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Chris Malloy Remembered

By Ray Parrish

Chris Malloy died July 6 of this year and I agreed to write this obit, but it's hard. His life can't be described with dates; graduated from Evanston THS in '63, John Hopkins in '67 and then Vietnam and forty years with VVAW. His loss has extinguished a light of peace that we all need so desperately at this time. He will be remembered and missed by a lot of people because he touched (or graced) so many lives.

I loved him for so many reasons, like all who knew him. His enthusiasm for life was contagious and he was always a joy to be around. Listening to his vivid story telling of his travels around the world with Pat gave me a new appreciation for oral history and made me long to travel with him. His presence in otherwise emotional meetings seemed to cool us all down and to evaporate all evil thoughts. He took great delight in helping us see ourselves more clearly with deft comments that caused the therapist in me to smile. Maybe his passion for hot air ballooning helped him see the world from a perspective few of have ever had.

Which brings us to those damned helicopters in Vietnam. I thought of Chris as a PTSD success story since he was such a gleeful participant in Life, was an example that many fellow vets emulated and he never asked for help. Watching the war slide by from the air for him must have been so different than for most of the younger GI's back then. Someone with as much life experience under his belt as Chris had at that time, apparently enabled him to better deal with those Nam memories that last a lifetime. So he made sure that he had a fulfilling life despite those experiences that have killed or crippled so many other vets. In the end, he died as the result of "complications" from the VA's treatment for his Agent Orange diseases. It just goes to show you...war will get us all in the end. Teaching and leading us even in death. Peace and Love now and forever, Chris.

Ray Parrish is one of VVAW's Military Counselors.