My Friend Harry

          I lost a good friend last week.  His name was Harry Esterley.  Our local newspaper printed a simple obituary, and, although St Anne’s Church in Edenton was packed to overflowing for his funeral, there was no eulogy.  He deserved better.

          Harry Esterley was perhaps the most interesting man I ever met.   And the greatest patriot.  Drafted into the Army during the Korean War, Harry was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant, became a combat engineer, earned the rating of Jump Master with the 83^rd Airborne, and later served with the 93^rd Float Bridge Company in Germany.  During the Vietnam War he went to work for the CIA as an undercover operative in Cambodia and Laos.  When The Russians invaded Afghanistan, Harry was in charge of getting armaments to the mujahedin to fight the occupiers. 
          One story he told me was about buying 700 mules in Argentina and transporting them by boat to Pakistan where they were loaded with weapons and then led single file into Afghanistan through mountain passes inaccessible to motorized vehicles.
          In his outstanding career with the CIA, Harry Esterley put his life on the line in a number of clandestine operations.  But the public will never know about them, because they remain classified to this day.  Yet, this unheralded hero, who lived quietly among us in Hertford for the last fifteen years, needs to be honored and remembered as a true patriot.  Those of us who were privileged to have him as friend will never forget.