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The Passing Of Thundercloud

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I am very sorry to have to report the passing of Rob Thundercloud. He died early this morning at home, in the arms of his beloved wife, Merrilee. The doctors were never able to determine exactly what was wrong with him.

Merri is so grateful for everyone's prayers and support. For those who want to send a card, her address is 600 Dunn Street, Waxahachie, TX 75165. I think she would love it if you could enclosed a note with some kind of memory of Rob. There will be no service, but she thinks she would like to come out next year for a get-together of Rob's friends (Hello Old Farts!) to share memories and stories. If you would like to email her, you can do so at [email protected] .

Rob was such a huge personality. Our lives are all better for having known him.

With Love,
Bob and Judy Celaya
bob

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Janner and I were/are great friends with Thundercloud.... We jumped together in his early daze and shot combat competitio stuff a lot thereafter. Impressive human. Wonderful artist. Crazy dude. XOXOXO
Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

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Rob and I were both skydiving buddies, business partners, and fellow competitor in various 3-gun shooting competitions for several years in S> Calif including war-combat stuff and cowboy SASS in the early daze.
Previously, a younger Thundercloud got stitched like a sewing machine in the Nam across the chess with an AK47 and...."Bled like a lung shot duck." sez he. Re-Upped 1-2 times after he got to use a .50 BMG in an armored Duce+one-Half in convoy. ... "Way cool... I had fun!" Weird like Joe Sevec, RT liked patrols too. Action!
After weird, at ~38, Rob graduated from the LA Police Academy & joined the Reserve Police Officers Corps.... He requested to be posted to Compton, Ca. Very violent black LA scene...
Rob loved it.... "There's always action... gorillas in the mists..." got involved in 1-2 Officer related shootings. Got marked. Later took out 2 different assassins on two different actions who were, " ...going to set things Right. Yo"
Last one was vintage Thundercloud. Rob is in his morning robe, jammies, and slippers in the kitchen with his head in the icebox.
Hears noise. Looks up. Sees assassin dude exclaiming at the front door, with a pistol shooting shots.
Rob bypasses the orange juice and grabs a Glock he had in the fridge and offs the fucker. (Who but Rob would have a heater in the Amana?)
Only Thundercloud would stash a party pistol in the ice box.
At the suggestion of his cop pals et al, he migrated to Texas to a very White town where no people of no color were/are welcome after sunset. There he concentrated on his art and COMPLETELY changed the art scene in that part of Texas.
According to his wife, after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, hopped there and did about 6 months of security and cleanup stuff.
Apparently Rob there caught some weird slime rot bug that offed him about 5-6 months later. He went slow.
Pity. Cool dude. Loved him.

Respect…

-------- Reference Bob Celaya + Joan Rumble, DonDuler, etc.
Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

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They don't make them that way anymore.[:/]

A story I remember is that he was a Ranger in Nam and the intel guys had a picture of a funny looking clearing that they wanted someone to look at.
RT's platoon jumped w/ RT lowering his dog on a line before landing.

It was a trap and only RT and another guy survived and were taken prisoners. They spent 6 months in a bamboo cage in North Vietnam. Don't remember how the 2nd guy died but RT escaped and made his way down through the DMZ and back to safety. Only a very few did anything like that.

He as always fun and interesting and a great friend who will be sorely missed.


Red, White and Blue Skies,

John T. Brasher D-5166

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Just saw this on the web...
Raise a glass to passing of a true warrior. Robert Goingsnake Thundercloud has joined his fellow warriors in the sky.

Rob did four tours in Viet Nam as a member of the United States Marine Corps and is the only man I ever met with a gold cluster on his Purple Heart. He also earned more combat medals than I can count.
When the war was over he had a problem fitting into the peacetime Marines so, as he was a brilliant artist, he went to college, graduated with a degree in art and became the art director for a major manufacturer. All this while serving on the gang unit of the Compton CA Police Department where he was wounded twice in the line of duty. He was the only officer to earn both the Compton PD Medal of Valor and the Medal of Honor since 1921.
Rob was a man of honor and a true friend to those of us who were privileged to know him.

Our country and truly the world is a poorer place without him.
Ann Stephens
Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

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I knew a Robert Thundercloud...when I first met him he had different last name...Sullivan I believe...at that time he was going through a ceremonial ritual to become a Sundancer...he took the name Thundercloud after he completed the ceremony...a fitting name for Robert.

I meet Robert in Perris CA in the early 1980’s at the Perris drop zone shortly after my 1st jump. In fact , I bought my 1st parachute from him...it was a old round para-commander. I later bought my 1st square from him. We made a lot of jumps together at the Perris and at the Murrieta Ca. drop zones...got a couple of pics of us together in free fall.

I only have 84 jumps under my belt and I bet at 60 of them were with Robert. After I stopped jumping I lost touch with Robert. I was thinking of Robert this morning (10/12/2020) so I googled his name and was saddened to read this article...the descriptions I’ve read match him perfectly... I didn’t know he went on to become a police officer...fitting job for the Robert Thundercloud I know...”knees in the breeze” brother...

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