What kind of boy grows up to be a Medal of Honor recipient?
As an update to last year's tribute to Lee County Medal of Honor recipient Nick Cutinha, his friend Mike Williamson was kind enough to respond to my e-mail with some of his rememberances of growing up with Nick:
I went to Alva High School for a year. Thats where I met Nikki. He was the type that was always happy to see you. Never ever saw him mad or even down. We got along great. We even skipped school a couple of times together. You might say we werent good boys. Always looking for fun, even if it meant trouble. Nikki didnt care who you were. I only got to be his pal for about a year, then we moved again. His Mom was amazing. Everyone called her Mama Bean. She owned and operated a shrimp boat. The Cutinha's had plenty of money, but still lived in a small trailer. They just didnt need anything fancy. After we moved, Nikki and I lost track of each other. He went to Vietnam, and so did I. About a year ago, I got a notice of our class reunion for Alva High. By the way, shoes there were optional, so few wore them. HA. I saw the name of an old girl friend, so I contacted her. Pretty good. Then I decided to see if I could find Nikki. Cutinha is an unusual name. I typed it into a search engine (Google) and came back with 96 hits. To say the least, when I saw that he had died in Vietnam, I was crushed. When I read he had gotten the MOH, I knew why. That was Nikki all the way. Always looking out for others. He loved to make people smile. Never a harsh word from him. You should look up Cutinha. They were from a special part of India. Nikki looked 100% American. His mom did too. He had just about no enemies. He loved everyone. Even the bullies at school liked him. Rare. We were like brothers for the short time we knew each other. I miss him. I must go find his grave before I die. Just so I can tell him thank you Nikki, for being a great friend.
I hope this helps with your blog. Nikki army unit was called the Manchusson's. Their motto, "Keep up the fire". He faced the devil, so his brothers might live. God Bless you Nikki.
Sgt Mike Williamson Task Force Alpha Nakhon Phanom, Thailand 1967-68
Thanks for sharing that, Michael. I'd always looked at Nick's picture and wondered about him growing up in our midst.
I wish I could have met him.