It’s taken me a minute and a lot of thought to put these words together in remembrance of my father.  My dad was my biggest teacher and encourager when I didn’t believe in myself. He made sure to instill  his life experience and wisdom within each of his children. I valued his insight and still find myself quoting my dad and drawing on his advice. I regret that he and I had troubled communication and didn’t always see eye to eye, which limited our communication at the end. I choose to remember him and the many experiences we enjoyed together. I remember just about every weekend we would go for long rides on his Harley. Sometimes to his HOG events and others to see the beautiful Texas land. I loved attending his Condors get togethers. It was his pride and I valued being able to see him shine like he did when he met up with his brothers. My dad will never be forgotten for the many positives I have with him. I’m happy he is at rest  and with his mom and dad, who he dearly missed. RIP dad. I love you.

Emil was my first contact with the Condors.  I was trying to make contact with any Condor who might have known my brother (Clayton) before he crashed on a last light mission.  Clayton had just transferred into the Condors and only had 3 months to go in country.  I was on a mission to find out information to fill in the blanks between his records, letters home, and pictures he took in country.  Emil invited me to come to one of the Condor reunions.  What a great group of guys !!  I will always be grateful for the time all the Condors took in patiently answering my questions and talking to me, but without Emil it probably wouldn't have happened.

My deepest condolences to the Hirsch and Condor families.  There is no doubt Emil will be missed.

Condolences from myself, my girls, and my family. As EJ said in his obituary, Emil was devoted and passionate and I’ll add his dedication to The Ohio State Buckeyes and San Antonio Spurs. He loved his Vietnam brothers and Cleveland neighborhood pals; both of which most of his stories were about.  He was proud to show off his hometown of Cleveland when given the chance and for someone with a short memory, he never forgot details about Cleveland or Vietnam. RIP Emil.  I’m glad you have reunited with your parents whom you missed the most. 

Emil buddy, you will be missed! 

Condolences from various Condors collected from email responses to posting of obituary:

Dan Hester - “Emil was strong advocate for the Condor brand as well as a great person. Emil was a noble man, proud American and leader of Condor reunions, I’ll miss him.”

Orlan Peterson – “My most profound condolences to his intimate family & the 507th TC 70-71 membership. He has been an active event planner & continuity link for 50 plus years. He will be missed by the Condor & 507th community respectively. Please convey my deepest & most sincere condolence to his family.”

Chuck Carroll – “A giant loss for the Condor community. Served with and remember him well as a young patriot and technical leader. I have pics in our 1969 Condor Vietnam annual to remember him by. He will not be forgotten.”

Steve Grieco – “Rest in peace Emil.”

Joe Dzurinda – “…he was a very good friend.”

Greg Fleming – “Emil was a good guy and he did about the group!”

Lucio Vazquez – “RIP my brother. Emil I’m going to miss you.”

Anthony Japuntich – “I did not know him from Viet Nam, but came to know him at the Condor reunions and considered him to be a great friend.”

Clyde Romero – “Sorry to hear….”

Linda Wilson – “…sending prayers for all.”

Bill Amavisca – “My condolences…. My prayers are for the whole family.

My deepest sympathy for you and your family. Your father spoke Highly of my father and the time in which they shared in Vietnam. 

Your Dad was a great friend to me, my sister and cousin when we meet face to face in San Antonio. 

Thank you for assisting in connecting the dots. 

Gone, never to be forgotten. We will meet again my friend, tell my Dad I said hi.

SFC Karl P. Cherry 

US Army Retired 

My dad and mother divorced early in my life and I didn't meet him until 12 or 13 years of age. I went to live with him from then until I left for the Army in 2002. On January 2, 2006, I was wounded by a large IED explosion in Iraq. It took time for the military to get me stabilized and back to the States via MEDEVAC. When I was wounded, I was given a satellite phone and I called my dad and told him what happened. He thought I was joking and didn't believe me at first. The military nurse got on the phone and confirmed. My dad said he went directly home and that it was the hardest news he had ever heard in his life. 

The Army decided to transfer me to Fort Campbell, KY for medical care. The Army also put my dad on invitational orders and he met me at the hospital. He stayed there the entire time I was in recovery, which was about 30 days. I was not in a good mental place when I came back. I had a TBI and PTS that were compounded by the injuries I sustained. My dad told me a joke that the guy who wrote the Hokey Pokey song had died and that they struggled to keep his left foot in the coffin because it kept popping out when they put his right foot in. It made me laugh for the first time in a few weeks. 

After all that, he was with me all day and only left to sleep in the guest house. He took care of me, rolled me to my appointments in the hospital, kept me company, and made sure I wasn't alone in the worst time of my life. I would be dead if my dad wasn't there because I think I lost the will to live after all I had been through. This is the strongest and most fond memory of my dad. He found a way to make something that was terrible and make light of the situation. That was my dad's way. 

I will always have a memory of him rolling me around at fast speeds in a wheelchair to go to the dining facility to have breakfast every morning. I will always remember him being there when the world felt like it had closed in on me and I couldn't handle it anymore. 

I will miss you, dad. I am so sorry that life ended the way it did and I wish you peace while you rest. 

I met Emil when he showed up at LZ Sally in 1969.   Our friendship started when we realized we pretty much came from the same location in Ohio.    I never knew our friendship would last for 55 years but we became close friends.   I will never forget Emil, we would talk about the city of Cleveland, our relationships, life in C Troop and experiences after we came home.   We shared many stories.   It's funny how we bond with those we served with and the strength of that bond is amazing.   I'm going to miss our conversations that we would have a few times a month.   My condolences to his son E.J., the rest of his family and all who knew him, he was a very special friend.

Please accept my heartfelt condolences. My heart goes out to his family.  You're in my thoughts and prayers.  He was quite the character, and I am sure he will be missed dearly.

Sorry for your loss