Gene Wilbanks was my personal hero. As a younger guy I was a ironworker with Gene and he shared with me the story of how he got a personally signed letter from President Harry S Truman. He was a smallish guy originally from Tennessee where he put food on the table during the depression by hunting rabbits. He signed up to fight and was soon on a island; I think it was Pelileu (sp) where he was a scout. One day he was sent out to recon an area which would be later patrolled in force. What he found was "a bunch of Jap infantry setting up an ambush for my friends." So he did what he had to do and killed them all. I'm sure in addition to the letter from HST he was decorated with a medal or two but he never spoke much about it because in his way of thinking he was "just doing my job." I know this is off topic and unrelated to RV stuff but I think it would be nice if others knew of Gene's exploits; he would probably be embarassed by any attention but here it is anyway. I don't know where he is now he has to be in his eighties but God Bless You Gene and Thanks.
