Kevin Williams doesn’t mind standing out in the middle of a busy village street selling clovers for AMVETS Post 108.
He’s considers it a very small gesture compared to what they and other Oxford veterans groups did for him in the months leading up to his young son’s tragic death last year.
‘I couldn’t have spent the last six months of my terminally ill son’s life with him without the American Legion, AMVETS, Ladies Auxiliary and Sons of the American Legion Post 108,? said Williams, of Lake Orion, who stood on E. Burdick St. Friday and helped the AMVETS raise about $4,000.
Williams? 8-year-old son, Robbie, passed away on June 24, 2006 from Fanconi Anemia, a condition that leads to bone marrow failure.
Toward the end of Robbie’s life, his father gave up his job, his apartment and put his belongings in storage to be there for his son in Cincinnati, Ohio during his bone marrow transplant, which was unsuccessful.
‘Being divorced, any time you can spend with your child is special, but during a terminal illness, it’s critical for your sanity if nothing else,? he said.
Williams? only source of income at the time was donations sent by local veterans groups who held fund-raisers, like spaghetti dinners and euchre tournaments, to support him.
‘That is a benefit of being a veteran that I would have never imagined,? said Williams, who served in the U.S. Army for six years (including the invasion of Grenada in 1983) and Naval Reserves for two years. ‘You can’t put a price on having that time with your child.?
When little Robbie passed away at the University of Michigan Children’s Hospital, Williams was able to be there because of the financial support he’d received.
‘When he took his last breath, I was the only one in the room with him,? he said. ‘Without (Oxford’s veterans groups), I couldn’t have done it.?