Representative "Good Time Charlie" Wilson Dies

[SageVigiles 1,194]

Texas Rep. Charlie Wilson Dead at 76

MSNBC - Associated Press

Charlie Wilson, the former congressman from Texas whose funding of Afghanistan's resistance to the Soviet Union was chronicled in the movie and book "Charlie Wilson's War," died Wednesday. He was 76.

Wilson died at Memorial Medical Center-Lufkin after he started having difficulty breathing while attending a meeting in the eastern Texas town where he lived, said hospital spokeswoman Yana Ogletree. Wilson was pronounced dead on arrival, and the preliminary cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest, she said.

Anyone who doesn't know who Charlie Wilson is should go out and buy a copy of the book "Charlie Wilson's War." The movie doesn't do it total justice. Charlie Wilson, albeit a flawed personality, was a die hard American who wanted nothing more than to defeat the Soviet Union. I firmly believe that if we would have stayed his course, things would have turned out more positively in Afghanistan, and the Taliban/Al-Queda would not have had such a strong foothold.

Interesting note, he is one of the only civilians to be awarded the "Distinguished Colleague" honor from the CIA's Clandestine Services, due to his support of the CIA's mission in Afghanistan.

Rest in Peace "Good Time Charlie"