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Andy worked hard to be a good AW, and he had a tremendous amount of pride in being a part of naval aviation. Even though he was only a part of the squadron for a few years, as was I, the impact it had on us went far beyond the short time we spent in the fleet. It was a huge part of his life. All of you were a part of that experience and I think he would want you to know that. — Mike Gamble, 2007 |
Hey Former Red Griffins,
Most of you have heard about Andy's passing last Sunday, March 25th. His wife Linda, called me with the news Monday evening. I was bummed all week.
Eric Sass also filled me in on some details. He died of a massive heart attack while driving home after jogging at a track (really).
The autopsy results were not back as of yesterday, so they are still not sure what caused it. It was sure an untimely demise, regardless. He brother Greg said Andy was really taking good measures for his health. Quite different from the Andy we knew back in the '80s! He quit smoking 5 years ago, was exercising, and had cut out red meat.
It just so happened that Andy and I went through a lot of training together, from SERE school upon arrival at North Island from Millington, through Common Core, then VS-41.
I went to the VS-38/29 disestablishment in April of 2004 not knowing who would be there. Andy was and we greeted each other w/a big hug. (As an aside, my wife refers to a slug in the arm as a "Gamble hug").
Andy's mom lives in Knoxville, TN, as do a lot of his cousins. His mother had a family burial plot, so the decision was made to have Andy buried there. It's spring break for me, so I decided to go.
Left Gainesville early Sunday morning for the 540 mile trip to Knoxville. Never been there before. There was a viewing at the funeral home that evening. His wife, kids & mother were barely able to make it from California and were exhausted, so just his stepfather, a few distant relatives and his brother Jeff were there that evening. Jeff isn't in very good shape, but we talked for a bit. On Saturday I went through my photo albums and made copies of pics that Andy was in. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not too big on open caskets. I'd rather remember someone as I last saw them.
Two of Andy's co-workers from the Customs Service (under Homeland Security) were there to serve as honor guards. They also had the same type of stories about him that the rest of us do - Andy the card cracking everyone up w/his impressions, wisecracks, etc.
The burial was at 11:00 on Monday morning. It was a beautiful spring day in eastern Tennessee. You know, "greenest state in the land of the free" and all that. (That's the Disney Davey Crockett song, for those of you born in communist Russia.)
Gave him a final salute before I left, which for some reason I felt was the thing to do.
After the burial the family invited me to their home for lunch. I was glad I went, even knowing that doing so would mean I might miss the entire championship basketball game. They enjoyed the pics, and I got to talk for a while w/Andy's other brother Greg. Shared some good Andy stories and laughs.
Andy during a crew brief in the Ready Room: "O.K., can I do the safety brief? Look, if we go over the side and we're still in the plane, let's just blow one hatch - mine!"
Even when he was completely broke, he was never depressed. I told Greg about dropping by his room one Sunday afternoon when we were in the RAG. Since he didn't have any money, he spent the weekend watching t.v. and smoking. There was a Gatorade bottle half-filled with butts. "Jesus, man, this is disgusting!" was my reaction. Andy acted as if it were perfectly normal.
His mom said Andy never spoke ill of anyone. I told her he cracked on me plenty, but it was all in fun.
Got on the road at 13:30, knowing I'd hit Atlanta between 16:30 and 17:00. Perfect, hit that mess at 16:45. Almost made it through unscathed, but a flipped-over pickup just south of the city held things up for a while. From there it was "on to Moscow" to make the game. Got the Gator Radio Network, and made it home w/a few minutes left in the half. The big reason for the rush was to make the street celebration following the Gator victory. The epicenter for that is just a few blocks south of my house. 3rd national championship in a year; we're getting spoiled. At any rate, I had a lot of time to think about this on the road to Knoxville and back.
Andy worked hard to be a good AW, and he had a tremendous amount of pride in being a part of naval aviation. Even though he was only a part of the squadron for a few years, as was I, the impact it had on us went far beyond the short time we spent in the fleet. It was a huge part of his life. All of you were a part of that experience and I think he would want you to know that.
The attached photos are from Andy's burial, plus one from the celebration here last night. That's my younger brother & me w/our boys and 2 very nice coeds. The boys are the babe magnets, not us! It's kinda blurry, but well, you get the picture.
Roger that Gambo. I am honored to have met you and Andy at the decom in '04. As a young AW I heard his name and stories about him all the time from Eric, Chief Tiburski and many others. We're here for a limited time and we all shared something special as AWs that make us brothers, of a sort. — Jetman
Together they
had four kids, which was also news to me. 
