Epiphany,
Hold your horses pal, Dundigin has spoken his truth and you have no way of knowing what effect AJ’s actions had on his quality of life; I know that from the content of your post.
AJ was not afraid of anybodies truth. He said it how he saw it, and loved for others to do the same; mainly because it gave him the chance to say more.
He was, in all fairness, a Marmite kind of guy, on an hourly basis! He could put your back up or a big smile on your face at any given moment, he could be belligerent or incredibly accommodating, irritating or endearing just like most folk in fact but, he did it all more intensely and, dare I say, a bit louder and with more style than most!
If anybody from: a NI sectarian organisation, ethnic minority, diverse cultural group, transgender, transsexual or cross dressing group, Police, RAF Police, Provost Officer, ac Techie, SEngO, JEngO, Senior Army, Navy or RAF Officer, any of the UKs political parties, or indeed any one from the society of people who like to watch one programme on the television for more than 10 seconds, were to have crept up on AJ and done something despicable, his untimely demise may have drawn a sage nod from those who knew him. What is hard to take, is that it happened whilst those incredibly capable hands were on the sticks.
There is a little less colour in the world now, but not in our memories of AJ, a good man.
RIP old soldier.
P.S. When did he start dyeing his hair grey?