RANDY "Peter Rabbit" COLTON WAS IN THE 1ST PLATOON 1969-1970

Peter Rabbit's Obit

His memorial brochure

2/26/2005

Pineapple: I know this is short notice (as if you have not heard that before), Maggot  is getting a group of Troopers togather for a visit with PR. So far the group includes Maggot, Red, The Kid, myself, and maybe Duffy and SS ( I am not for sure about Duffy and SS). We will be getting into Seattle Thursday (3/3/5) and driving over to Zillah to visit with PR for a couple of days. PR does not know we are coming (Maggot has been taking with Mindy to work out the details of the visit). Now for the short notice part, you do a great job (butter up butter up) on putting togather videos, what are the chances of you putting one togather for PR (using photos of the Reunion and photos off of the MSN site)? Coop

3/13/2005

Time to give you all an update on PR. I went to see PR at his house in Zillah on Thursday 3/3/05. He was in pretty bad shape. The next day on 3/4/05 Maggot, Coop, Duffy, Pineapple, and Red arrived in Zillah to see PR. It completely took him by surprise!!! Pr had not eaten for about 2 weeks, and was slowly losing his strenghth to live. We all took PR to the ER friday afternoon, and he was admitted to the hospital. Pr was very, very weak!! His wife Mindy is a saint, and what a Care giver!!!!! PR asked me to Pray over him so Myself, Duffy, Maggot, Red, Coop, and Pineapple all laid hands on PR and we PRAYED to The Good LORD from the bottom of our Hearts!!! There was not a Dry Eye in that room!! GOD heard our Prayers, and continues to hear them!! Pr has started to eat - to walk with a walker, and gain strength! I Ouote Jesus from the bible:

J o hn 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

That is what happened this past weekend, and I THANK each one of you Brothers from the bottom of my HEART!!! IN CHRIST, May The PEACE of Our LORD Be With You ALL!!! The Kid


4/20/2005

Guys, Got a call from SS awhile ago and he said he got a call from the Kid who told him that PR had gone to Fiddlers Green this evening about 6pm their time.  I just looked and there was no news of it on the Cav site.  I guess the Kid will post it.  I'll e-mail him and get some details on the funeral.  Think it would be nice to send a nice flower arrangement from the brotherhood of the Cav.  Jerry


4/21/2005

Hey Brothers - Just got my computer up and running!!! PR Our Brother is now with The Good LORD!! He passed away at around 4pm PST with all of his Family at his side . Mindy his wife said he passed VERY PEACEFULLY!!! I will keep you all posted on the Funeral Date!! I can't even express how Proud I am to have served with PR in NAM!!! Peace to You All, and May The Good LORD Bless Each of you and your Familes!!! Mike


I am very sorry to hear it, Kid, though Keith tells me you knew PR was in a lot of pain and really couldn't function anymore.  Too bad he can't tell us what Fiddler's Green is really like.  Thanks for being there for him and keeping us all in touch.

LTeeF ~


Wednesday  afternoon my wife called with a message from Mike Davis that PR had passed on.  With phone in hand, I sat there in silence-no thoughts-no feelings and I wondered why.  Then I could hear Barbara asking if I was alright; I told her yes and I would talk with her later.  As I hung up the phone, I noticed a stream of tears running down my checks and yet I still had no emotional feelings.  The evening past and the night was short and long, as memories came and went. Morning came and the beginning of a new day; still no feelings.  Now it is mid-morning and the leak has reappeared and this time feelings rage; sorrow, relief, sadness, happiness and anger.  No matter how many times I take a deep breath or wipe away another tear, it does not slow down the leak on the flow of feelings.  ~FRIENDS~ what joy and sorrow they do bring! Coop.


P.R. was very special to all his buddies and we will never forget him.  He was an important part of our brotherhood and he will be greatly missed.  I am thankful to have been able to call him my friend. Duffy Beckham


Guys,  Don't guess I ever knew PRs real name.  I the Nam it was easier to either not know someones name at all or know them by a nick name...it made it easier to forget it if something bad happened to them.  I still have a mental block with names.  It takes me forever to remember what some ones name is.  I did know Peter Rabbit.  He was in my platoon, he was my friend, we went to the field togeather, faced the same dangers, felt the same fatigue, the same fears, the same heat, the same cold, drank the same off brand beer (hot or cold), the same sugar free Fresca for months on end, got bit by the same mosquitos, felt the same pucker factor when under fire, the same relief when we got back to a "safe place" like Alpha 4 (Can you remember thinking how much safer Alpha 4 was than some of the places we stayed on the DMZ?), The sheer pleasure of having a hot meal (dehydrated or not) after eating C-Rats for weeks on end, or better yet the joy of a! hot shower after a month of going without one?  The partys we had when we really got to a safe place like our own base camp, or the partys we had when we got to ANY base camp.  I think the photo is of a Christmas party we had at Alpha 4.  Man did we tear it down.  That's what I remember most about Randy Colton...we did it to death every chance we got.  I don't know that any group of guys in Viet Nam deserved to cut loose more than we did.  We were after all the Bastards of the DMZ.  Rest in Peace Randy.  You have earned it.  Jerry Malan 1st platoon 69-70.

Middle: Peter Rabbit 2nd Row: Charlie Tuna, SS, Sgt. Styles, Zeke Back Row: The Kid, Doc Parker, Sgt Barrows, Red. Christmas 1969


 

It wasn't until 2002, 32 years after Vietnam, that I learned what Peter Rabbit's real name was. It made sense, that Randy Colton's nickname was Peter Rabbit because when he first came to the troop, someone misread his last name as "Cotton." When we were looking for troopers, someone from HQ platoon, either Jim Clark or Keith Eaton, recalled his real name. Luckily, he was listed in the white pages on the Internet so I was able to track him down with one telephone call. I hadn't said a word to him since VN, but we immediately re-established our friendship during that phone call. He confirmed that it was because his named looked like "Cotton" that it led to him being called Peter Rabbit. They tried to name him "Peter Cottontail," but he objected to that, and suggested that he be called Peter Rabbit instead. I arrived in country within a few weeks of him in the summer of 1969, as with most of the people that ended up as scouts and infantry in 1st platoon. We replaced the "old guys" of the troop, the ones that arrived with the troop from Fort Carson in 1968. I'll always remember PR, forever young, forever my buddy, forever standing next to me in that 1969 Thanksgiving photo. GeorGersaba


Just off the phone with Mike Davis, he has prepared the following information. There is one quick story that Mike is going to use at the Memorial Service Saturday, as soon as Mike started telling the story I just knew what PR was going to do. PR has a very good friend named Smiley. It seems that Smiley and PR had been talking about what they wanted people to do after they had passed on (this conversation took place a few years back). PR and Smiley decided they want people to remember the good times and celebrate by drinking a bottle of their favorite whiskey; so a bottle was purchased and placed in a box to be saved for that day that one of them will pass on. PR was put in charge of keeping the box, it seems that as soon as Smiley left PR decide it would be a shame to miss out on drinking that whiskey (if he was the first to go) so he took out the bottle and drink it all. After emptying bottle he place it back into the box and return it to its place. Thursday Smiley came by the house to speak with Mindy (PR's wife), Mindy went and retrieve the box and showed Smiley the empty bottle both of them had a good laugh. Now that is the PR I will remember. Coop


Troopers,           Well most of you all know that our Beloved Brother Peter Rabbbit has gone to Fiddler's Green!!! He now walks with the LORD!!!! The family has asked me to speak at the Memorial, and I want you all to know I will do my best to represent Our Troop!! There will be a Special Memorial Service for PR on April 30th at 1pm in Zillah, WA. at the High School Classatorium. 1602 2nd Ave., Zillah, Wa. 98953. " Yes the High School - He was well thought of by everybody!!" The family ask that in leiu of flowers that you can donate to: The Memorial Foundation in Memory of Randy Colton For North Star Lodge 2701 Tieton Drive Yakima, WA 98953 If any of you all want to attend the Memorial there is a airport in the Pasco area which is about 1 hour from PR's house. The hotel in Zillah is the Comfort Inn 1-800-501-5433. Well I hope I got it all straight:) Email or call me if you have questions. May The Good LORD Bless All of You!!! The Kid


Kid, The news on PR hit me pretty bad. He was a great soldier and a wonderful person. I will miss his beautiful smile at the Reunions but I have alot of fond memories of a guy I was honored to have served with. I know you will do a beautiful job at the Memorial and I would'nt ever worry about you representing A Troop. You make sure you tell Mindy and the kids that they are Cav Family and always will be. We would be honored to meet them and to have them at any of the upcoming Reunions. They will always be welcome to join us. If there are any financial problems with Mindy making it to Vegas, please call me and let me know so I can help. I'd give anything to be there with you at the Memorial Mike but I can't make it. I will be there with you in spirit and you will all be in my prayers as PR has been for these past couple of years. Now I'd like to tell you what a GREAT Brother you are. Mike you where there for PR and I know that meant alot to him. Your a wonderful person,a true friend and a great human being. God has truely blessed me by having you in my life. You are a joy to be around and I love you as much as a person can. Mike, they always talk nice about when you are gone but I wanted to let you know now how I feel about you as life is to short and sweet to be wasted. I will say a prayer for you. Please tell Mindy for me that I wish I could do more than love PR and that I will miss him very much. Let her know that I look forward to meeting her and that I am here if she needs anything. PR is in a better place, where he will hurt no more. He's walking point for the Troop and I know he will have the base camp all setup for the rest of us when we get there. Gob Bless you Mike and I hope to see you soon. Peace and Love, your Brother, Jim R.


PR Was  always able to put everybody else 1st even when ,he was so sick .He could always make us laugh .  PR and I share same birthday and just found this out this Feb. I AM SO LUCKY TO HAVE KNOWN PR  HE WAS TRUE FRIEND THAT WE ALL COULD COUNT ON.  SEE YA SOMEDAY RED


In one's life you have the opportunity to make many friends.  In a combat situation such as Vietnam these freindships are special.  In my life I have made and lost many friends, but I can truly say that PR was my "best" friend in Vietnam and it was a relationship which has endured over the past 35 years, even though I have not seen him since I left Vietnam.  We talked on > the phone about 25 years ago and that was my last contact with him. There have not been many days that he has not crossed my mind and my family feels like they know him from my frequent talks about our year together in Vietnam.  There is even a picture of us together at Charlie II in our corner cupboard in the kitchen.  I have many regrets in my life, but the two that will haunt until I die is that I never told my father the "I loved him" before he died and that I never saw Peter Rabbit after I left Vietnam. PR was truly a great person and a true friend.  I will miss him dearly.  See you on the other side PR.   Love,  Doc [Parker]

 

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