To All my Esteemed Opponents

[John Given]

Gentlemen, I really appreciate your concerns with my health. I was diagnosed with liver cancer a week ago and it appears to be rather advanced. At this point, it appears that I just don't have the stamina to complete any more games. The lethargy has me staring at the computer rather than diving into the games as I normally would. And Im having trouble remembering who to send what to. As I could not ask for a better bunch of guys to hang out with on the electric battlefield I want to thank you all for a great time. Hopefully I will get stronger down the road and will let you all know as soon as that happens. Keep up the fight, Eric

Guys, I've been trying to find solid evidence to Eric's passing. Louise has not responded and the only thing I could find was this: Eric Memorial

I'm ninety-nine percent sure we have lost Eric. He was in the 173rd Airborne, serving in Vietnam. He was married. He had a large family around him. He lived in California.
I was in e-mail contact him through to May. He had his ups and downs. Hopefully his gaming was a bright spot that gave him good memories to the end. I know he loved his family deeply and they were with him, surrounding him with their love.

I was privileged to have reported dozens of games with him. The exchanges in e-mail, I wish I could have saved. They covered a large gamut of topics that were as varied as his fertile mind and  the individual games we played.

It was an honor to have known him. To have shared all the moments that seem to be so brief a time now. To have had a peek beyond the games we played into the man he was.

He was one of the few I counted as a friend. I will miss him deeply.

Rest in peace. Eric Bonner. Boisforas.

Stand guard at the gates.

Ed Silcox

Ed, thank you so much for letting us know what was happening.  I hadn't heard from Eric since March, and it's not like him to stay quiet for long.  I began searching for any information about him about 6 weeks ago.  His wife, Louise, used to be a facebook friend of mine, and through her, she would keep me up-to-date on things when he had health or other issues.  But I hadn't contacted her in a long while, and at some point I was unfriended.  

I didn't find anything on Eric's profile, and was uncomfortable sending Louise another friend request, so I stayed quiet and hoped for the best. Nothing regarding Eric's health was ever mentioned on either profile. Then, David lets me know the painful truth via e-mail just earlier today (thanks again for that David).  This really bums me out. I'd known Eric for a good 10 years - and I have lost count of the number of games we played. Several times, I was drifting away from the game, and after inevitable e-mails from him, pestering and badgering, I would weaken and he'd pull me back in.  

As David mentioned, Eric's play style was actually pretty frightening.  He would just charge you - no fear - and if it was a scenario where you could be overrun, then by gosh, you were overrun.  I used to tell him that the object of the game is to attain a victory, not to scare the hell out of me. But he never let up. He certainly had a way of keeping a scenario exciting, and I'm sure his many opponents would agree.

Eric was a friendly soul, a good friend, and he will be missed.  Farewell Eric, and thank you for all the good times and great memories.