My kid brother, Danny, was an HSP - a Highly Sensitive Person. You can see it in the photo at age 4; as he ate ice cream from a cup, he squinted in sunlight, while we two older brothers ignored bright sun. Danny was sensitive to all stimuli: sound, smell and threats from gangs in Edenwald Projects. Chased by them, he had to be home-schooled.

Drafted into the Army, he served in Nha Trang, Vietnam, as a radioman. The Army recognized his talent in electronics (as a kid he took apart radios, telephones, anything with wires). He could fix any communication device. Don't know why he did not receive a Purple Heart for shrapnel in his butt. Maybe you need stitches to qualify.

He self-medicated his PTSD with marijuana. One day he stopped smoking weed. There was a block party in Virginia Beach that night, to which he was not invited. He shot himself in the heart with an M1 carbine.

Our mom did not smile for three years after his suicide. I had to see a psychiatrist - while I taught psych, and worked part time as "staff psychologist" for another psychiatrist.

Danny never knew Noonan. I loved each. No, I'm not gay.

I think of Noonan, always, a gentle man, though his appearance could intimidate (some crossed to the far side of a walkway on campus). Captain of the Hunter College wrestling team, he tackled competitors twice his size in the heavyweight class.

We who knew him called him Noonan, and I was proud to call him friend.

If you look up his info you'll see his photo, a face scar, the slash of a straight razor from a punk on the subway who ducked out as doors closed.

Noonan never complained about bone spurs. He did not give "his life for his country." He moved to save a wounded colleague who wailed in pain. Thomas P. Noonan Jr. was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor after his death for heroism in Vietnam, for what he did when he was 26, in February of 1969. This is what you'll find:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a fire team leader with Company G in operations against the enemy in Quang Tri Province. Company G was directed to move from a position which they had been holding southeast of the Vandergrift Combat Base to an alternate location. As the Marines commenced a slow and difficult descent down the side of the hill made extremely slippery by the heavy rains, the leading element came under heavy fire from a North Vietnamese Army unit occupying well-concealed positions in the rocky terrain. Four men were wounded, and repeated attempts to recover them failed because of the intense hostile fire.

Lance Corporal Noonan moved from his position of relative security and, maneuvering down the treacherous slope to a location near the injured men, took cover behind some rocks. Shouting words of encouragement to the wounded men to restore their confidence, he dashed across the hazardous terrain and commenced dragging the most seriously wounded man away from the fire-swept area. Although wounded and knocked to the ground by an enemy round, Lance Corporal Noonan recovered rapidly and resumed dragging the man toward the marginal security of a rock. He was, however, mortally wounded before he could reach his destination.

His heroic actions inspired his fellow Marines to such aggressiveness that they initiated a spirited assault which forced the enemy soldiers to withdraw. Lance Corporal Noonan's indomitable courage, inspiring initiative and selfless devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Noonan, Danny, I miss you, always will.

Sebastian Mudry lives in West Harwich.