Ain't no use in looking down

It was sad to read the last chapter and the passing of Uncle Ken's pal, Steve and the way he apparently died alone. There's plenty to think about and it's too early for me to comment any further but I wonder if such solitary deaths are commonplace in our modern world despite the degree to which we are all connected.  Was Steve the first of the Champaign Cohort to shuffle off this mortal coil?

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"It never gets better, you just get better at it."

That line reminded me of something I heard in a movie but I couldn't quite place it and then I remembered.  It was from Leon: The Professional.  Maybe you will recognize the very young Natalie Portman.  Hell of a movie, by the way.

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Wait a second, was Mr. Beagles Airborne, with silver wings upon his chest and authorized to wear those dandy Corcoran jump boots?  Some of our drill sergeants at Polk were Airborne and quite proud of the fact, especially when counting cadence while marching.  Up the hill! Up the hill!  Down the hill!  Down the hill!  THROUGH the hill!  THROUGH the hill!  Airborne!  Airborne!  AIRBORNE!  AIRBORNE!   One two three four, one two...THREE FOUR!  Gimme your left, your right, your left...

And then there were other DIs who asked why should you jump out of a perfectly good airplane and maintained that only two things fell from the sky: birdshit and fools.