I received a link to this photograph from my parents' city councilman and my fellow Republican, Duane Limpert. His son, Duane Jr., is immediately to the right of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. Duane Jr. graduated from West Point and was recently deployed to Iraq, serving in part as his brigade's public affairs representative. It was his unit that was bombed by a terrorist killer on the 21st of last December; thankfully, especially for his family, Duane was not near the hall at the time. In an early December letter home, which my GOP club gratefully reprinted in our newsletter, Duane remained wary of a society heretofore based on power and fear but was very optimistic about the success of his country's mission. I doubt either opinion has changed since.
Duane Jr. and I both grew up in North Olmsted, attending the same middle school and high school but we didn't know each other personally. In the seven years that Duane and I were in the same building, I probably shared two classes with him: gym one year and lunch another. Through my political involvement I know his father better than I do him, but there was something that struck me about Duane. He and I were about the same size in school, short and skinny; maybe he was even a bit tinier. But he ran with the athletes, playing every sport he could — soccer, football, basketball — and perhaps suffering for his size, for I remember him as always with a cast on one arm or the other. The big guys took him in as one of their own, and by the end of twelfth grade Duane was one of the most respected students in school. He thought tough, and was tough.
Here's to his hard work, and the rewards it will bring to all.