Mr. T was born at home, the youngest of seven children. When he popped out, the midwife ran to the front of the house screaming, “Master, Master, you need to get a cow and have a celebration. You finally have a son!”

#1 – When he was about 7 or 8, Mr. T got so sick from some illness that his mother was looking around for his burial ground. Luckily, his father, an Oriental medicine “doctor”, who was away on some business, returned home in time to bail him out of death’s grip.

#2 – When he was about 9 or 10, he went swimming with one of his sisters in the river, but he didn’t know how to swim. He went under but managed to grab onto his sister’s leg. The sister, not realizing that was her brother, but thinking it was some underwater creature, kicked him off, resulting in him floating down the current. Some adult, seeing him about to go under, jumped in and saved him from drowning.

#3 – Early in his military career, while standing talking to the treating doctor in the makeshift camp for injured soldiers, suddenly, a single Viet Minh (forefather of the Viet Cong) “sniper” bullet whizzed by and hit the doc, killing him.

#4 – Another time in the military, while on patrol with his fellow soldiers, walking through the rice field, they came under enemy fire. Being the lead, he was about to take a dive forward, but his Spidey sense told him to jump to the side, and so he did. The next man behind him jumped forward and hit a landmine, losing both his legs.

#5 – Tet (1968). The NVA and VC attacked the South. Being an Army officer, he had to report in and so drove his Jeep to headquarters, while gunfire were flying back and forth across the street. Somehow, he managed to make it in without a scratch.

#6 – In his 80s, he had a big stroke that completely paralyzed his left side. But he recovered about 85-90% of its use after a week.

#7 – In his late 80s, he was doing yard work in the front, when a storm moved in. So, he went inside, and some minutes later, lightning struck one of the pine trees. Suppose he could have been fried, if he didn’t get inside quickly enough.

#8 - He was still driving until his late 90s, but with the last car crash, that was it. The key was taken away.

#9 – Last year, Covid got him and tried to get him down. But, he kicked its ass after 48 hours and completely recovered after 2 weeks, without any fancy meds.


He is today 102 years old, much weaker, and thus, no longer doing his daily gardening, but still actively reading and editing his writings. And still bragging about his health. LOL. That’s the brief tale of Mr. T (né Tùng).

Happy 102nd Birthday, Bố (That’s Vietnamese for Dad).

** UPDATE **: Thanks, all, for the well wishes. They are greatly appreciated. We all had a wonderful time. Dad said, seeing all the children together like this will help him live a few more years. A couple of pics. Mrs Q is in Korea visiting her family. So, she did the next best thing, made a BD card, and took a pic wishing him Happy Birthday. I put it on my laptop's homescreen.

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Oh, and with that, time for a Karma in honor of Mr. T’s 102nd.

PRIZE: FrankenAR: Noveske factory built complete upper - Primary Weapons Systems (PWS) factory built complete lower. I am original owner. Upper has 360 rds through it. Lower is new/never fired.

Upper specs: VLTOR MUR forged upper receiver, 14.5” CHF 5.56mm NATO bbl, M249 machine gun steel with chrome lining 2x thickness that of the M4/M16 bbl, extended feed ramps, no M203 notch, 1/7 twist, HP/MP tested, mid-gas system, Lo-pro gas block pinned to bbl, 13.5” NSR handguard, auto carrier, shot peened & MP tested bolt, Gun Fighter CH, BattleComp 1.5 pinned & welded to bbl (so, non-NFA). I added the MBUS sights.

Lower specs: PWS MK1 Mod1-M Pro forged 7075-T6 aluminum, hard coat anodized, mil-spec parts, fluted buffer tube, ratchet lock castle nut and QD end plate, H2 buffer, mil-spec Nickel PTFE coated trigger, BCM stock and grip (but I replaced the BCM stock with the Magpul CTR stock as seen in pics).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 12131,

Happy Birthday, Mr. T!

Very inspiring story about Mr T.

Please enter me in the Karma.

Happy Birthday to Mr. T also.

Happy Birthday to your Father!!

I lost mine just under 3 months ago. Still miss him.

Don't know if I can get in on the Karma here in CA.

Happy 102nd birthday to your father, Q. Hope you are able to celebrate many more.

I will pass on the karma entry, but I want to pass on my best wishes to your father on his birthday and my appreciation and amazement at his exciting life story. What a life!

Thanks for sharing his adventures with us.

Impressive list of near misses. Happy 102nd!

Happy birthday to Mr T

That's a wonderful story!

Congratulations Mr. né Tùng!!! 102 is AMAZING! My father is 93.

Happy Birthday!!
Mr. T here is to many more! [Toast]

Wonderful and fantastic story, Q. Wish I'd met him when we were out there. I have never entered a karma that I recall, but I'd be glad to enter this one.

Bob

Wow!!! Happy Birthday Mr T! Great story Q!

Happy Birthday and many happy returns of the day, Mr. T!

I would have never guessed he was that old. Great story he should write a book.

Happy Birthday Mr. T!!!

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Happy Birthday Mr. T

Happy Birthday Mr T!! Another very generous karma from you sir, thank you

An incredible story about an incredible man! Happy 102 to a true patriot!!!

Impressive list of near misses! Happy BDAY Mr T.