John Wesley Slaughter, 69 of Trenton, FL born June 27, 1950 in Portsmyth, Ohio, passed away on Saturday March 14, 2020 at the Malcom Randall Memorial V.A. Medical Center in Gainesville, FL of natural causes. Due to the coronavirus the Florida National Cemetery at 6502 S.W. 102 Avenue, Bushnell, FL 33513 will have his grave internment only on March 24, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. and military services will be at a later date to be announced. Predeceased his mother Gladys Dyer, (eldest of 7 Siblings) father John Wesley Slaughter, brother Richard M. Slaughter. He leaves behind a brother Ronald E. Slaughter of Tampa, FL an Aunt Ilene Pendergast of High Springs, two nephews Steve Slaughter and Martin Slaughter, a close cousin Vickie L. Keaton and numerous other family members all over the United States. Private John W. Slaughter felt and would often say his “Army Brothers are his family too.” He has the honors of purple hearts and bronze star from two times service at Vietnam. He always said “there are NO Atheist in a fox hole.” A believer in God, Jesus Christ a lover of nature and a member of the V.F.W. Veterans of Foreign Wars and D.A.V. Disabled American Veterans of Alachua. He enjoyed thinking outside of the box like sales work including driving a semi truck, underwater ocean welding on the oil rigs, entrepreneur and land lord were all very different adventures he encountered. With an open mind and spirit he was often referred to as the “Black sheep” of the family, a creative unique thinker with a bit of a twisted sense of humor. John loved his Harley Davidson Motorcycle, fishing on his boats, scuba and cave diving, cookouts/fire pits at home or camp, travel in his RV bus/camper to relax at a music festival for a few days with his golf cart and see family or a few close friends. John was very direct with everything and everyone fully lived his belief in life and learning with passion and in general, very observant of his surroundings anywhere he went. Sometimes he would like to tell stories to see people laugh but preferred to be alone as he aged. Movies of nature and history always fascinated his interest. He had a dream of building a log cabin house in the woods and live off of the land. He loved animals and his dog Cooper has a new home with cousin Vickie. Hopefully, John has that dream home up in heaven with God, just as he envisioned it, awesome and with all of his pets. John Wesley Slaughter will be very deeply missed.