Navy SEAL Petty Officer William DeGennaro

It's been almost a month since my nephew Bill was stricken in Afghanistan. It's time for me to talk about him. To tell you, my faithful readers, about him. He's not my blood nephew. His father, James, was the best friend I ever had. And I've always been Bill's uncle. Bill is a twin and I've always been Uncle Lou to the twins and the other three siblings. I could write volumes about this family. Which has been my family. They are the nicest, kindest, most forthright folks you could ever have the good fortune to know. I am the man that I am, in good part, for the knowing of this family. There's a lot of good blog posts I could write about my early years before the twins were born. But not now. I could talk a lot about Bill's mom when we came of age. But not now. I could spend some time on the twin's grandparents on both sides. But not now. There's lots to say about Bill's twin and his brothers and sisters. But not now. You see, I have to talk about what happened and my and everyone's reactions. I can't write any more blog posts, or put up any more YouTube's, or go to any more fly-ins, until I talk to you, my readers, about Bill. I got the word about Bill being seriously injured on Saturday October 10th. About a month ago. It was his older brother who called. Bill, the twin in A-stan, was in a coma. He was going to be airlifted to Germany ASAP. He had suffered brain damage due to lack of oxygen. Jim, the older brother, was so patient and kind to me. Here he was comforting me when his brother was in peril. Thanks Jimmy. I just sat there at my desk. It wasn't sinking in. I was numb. Shocked. So I told my wife. Just telling her seemed to make me better, like she was there to share my sadness, and yet now she was sad too. What she said later is getting to my point of this post. You see, we were going to go out on this Saturday night to the Avalon Theatre to see Nick Lowe. So hours later after the news about Bill, my wife said this: "Lloyd, after what's happened to Billy, do you still want to go out tonight"? I didn't know what to say. I asked her to decide, but she said she would abide by whatever I decided. I was confused about what I was feeling. I was at a stage where I wanted answers as to how did this happen to Bill. Like somehow we could replay it in a better way. A kind of denial. I thought it might not be appropriate for us to go out. Out of respect for Bill. But he wasn't dead. In fact he was fighting for his life. I walked out back towards the airstrip. I just kept wondering and worrying about Bill. I couldn't cry. Then I thought about Bill's dad, my friend James. The tears came easily after that. I went back in and heard myself say to my wife: "Honey, one twin is my flying buddy and one is my music buddy. The music buddy is the one fallen. He can't speak for himself now, but he wants me to see Nick Lowe and Bill Kirchen and tell him about it later." We that love Bill are going to feel guilt along with our sadness and anger and confusion. Readers, I want you to know that I love those twins so much, that there is no earthly way to ever convey it. And I know each of you feel the same way. And I love all of you as well and thanks for understanding. My best wishes and prayers go especially to Bill's mom and Bill's twin. Yes, I'm gonna write my blog posts. Yes, I'm gonna go to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. Yes I'm gonna live my "Disco" life. Twin #1 told me he speaks right now for both men. He said it's OK with Twin #2. I hereby dedicate this post, and any and all blog posts I write for the rest of my life, to my good friend and nephew, a genuine hero, William "Willy" DeGennaro.