"I must have been only 6; Joe was 5. Mom had taken us to the playground that used to be a few blocks from our house. It had rained all morning and my little brother and I were climbing the walls, so Mom thought a trip to the park was just what we needed.

When we arrived, there was another woman sitting on the bench inside the fence, (it was Mrs. Hooper, but I didn’t know it then) watching a blond boy playing in the wet sand of the sandbox. They both looked up as we came into the park.

I remember Joe’s face lighting up with a big smile when he looked at the other boy. He ran over to the sandbox and started talking to the other kid. Turned out to be Biff Hooper, only back then, he wasn’t known as "Biff" yet. We still called him Alan. Biff and Joe knew each other from being in the same kindergarten class.

After a few minutes, Joe crawled into the wet sand with Biff, and waved me over to join them. I wasn’t crazy about playing in that wet sand, though. I stopped and talked with Joe and Biff awhile, then decided to climb the monkey-bars right beside the sandbox.

I got to the top and waved down at Joe and Biff. Mom called to me to be careful. Then I just sat there enjoying the sunshine and watching a bigger kid on the basketball court, shooting hoops.

I don’t know how long I stayed up there, but Joe and Biff were on the other side of the playground on the swings when I started climbing back down to join them. I’m not sure what happened, but the next thing I knew, I was falling. Mom said later that my foot slipped on a wet wrung of the monkey-bars.

I must have screamed for Joe, because I heard him calling my name from across the park. I closed my eyes and waited for the painful crash to the ground I knew was coming; only it never came.

I felt myself hit something a lot softer than the ground, and then I rolled several times. When I stopped moving, I opened my eyes. I was lying on top of the kid that had been playing basketball. His arms were still wrapped around me and he was staring right into my eyes.

Before I could say anything, Mom had me flat on the ground, checking me all over for broken bones. Joe and Biff were watching from outside the monkey-bars and kept asking if I was alright. Once Mom was sure I was really okay, she hugged me. Then Mom turned around and hugged the older boy and thanked him. Mom told me that Artie Hooper had saved me from getting seriously injured.

He was only twelve at that time, but I thought he was the greatest. From then on I always thought of Artie as a hero…"

"It seems like only yesterday that I walked to the old Johnson’s Drugstore with Aunt Gertrude. The drugstore’s gone now, but I’ll never forget that particular trip there.

I remember that I didn’t want to go because it was Saturday morning and I was watching cartoons on the television. But Mom had taken Frank to the new mall to get some sneakers and Dad was out of town, so I reluctantly went.

It must have been the hottest day of summer and it seemed to take forever to get to the business part of town, but we finally got there.

Aunt Gertrude must have felt sorry for me because the first thing she did was buy me an orange Popsicle- my favorite! I started licking at that sweet treat, but no matter how fast I licked, that Popsicle dripped even faster. My aunt finally suggested that me and my Popsicle had better go outside and wait. She told me to stand right next to the door and gave me the usual don’t-talk-to-strangers speech. I did as I was told and waited right outside the door.

I was so intent on getting that Popsicle eaten before it all melted, that I never saw or heard Jay Stone come up beside me.

Now you’ve got to picture this. I was seven, but pretty small for my age. Jay, on the other hand, was nine and big for his age. He knocked the Popsicle from my hand, and then for good measure, pushed me to the ground, too.

I was in shorts so of course my knees and the palms of my hands got tore up on the sidewalk. I didn’t want to cry in front of him, but I couldn’t help it. I was only seven and I was hurting and I was angry.

Before I could get up, someone else tackled Jay to the ground right beside me. I scooted back against the building and smiled when I recognized my rescuer.

After a minute or two, Jay Stone was running down the street crying for his mommy and Artie Hooper was kneeling beside me.

I remember him asking, ‘He didn’t hurt you bad, did he, Joey?’ It didn’t even bother me that Artie had called me ‘Joey’ – even though I’ve never liked it!

Artie helped me back inside and explained everything to Aunt Gertrude. Artie even wanted to use his paper route money to buy me another Popsicle, but Aunty wouldn’t allow it. Instead, she bought us each one and Artie stood outside with me until my aunt was done shopping.

Artie was only 14 then, but he saved me from a bully. From that day on, Artie Hooper was always a hero in my book…"

"He might have been seven years older than me, but he never made me feel small or insignificant. I was important to Artie.

As early as I can remember, Artie was my cheerleader. He was always the one who told me I could do it – no matter what ‘it’ happened to be!

Artie never complained when Mom asked him to watch me or when my friends came over and ran all over the house like a bunch of Indians when he was studying. Instead of being annoyed or mean to us, he’d stop his work and play with us for a while.

I was so proud when Artie graduated from high school. He made a cap and gown actually look cool!

I remember the day Artie came home from his job at the gas station early and told us he was joining the Marines. He’d wanted to go to college, but he knew Mom and Dad didn’t have a lot of money. He figured he’d serve his country and get an education too. I know he did that so Mom and Dad could send me to college.

Before he left for boot camp, Artie gave me his class ring. Told me to keep it safe for him until he finished and came back.

Artie never "finished and came back". Oh, he came home for two weeks right after boot camp. He looked so strong and handsome in his uniform. I wanted to take him around to all my friends and show him off! He went to two other bases after that to do specialty training. Then, four months ago, he called and said he was shipping out. He was excited about putting what he’d learned to good use. Mom and Dad told him to keep his head down and I told him to kick some butt!

Oh, Artie! I’m so sorry! There’s so much I wanted to tell you! You were so much more than just my big brother. You were my friend and you were my hero…"

…Somewhere there’s a mom and dad

Who’ll cry late in the night,

For a son who won’t be coming home,

A son who gave his life…

Freedom isn’t free!

Oh, can’t you see?

It has always been the soldier,

Who has made the sacrifice;

Standing strong and proud in battle

Willing to lay down his life…