Note from a Friend

Remembering Davis

Note from a Friend

On April 27, 2002 we received a wonderful email from an old family friend, David Campbell. We thought we would share some excerpts, and some of our memories below.

Dear Philip,

My name is David Campbell. I am originally from Wellington, Ohio. My father is Murton W. Campbell who was the head football coach for many years at Wellington High School. He passed away in 1994. My brother Doug graduated from Wellington High School in 1964 and my sister Connie graduated from there in 1961. They both knew Davis quite well. We moved to Maumee, Ohio in 1964.

I don't know if you or any of your brothers and sisters will remember me or of us coming from Maumee many times to visit you and your family.
I can remember coming to your house with my family to visit and playing with you and your brother and sisters. I believe that I may have have even met Davis or David on one of those visits. I think your house was on Main St. not far from the old high school in Wellington. I can remember seeing the pictures of Davis and David in their U.S. Marine dress blues on either the top of a piano or a shelf in your home.

As I was looking at and reading the web page on Davis I noted the part on the model cars. I can remember seeing many of them displayed when I was at your house. I haven't been back to Wellington for many years now. I do recall that Davis' name is on a stone memorial on the town square in Wellington. (I can remember going to the town square to attend some public auctions as a little boy when I lived there.)

I went to Davis' grave at the cemetary to pay my respects the last time I was there which was in 1986. I can remember coming home from school when we lived in Maumee and my older sister Sandy crying and Evelyn told me what had happened to Davis. I didn't attend Davis' funeral but I'm certain that Evelyn and my father did.

I came upon your web site thru viewing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall web site. I looked up Davis's name and read the comments that were posted to it and saw the web page address. I'm now living and teaching college in Canberra, Australia. My wife is from Saigon, Viet Nam originally and her sister is married to a Vietnamese man who grew up in Quang Nam province. I have talked to them them about Davis at times. As I said earlier, I don't know if you or any of your siblings remember me or my brother, sister, step brothers/step sisters, and half sisters (Kelly and Kathi) but I wanted to let you know what a wonderful web site and tribute you have in honoring the memory of Davis. I sent the web page adress to my older brother Doug yesterday also. I received a reply from him this morning. He was very impressed with it and said that it brought tears to his eyes. He said that he would send the web page address to our sister Connie also.

In closing, I want to let you know that my family also remembers Davis and that he and his memory lives on in our hearts as he does in yours. Please feel free to share this letter with your family and tell them hello from me.

Sincerely,
David Campbell

"I do remember their dad, 'Murt' we called him. I do remember our get-togethers at home and at Maumee. I remember talking to Murt in his office when I came home from boot camp before Davis had been killed. Murt told me he would love to go thru boot camp for the training and pass it along to the football team. Jokingly he said it would probably kill him. He would be right - if I tried it now it would do me in! He was an exceptional person."

-David Jones

"i do remember the Campbells and i remember visiting them in maumee. i also remember leaving a cool little pencil eraser wedged between the top bunk of the boys' bed and the the spring. why i can recall that is totally beyond me but i wonder if he still has it so i can get it back?"

-John Jones

"When I read this email to Mom, she remembered the Campbells fondly. She recalled that 'Murt' was very kind to Davis, and helped him build a piano bench in Industrial Arts class."

-Phil Jones

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