YES, Ray attended about 3 events that I was involved with: the fighter aces assn. and the Champlin Museum. I did not get to know him as well as I'd have liked, but he impressed everyone with his cheerful outlook. He used to introduce himself, "Hi, I'm
Ray Brooks, or what's left of him." Just a sweet old guy--the aces' wives adored him.
The WW I aces I knew best were
Ken Porter (147th) and
Bob Todd (17th); two entirely different birds! They did not get along, and we never knew why. Some of us liked to think that their feud dated from cards or madamoiselles in 1918 but they never served together. Bob was much like Ray--physically frail but really sweet. Ken was a crusty sort who said exactly what he thought, and could keep up with the young squirts of WW II in the drinking category. Because I was practically the only nonimbiber of the whole bunch, usually I was designated to close up the bar and stash the booze so I spent some late nights/early mornings with Ken and a few others. Of course, I never took a tape recorder! Frank Olynyk and I heard enough of the same stories over the years to recognize which ones were consistent and which ones "improved." Ken's were pretty consistent.
As noted before,
George Vaughn was a hearty, outgoing gent; very well spoken.
Douglas Campbell was reserved and precise in his speech, as if he weighed every word.