Sonny Bygum was a big part of the Wednesday Night Group. When Bob Bremer first brought him around in 1992 he was in a walking cast having been in a motorcycle accident. Sonny and Bert Poe immediately hit it off as they both realized that they were both warriors. Sonny was in the Navy Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) that became the first Navy Seal team. When we met Sonny he had suffered a serious heart attack while mountain climbing, and he knew that he didn’t have that long to live. While only in his late 40’s Sonny had already lived 3 lifetimes. He was a Navy Seal in Vietnam, a bow hunter, knife maker, mountain climber, Camp Perry 1,000 Yard Iron Sight champion, automobile and motorcycle racer, and boxer. He was our long range-shooting instructor as well as a no-nonsense fighting instructor. Sonny was only able to be with us for about 5 years. When they told him that he needed a heart transplant, but would have to be bedridden at the Veteran’s hospital for maybe a year while waiting for a donor, he told them that he would rather die on his feet. He called Tackett the night he got that news and passed away the next morning. We still miss him.
