next time: How to contact Captain Switzer