Jeff wanted to join the military soon after he married his wife, but his dad talked him out of it. Many years later, when his oldest son graduated from MCRD San Diego, he attended a San Diego Padre's game and they asked all of those who served in the military to stand.  This really got to Jeff that he wasn't able to stand, so when we he returned to his home in Oklahoma he  decided to enlist. Of course, the Army was the only one who would take a 38 year old! He went to speak to a recruiter and they informed him how much weight he would need to lose so we got him a trainer and a few months later he walked back into the recruiter's office and told them to "Weigh and Tape Me"; the recruiter replied with "I honestly didn't think we would ever see you again".  Our one and only duty station was Ft Hood TX and Jeff was soon deployed to Iraq and then later was stationed in South Korea. Jeff was finishing up his 1 year in Korea when he was diagnosed with cancer on June 18, 2012. Jeff was in San Antonio in less than a week from his diagnosis date and went through chemo, radiation and major surgery before losing his battle with cancer on July 5, 2013.  – submitted by family