Donald Wayne Kimsey
Major
C CO, 1ST BN, 11TH INFANTRY, 5TH INF DIV, USARV
Army of the United States
Parma, Ohio
November 13, 1939 to August 31, 1969
DONALD W KIMSEY is on the Wall at Panel W18, Line 16

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16 Aug 2007

Donnie was my big brother. He was 16 years old when I was born. He joined the Army not long after that. I remember a tall handsome man who used to scoop me up in his arms and hug me so tight I could barely breathe. When he was coming home on leave I used to count down the days, and then the hours and the minutes. Donnie used to write letters from wherever he was and sometimes he would send audio tapes. He was married and had four little children when he was killed. I will never forget that day, I was thirteen years old coming home from the first day of the new school year. As I neared the house I could see all my sisters and my Aunts on the porch. My baby sister who was was only 4 at the time blurted out "Donnie's dead"!

I knew before she even said anything. This was my brother's second tour and when my older sister told me he was going again I got a horrible dark feeling deep in my stomach and I knew he would not come home again. When I told my sister of my feeling she was very upset with me and told me not to say such awful things. At the funeral I got to meet a lot of the soldiers under his command, they came from all across the USA.

One story I will never forget was a young man from our hometown in Pennsylvania. He was in my brother's unit and he got to talking with Donnie. They realized they were both born in Connellesville. The young man happened to mention that it was his birthday. The place that they they were at was very hostile but somehow my brother pulled some strings and later that day presented this young man with ice cream and a beer. He said the ice cream was melted and the beer was warm but it was the best birthday he ever had. That was my brother and that is how I will remember him.

From his sister,
Cindy (Kimsey) Flores
surfcin5@sbcglobal.net


 
01 Mar 2008

Just checking to say
"Rest well, my friend"

George M. Massey
georgegfm@atmc.net


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