2008-08-25 - 4:57 a.m.

"Daddy, I want to be an Astronaut."

I remember saying those exact words back in Arkansas in the early 70's. I had always been intrigued with the notion of space exploration. In all honesty, zooming about the cosmos seemed like a groovy way to make a living. What with moon landings, the update from Atlas to enormous Saturn V rockets, and the prospect of finding a blonde babydoll in a "Jeannie" outfit living in a bottle on the beach, you can see where the job had its selling points. Daddy must have thought the same thing because he never told me I could not do it. "Buckle down and study hard and you will make it fine."

Okay, so by the time I got out of High School I knew I was not headed to NASA to be fitted for a space suit. As a matter of fact, after a semester of college at Arkansas State University, the only uniform I was getting fitted for was a Navy uniform and damned if bellbottoms were going out of style. Still, Daddy did not try and talk me out of going into the Navy. "Buckle down and you will do fine."

After basic training in Great Lakes Recruit Training Center I left out for Chanute Air Force Base for Weather School. It was an intense course with the two options being:
1: Pass the Course
2: Fail and chock wheels on a flight deck for the foreseeable future.
Item 2 did not appeal to me and I frankly had to work twice as hard as most to make the grade. When the frustrations of the curriculum were becoming overwhelming I would call home and daddy would assure me that I would get through okay. "Buckle down and you will do fine."

After graduating weather school I was assigned to the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command in NAS Dallas Texas. It was then that I found and married my babydoll wife.

Often I would brief transient pilots with NASA markings on their planes. I got to watch the shuttle streak overhead during reentry. I even saw the shuttle piggy-backed through. The kicker, however was around 1988 when then LCDR Kathy Sullivan was assigned to Naval Oceanography Command Activity (NORA) 1570 for which I was a training Petty Officer. LCDR Sullivan is a Shuttle Astronaut. I immediately phoned daddy. When he answered the phone I told him, "Daddy, I am working with an Astronaut!" After a short pause, his reply was "Close enough?"

So I am not an Astronaut . . . I worked with one. So I never found a blonde babydoll in a bottle on the beach . . . I did find one in a bottle of Ms. Clairol in Texas.

Yep, that's close enough.

Gus Davis

I lost my daddy August 16th, 2008. Friday night I spoke with him for about an hour. We laughed it up and had a great visit. I told him I love him, like I always did, and that I would call again saturday night. I never had the chance. A couple hours after I hung up he had a heart attack while in the living room.

While at the funeral home I was sitting there watching all the people file in for visitation. There were millionaires in three piece suits sitting next to farm hands in muscle shirts and blue jeans with holes in them. They all were there because Daddy treated them the same. You earned his respect and you had it for life.

I always loved his unselfish nature. There are kids who had nothing that he took care of at Christmas and the families in need he touched. There were the orphan kids at church camp that he worked overtime to treat at the canteen and craft area when he visted me there during camp. Out of all that, and millions of other things, my favorite thing is Daddy never told someone they could not do something to better themselves. I am not speaking simply of monetary gain my friends. Daddy believed in who folks were, not how much they had.

Daddy could build anything . . . ANYTHING! He could visualize things and translate the mental blueprints to completion without the need to put pencil to paper. He was incredably fun to watch and the things he built were amazing.

While at his side in the funeral home thinking about how much I will miss him I swear to God I heard his voice in my head, "Buckle down, you will do fine."

One of these days I will be with him again, perhaps even streaking through the cosmos together. I reckon right now he is beating a path to the big dipper to scout the best fishing spot.

Now more than ever I can say from my heart, "Daddy, I want to be an Astronaut."

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