Howard Lee Myers

A Tribute to My Father — June 13, 1946 to December 7, 2025

My father passed away on December 7th around 3 PM, peacefully and with love surrounding him. His story — the one captured in Blind Vision: A Veteran’s Story from Trauma to Triumph — was always more than a veteran’s journey. It was a legacy of resilience, grit, faith, and a mission-driven life lived fully, fiercely, and unapologetically.

Dad’s life was magnificent. He lived the way great men do — with purpose, determination, humor, character, and a relentless refusal to let adversity define him. From the moment he lost his sight in Vietnam, he chose not despair, but destiny. He chose not limitation, but leadership. He chose not survival, but significance.

But about five years ago, Dementia began to creep in, gently at first — then more forcefully. The long goodbye started. Night wandering, sundowning, confusion… and several near-fatal falls over the years. He fought every step. He always did.

This last fall — the broken hip — became the turning point his body and mind could no longer overcome. Without his sight, unable to rehabilitate, weakened by repeated UTIs, bladder failure, and increasing confusion, his body simply could not recover. Yet even in decline, he showed courage. Even in his suffering, he showed heart. Even in his last days, he showed what a lifetime of resilience looks like.

As Michael Easter writes in The Comfort Crisis, especially in the unforgettable reflection from Chapter 17 — December 31st, 11:59:33 PM — life becomes clearest when we face the truth of impermanence. We are reminded that death is not the enemy; wasted life is. Dad did not waste his life. He lived every part of it. He pressed himself, challenged himself, reinvented himself. He lived outside his comfort zone for decades — long before it was a book or a movement.

This is where the dash matters most.

June 13th, 1946 — December 7th, 2025.

Two dates. One beginning. One ending.

What made his life extraordinary was everything that happened in the dash.

His dash was full. Fierce. Faithful. Beautiful. Imperfect. Impactful.

A father, a veteran, a speaker, a leader, a friend, a man who refused to quit.

His dash changed lives — including mine.

And perhaps the best description of how he lived comes from Hunter S. Thompson:

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a Ride!’ ”

That was my dad.

A man who skidded in broadside.

A man who lived boldly.

A man who used every ounce of what he was given — until he had nothing left to give.

Today, we honor not just his passing, but his dash — the extraordinary life that happened between those two dates. His legacy is resilience. His message is grit. His example is vision. And the ride… what a ride it was.

Rest easy, Dad.

Your story lives on in all of us.

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