Ron, that was one of the most concise and best pieces I have ever read on someone's history. I had heard some of it from you and your writings, and some from Russ himself, but there was a lot of it I never heard until you filled in the gaps.
It made me feel glad when I read it, that I had the opportunity to meet Russ. Until the 2007 Reunion in DePue, I had only known him from what you wrote on BRF. I met him very early on the morning Joe Rome and I began to set up our stuff in the VFW Hall. Russ Hill, Jr. was a one of a kind of person. At that time, he had lived a full life and did not have to bow down to anyone. He told it like he saw it, and he was extremely perceptive. You could not pull anything over on him from what I noticed, because he had seen it all before.
Debbie and our kids had gone to Hawaii to stay with some friends a couple of years earlier, then the next year we drove to San Francisco to see some other friends. When Russ mentioned he had coin operated binoculars in strategic locations I asked him about Diamondhead in Hawaii. He said yes, those were his. I asked him about some at the Golden Gate Bridge on the western side. Yes, those were his. I asked about the binoculars on the Southern Rim of Grand Canyon we looked through on our way back from California. Yes, those were his. I told him "Me and my family have been giving you money looking through those things." Russ didn't skip a beat...or laugh. Russ just said "Keep on putting quarters in." Joe Rome and I both laughed when he said that.
But I still keep putting quarters in. Except for the few spectacular views we had in Hawaii, California and Arizona I never looked through any scope. After meeting Russ, I have put quarters in a scope at every overlook that had one since then and thought of Russ Hill, Jr.
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