Ain't Life Funny

Just for the record, I tried to load a picture of Emmett Kelley Jr. here and I could not get Adobe Photos to change a tif photo into a JPEG. Emmett Kelley Jr was probably one of the most famous clowns when I was a kid and we loved his hobo character.
Now, for the real stuff. I was looking at an online link from the Field Artillery Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, OK and they have a list of the Officers killed in the Wars over the years. I went online and found several of my friends and classmates names listed. Probably the one that hit me the hardest was 2LT Willard Richardson. He was one of the funniest guys in my OCS class. He was probably the least prepared to be an officer and one of the guys that worked the least hard to keep his gear in shape. His dad was rumored to be a big shot in the ARMY Aviation world and he was there in the FA OCS program to get a commission so he could fly. His death was caused by having a rotor head separate from the helicopter he was flying. Makes me wonder.
WHAT IS LIFE? For years I have thought of it being the intersection of hard work, an education and just blind luck. If you put yourself on the track to better things by getting a good education and you work hard, unless luck hands you a really bad hand you will generally have a good life. Now, I know there are times and places that you sometimes don't win, but the hard work and an education can help you land on your feet when the bad hand of luck gets dealt.
I am pretty certain that my life on the battlefield of Vietnam wasn't worth a great deal, but I will promise you that I learned everything I could and worked hard to know where I was and where to shoot my Artillery every moment I could. Yes, it was good luck that I survived but I went on to get an education and built from there.
In 1983 a Tornado blew down our house. We crawled out from under the rubble and held each other in the thought that everything that was lost was stuff and can be replaced. We went on and rebuilt our lives and moved on smartly. Yes, having insurance helped, but the education part made us sure that we were covered.
What is it that you think? Have you been as educated and worked as hard as you could? Has the fickle hand of fate dealt you lucky cards? Would you recognize them if it did?
MUD