ToMyFriendDick

I have an American friend called Dick. I shan’t write his surname because it wouldn’t be wise as he has so many interesting stories in his life that can get him in trouble with bad people who might have long memories.

I was once commissioned to write a screenplay based on a series of incidents in Dick's life in which he was intimately involved with trying to halt a very questionable regime gaining access to nuclear weapons. When I was approached to do the job I told them I had to check out his story for myself prior to writing anything. I gained access to Special Forces and various intelligence agencies that gave me the confirmation I needed.

Dick and I became firm friends over a long period of time over which Dick’s history became known to me. He had given a great deal for his country, and now due to that service this is his medical condition. He is numb from the pulverizing! It would take something as large as the Dead Sea scrolls to write it all down, but here it is in brief.

Dick has no ankle joint to speak of left to him after surgery, there’s nothing really there; two bulged discs impinge on his main nerve running along his spine, which is fused at the bottom, so he finds turning an agony. That, when taken together with his diabetes, together make a lethal, miserable one two punch! By the end of the day he can’t see straight and is totally wrung out because the energy it takes for him to fight the pain is man killing!

So how do you suppose this man spends his time? Dick crawls out of his bed each day to look after his son who suffers from his own lifelong ailment.

That clearly was not enough so Dick also set up a new business to develop and market an amazing new technology to help his country and allies fight their enemies. This takes the form of a wrist worn computer and display that can receive and send real time information in a battle environment. It can do this under water, on the ground, in extreme heat and cold. It will save many allied lives currently lost in ambush and a range of other situations.

Dick has developed this amazing, world leading technology with a tiny team of people on a limited budget against huge odds. In direct competition in live test conditions his equipment has surpassed every last piece of competition and is now almost ready.

This article is my small testament to an exceptional man; whether or not he triumphs over all the odds I think Dick is a great advertisement for America and for the sheer gritty staying power of the human spirit.