until my father’s leg was looked at. She told use not to worry, your father is
doing fine. That was the last time we heard from her. On July 11 my father entered the VA hospital. It was then decided that his leg (from the knee down) would have
to come off. He had the surgery and was doing fine. Burma said my dad was okay and doing well. She said he was recovering and would be walking soon. Then they could go to
England. Three days passed Dad’s health started to fail him the doctors didn't understand why there was no infection still he continued to get worse. On the second
day James Edward Martin Sr. slipped into a coma. On Saturday July 13, 1996 they unplugged my father's life support; he died shortly there after. Karien heard the news
first, she called and told me, I called Wendy, Wendy called James, James called Douglas, I called dad’s
brother Bill. We were all in shock. For me death felt strange and foreign, unreal like being in sock. Burma didn't give dad a funeral, had him cremated right
away. Then she gave dad's ashes to my brothers Douglas & James Martin to dispose of. James and Douglas went up in a plane and dropped dad's ashes over a California
forest. Without a funeral there was no closer for me, I feel like dad is on vacation. I wonder when all of this will hit me? Fortunately for me I said good-bye to him
years ago in a letter. In this letter I praised him for the few neat things he did for me. I thanked him for giving me life, a home, clothing, gifts-- birthday &
Christmas, family outings, and food. I told him that I understood that he did his best he could. Dad never answered my letter. That was dad he didn't write or call like a
normal dad. He always kept his distance from his mother, brother, and the one's he supposedly loved. That was dad, we accepted this.Good-bye dad may your journey into the unknown bring you peace and a higher state of conciseness then you had here on earth. We all loved you...we just didn't know it until you were gone.
