A very good friend of mine, Reed Bryan, died two weeks ago and was buried on Saturday. He was not a Saint and I was not a Saint right along with him.
This tale was offered at his funeral. He owned a 60‘ Shrimp Boat for years. Shrimping was his profession until he decided to go back to Santee Co-op and was the crew chief of a special bunch of men that traveled all over the U.S. to help with disasters.
It takes a special man to become a Marine. While in training, the drill Instructors tried to teach him how to swim. He said they threw him in about a hundred times, only to have to dive in and bring him back up. He became a Marine but never learned to swim.
One of his friends got on to Reed about never learning to swim while owning a Shrimp Boat. His remark was, “I can climb a 65‘ pole and I can’t fly.
The world will not be the same without him.
Jimmy Ray Douglas
Winnsboro
