From a contemporary press report:
Donald L. Krabbe, 63, former pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Falls Church, Virginia, and a retired Navy Captain who served in the Chaplain Corps, died of a cardiovascular disorder April 20, 1998 at his home in Centreville, Virginia.
He was chaplain at Marine Corps Headquarters from 1989 until his military retirement in 1991. He spent the next seven years at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and was pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Pompano Beach, Florida, for three months this year. He retired this month because of ill health.
Captain Krabbe was a native of Harvey, Illinois, and a graduate of Concordia College in Milwaukee. He also graduated from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and was ordained in the Lutheran Church in 1961.
In 1965, after four years as a pastor of a Lutheran church in Covington, Louisiana, he entered the Navy and served aboard a ship transporting troops to Vietnam. He was then assigned to the 2nd Marine Division in Vietnam during the Vietnam War and later sent to the staff of the Commander of the Middle Eastern Force in Bahrain.
Other posts included service on the staff of the commander of the 6th Fleet and 2nd Marine Division chaplain at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. His military honors included the Silver Star and Bronze Star.
He was a member of the Exchange Club of Capitol Hill.
Survivors include his wife, Doris Krabbe of Centreville; three children, Diana Wallace of Davenport, Fla., David Krabbe of Portland, Maine, and Danica Wallace of Westbrook, Maine; and six grandchildren.
KRABBE, DONALD L., CAPT CHC, USN (Ret.)
At home on Monday, April 20, 1998. Graveside services with Military Honors will be held on Thursday, April 30, 1998 at 3 p.m. at Arlington National Cemetery. Memorial services will be held that evening at 7:30 p.m. (reception to follow) at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 7426 Idylwood Rd., Falls Church, VA 22043. In lieu of flowers, that family requests that contributions be made to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard