robby: condolences, my good man. my dad enlisted in the USMC at age 16, too. lied about his age after he ran off from the orphanage where he'd been since the age of 7 to go off to the other side of WWII -- south pacific tour, soloman islands. the marine corps assigned him a birthday; that's the only one we celebrated. he loved his corps; it was his family.
the 10th anniversary of his death is coming up in a few days. he would have been 82 now.
this is hard, this is so hard to do, to let them go. but i'm sure you know, as i do, that they have earned this peace.
i'm glad that he had his family with him and that you got to say goodbye. hold onto that. more than that, though, hold onto all the years that came before, all the memories, the love, the lessons. they are your legacy; you are heir to a fortune more valuable than all the gold in the world.
you and your family are in my prayers. god bless.
tony