I remember the last conversation I had with Dave.  It was roughly 30 minutes before he died.  Another Platoon in our Company had discovered a large weapons cache and it was being blown in place by an engineer team.  Our squad was taking shelter in a house while the cache was being blown in place.  After the large explosion generated by the destruction of the cache Dave and I were outside waiting to move out.  Dave found a small bird that had been injured by the explosion.  He held the dying bird in his hand and he seemed to be genuinly touched by the small creature's suffering.  Amidst all the destruction we had been living in he still had it in his heart to care about such an insignificant creature.  Dave and I talked about the wastes that war created.  He was upset that the bird had to suffer.  By that point most of us were hardened to the suffering, but not Dave.  That's just the type of guy he was.  He was able to maintain his compassion despite what the world threw at him.

I was the youngest of the five houck children. David was the middle child. He was the clown and dare devil. I remember this one time that we were walking the family dog Tasha. I don't remember who all was with me but I do know it was I, Micah, David, and dad (I think). We were walking along side of a road that had a metal guard rail. This was in Pennsylvania. Dave wanted to see if he could walk the guard rail line a tight rope. I remember it was cold and the rail was slippery. As he proceeded to walk it, I remember him slipping and falling off the rail on the road side. While he was slipping he managed to catch his knee also. Whoever was there proceeded to take Dave back as quick as possible to the house and then hospital. I walked home with the other person and our dog. Once he came back with dad his leg was in a boot like thing and of course he needed stitches. We all took turns helping Dave get around the house until he got back on his feet. There several more stories that I'm sure we could share. One time David and I were horsing around in the basement. He was carrying me around like a sack of potatoes. It was all fun and games but then David lost his grip. I went falling backwards and hit my head. I was ok. We went upstairs and acted like nothing ever happened. Dave will always be missed and loved. ☺️☺️☺️☺️