James Francis "Jim" Killian

1950 - 2018

Jim Killian in Vietnam

My Friend Jim Killian

I first met Jim in January of 1970. What’s that, 48 years ago? We were serving together in the same infantry platoon in Vietnam.
We hit it off immediately. Jim was a motorcycle aficionado and I was into drag racing – not too far apart. We often shared our
thoughts and ideas on these topics.

As a soldier, Jim was always trustworthy and straight forward. He never shirked a duty nor dodged a responsibility. He was
pleasant under all conditions regardless of how trying the times. He could always be counted on to carry his load and sometimes more.

The Jim I knew had the uncanny ability to expand our tunnel-vision view of the current situation into the “Big Picture” and find the
ironic humor of the said situation, albeit sometimes a cynical humor. Such a character trait is invaluable in the stressful, bleak situations
we often found ourselves in and indeed, serves one well all through life.

Jim and I came home from Vietnam and like most men of that era, perhaps all warriors throughout history,
tried to simply get on with our own lives and put Vietnam behind us.

I don’t know exactly when it was, probably about 1995 or so, some 25 years after we’d last seen or talked to one another
that I entered a post on a military website. Jim was one of the first people that I reconnected with. We called one another
on the phone and instantly, INSTANTLY, the years melted away. It was as if we’d never been apart. In the years since then,
we talked often on the phone on a regular basis. We met in-person on three to four occasions, even though we lived far apart.

Jim was one of the most pleasant, even-tempered, easy to get along with friends that I’ve ever had. Ready with an ironic joke
and quick wit, so very easy to laugh with.

I’ve often heard it said in life that when someone we love dies, a piece of us dies with them. I look at this as a glass
half-empty philosophy. I say when someone we love dies, a piece of them lives on with us the rest of our days.
And, that’s how I’ll view Jim – still alive in my heart, an easy smile on his lips and a sardonic wit on his tongue.

Jim Killian was my friend and I will miss him until I see him in God’s Kingdom at the right hand of Jesus.

Rest in peace, Jim.

James Henderson
August 25, 2018

Medal display for Jim Killian

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