Bob Dole.

Passed away at 98.

I didn't know he was still alive

They don't make them like him anymore. RIP, Senator.

I had the pleasure to meet the man privately quite a few years ago, just after he left the Senate. For someone with all his credentials and history of accomplishments, he was humble, genial, and generous with his time.

My grandpa was the same age as him, and wounded around the same time as him. Grandpa wrote him a letter once, sometime after '96, and the guy hand wrote a response to Grandpa. That made a lasting impression on me. 
 

RIP

He always struck me as an honorable man.  Making it to age 98 was a good ride.

He always seemed like the adult in the room when the kids were fighting.   

Another of the greatest generation gone to the ages.  

I disagreed with him a lot. 
 

but. That salute to g w bush's coffin. That tells you all you need to know about the character of the man.  We need more like him now and he will be missed. 
 

In 1942, Dole joined the United States Army's Enlisted Reserve Corps to fight in World War II, becoming a second lieutenant in the Army's 10th Mountain Division. In April 1945, while engaged in combat near Castel d'Aiano in the Apennine mountains southwest of Bologna, Italy, Dole was hit by German machine gun fire in his upper right back and his right arm was also badly injured. As Lee Sandlin describes, when fellow soldiers saw the extent of his injuries, all they thought they could do was to "give him the largest dose of morphine they dared and write an 'M' for 'morphine' on his forehead in his own blood, so that nobody else who found him would give him a second, fatal dose."[11] Dole was transported to the United States, where his recovery was slow, interrupted by blood clots and a life-threatening infection. After large doses of penicillin had not succeeded, he overcame the infection with the administration of streptomycin, which at the time was still an experimental drug.[12] The hospital where Dole recovered from his wounds, the former Battle Creek Sanitarium, is now named Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center in honor of three patients who became United States Senators: Dole, Philip Hart and Daniel Inouye.

Dole was decorated three times, receiving two Purple Hearts for his injuries, and the Bronze Star with combat "V" for valor for his attempt to assist a downed radio man.

https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Bob_Dole

Of note:  Germany surrendered on May 8th

Fueled by Caffeine said:

I disagreed with him a lot. 
 

but. That salute to g w bush's coffin. That tells you all you need to know about the character of the man.  We need more like him now and he will be missed. 
 

There was a quote that I found funny, and of course I am going to mangle it.  But he was giving a speech in Congress on some occasion, and he said something to the effect of "We all have our differences of opinion, and we're going to, because we're all different people.  But it is these differences that give our country strength.  And when I look in this room, I see a lot of strength..."

I didn't always agree with his politics,  but I respected him as a man. One tough mofo.

Some really wonderful tributes for him today at his memorial service. I just caught the speakers at the WWII memorial but this is a link for the full service. WWII Memorial speaches start at 2:50.