Could not have said it better. We do not know what kind of demons he was battling. We will never have another Mrs. Doubtfire like him.Quote:
Originally Posted by foxtrot
Could not have said it better. We do not know what kind of demons he was battling. We will never have another Mrs. Doubtfire like him.Quote:
Originally Posted by foxtrot
I think one of the great flaws in our society is that we buy into this idea that "battling demons" is an excuse for doing evil. Whatever pain he was in doesn't excuse the pain he caused.Quote:
Originally Posted by SouthPaw
If humans are so weak that depression can excuse doing such harm (under the idea that our sanity is somehow so compromised we are no longer able to control our actions), well then none of us should be allowed liberty and we should just shut our free society down tomorrow and replace it with a harsh, totalitarian dictatorship.
When one no longer owns their "life" then we have totalitarianism.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zundfolge
Heard on the news today that Williams wife was saying that Robin was beginning to show symptoms of Parkinson's disease, but he wasn't prepared to announce it to the public.
A few items came to light, he had parkinsons (noted above), was $30M+ in debt, show was cancelled, and probably a littany of other issues we may never know about.
It's easy to pass judgement on his choice, but impossible to understand. Only the individual with his religion, beliefs, personal philosophy, and condition can judge what is the best course of action. Some commit suicide to avoid justice, that's cowardly. If someone punches out because of a terminal illness, and chooses not to bankrupt the family, that's a different classification all together.
Got the following from a TREA Email:
‘He Brought Them Light’: How Robin Williams Turned His USO Tours into Personal Experiences for Troops
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
By Eric Brandner USO News
Today, the audience gets to tell the story.
The photos of service members posing with Robin Williams flowing through social media feeds the past 24 hours say more than any condolence statement could.
There is Williams with a pair of female service members in Djibouti in 2004. Posing with a soldier after a long flight at Camp Speicher, Iraq, in 2007. Signing autographs during a holiday tour of Afghanistan in late 2010.
Those were hard times for people in uniform. But for a moment, Williams managed to make almost everyone he met in those conflict zones smile.
“There were these guys behind a fence, across a berm [and] a field, and they waved at him,” said USO Vice President of Entertainment Rachel Tischler, recalling her time with Williams during the 2007 USO Chairman’s Holiday Tour. “And he jumped across the berm and went running over to them. Obviously, our security team completely freaked out. Again – height of the war here. But he didn’t care. He just wanted to go over and shake their hands and thank them. And that is what he was like.”
A friend and entertainer to American service members around the globe, Williams was found dead in his Tiburon, California, home Monday afternoon in what the Marin County Sheriff’s Office characterized as a suspected suicide. He was 63.
Williams went on six USO tours from 2002 to 2013, including five overseas. He visited troops in 12 foreign countries, making three stops to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
“There’s nothing I enjoy more than traveling with the USO and giving back to our troops in whatever way I can,” Williams said during his 2007 USO tour led by then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen. “They work hard, sacrifice a lot and deserve to be treated like the heroes they are. The very least I can do is bring a smile to their faces.”
The connections didn’t end when he left the stage. One of Williams’ legacies will be the photos with men and women in various shades of camo squinting and smiling at camera phones in the middle of the desert. He openly discussed his struggles with them, too.
“He talked to [troops] who had gone through [Alcoholics Anonymous] backstage,” said USO Senior Vice President John Hanson, who also went on the 2007 tour. “That was the most remarkable thing. It happened in Kuwait, it happened in Iraq, it happened in Afghanistan. People would seek him out and he would take the time to talk to them.”
According to Tischler, Williams was always cognizant of playing to the military audience’s shared experiences.
“What was great about him on tour was that he always took the time to sit down and talk to people about what they were going through, what life on the base was like, about personal experiences,” Tischler said. “And then he’d get on stage and he’d be telling a joke about Mexican Night in the [dining facility].
“He already put on a great show, but now it was just for the people who were there and no one else would have gotten the jokes. … It made the moment even more amazing for them because he’s talking about what they went through.
“We’d land and we had a show in five minutes and in the course of … walking to a stage, he somehow found someone and got that information and put it in a routine. It was absolutely mind-blowing.”
His fellow entertainers were impressed, too.
“His generosity of spirit was as boundless as his comedy,” comedian Lewis Black wrote on Twitter on Monday night. Black also performed on the 2007 USO Chairman’s Holiday Tour. “I will miss him terribly.”
The USO’s Entertainment team estimates Williams performed for or visited with more than 89,000 service members during his 12-plus years of volunteering.
“When our service members had the opportunity to see him in person, they knew they were seeing an icon of comedy, but it was more than that,” said John Pray, the USO’s executive vice president and chief of staff. “It was someone who actually understood their own trials and tribulations and struggles as they dealt with loneliness, fear, uncertainty and a variety of negative emotions.
“He brought them light and took them away for a period of time from those challenges and gave them a chance to recharge.”
See more at:
http://www.uso.org/robin-williams-us...WM14RBNE01&utm
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Some Thoughts on the Passing of My Friend—Robin Williams
All,
I wanted to share this personal picture from December 2004 on board a C-17 over Iraq flying to Al Anbar province with Robin Williams to visit troops who were currently engaged in combat operations in the Sunni Triangle which included the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah. This was one of the many stops that we would make over the next several weeks traveling throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, out with the fleet in the Persian Gulf and to the Horn of Africa. I had the privilege to get to know Robin well during several trips like this while serving as the Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Generals Myers and Pace) for Legislative Affairs. Robin would travel with us into the combat theater to entertain and visit with the troops. The more dangerous and remote the location was, the more interested and excited he was to get there and be with the troops!
On these trips, he gave all he had to the troops--staying with them until the last autograph had been signed and the last photo taken. When we visited with the wounded, he would do the many things that you would expect Robin Williams to do to brighten their day, but he would also just sit and talk with them about home and their families. When called before our departure on these trips--sometimes at the last minute, he would drop everything in his personal and professional life, to come with us to visit soldiers, sailors, airman and marines wherever they served in harm's way--he felt that it was an honor and a privilege to do so. He was truly passionate and driven to provide something worthwhile for the men and women serving far from home that would give them that needed break from the stress that they were serving under daily.
Robin's humor is well known, but he also had a gifted intellect and was interested in many things--we would discuss the history, people, culture and politics of the areas we were in or traveling to. He could make you laugh until you cried, but he could also think and talk deeply about what would be the best way ahead for the people of these places and would always ask how could we best help them.
Robin and I would continue to stay in contact over the years since with occasional correspondence and emails. He last sent me an autographed copy of one of his latest scripts. His passing yesterday is a great loss for all, but was especially hard on those of us who knew him well. He well deserves all of the tributes being put forth regarding his many contributions to the betterment and happiness of many. His presence on this earth will be missed...
Mike
Like Gary Sinise it was a movie role of Robin Williams that first led military members to focus on him ”Gooooood Morning Vietnam” In it he played radio DJ AF Sgt. Adrian Cronauer during the war in Vietnam. The movie meant a great deal to Vietnam vets most feeling its tone was just right. But the real Cronauer told WTOP-FM, that he did not even meet Robin Williams until the movie’s premier and that he was a much more laid back character. “ Barry Levinson, the director wouldn’t let me anywhere near [Williams]or even the set because he was worried if[Williams] and I met , he would start to do, subconsciously, an imitation of me,, which, of course, would change the characterization…..That was all Robin Williams… All Robin Williams.”
His friend and dedicated performer for the troops said:” R.i.P Robin Williams. His genius as artist & comedian will B missed & his support of R troops no doubt was much appreciated by all who serve.”
We are all grateful.
Patriotic AND funny
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_L1vLv84vs
What a funny dude, but suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.