It's the 11th of the month; that signals a time for a new segment of our ongoing Cancer Connection series.

With our long, dark winters, it's not surprising most of us want to spend as much time as we can during the summer outdoors. But before you seek that sunny tan, you'll first want to hear one man's story.

Skin cancer is the most common cancers in the world; but here in Alaska many of us never think about it. One Alaskan thought a lot about it after he survived skin cancer's deadliest form: melanoma. Now he wants you to hear his story before the next time you step out into the sun.

"When I was in the army, I was in Vietnam. We were a real small ranger team," said skin cancer survivor, Pat Luby.

"Just really hot. The sun

beating down on you," said Luby.

"They're so old, they don't show up very well," said Luby.

Even though his Vietnam pictures might be hard to see now, besides the wartime memories they bring back, what Anchorage Vietnam vet Luby vividly remembers about being a 25-year-old army ranger is how much unprotected time he, and all the other troops, spent in the sun.

"You know our sleeves were rolled up. A lot of times we were out. We might not even have shirts on," said Luby.

Luby is now one of AARP Alaska's key employees. He is now fighting on a different frontline: a frontline that started with a strange, pinhead-sized, black dot on his forearm.

"I said, 'I've got this unusual growth. Wasn't there before, and it's something brand new.' And he looked at it and he said, 'It doesn't look like much.'"

That's because Luby did not have any of melanoma's usual early warning signs, like:

* A large brownish spot with other, darker spots anywhere on your body
* A simple mole that changes color, size or feeling; and, in some cases, bleeds
* Any strange skin bumps with red, white, blackish-blueish borders
* Shiny, firm, dome-shaped bumps
* Even dark lesions on your palms, soles, fingertips and toes, or on the mucous membranes lining your mouth or nose

"So he took a scraping. And then he did a test. And it came back. And it was a stage three melanoma," said Luby.

"You would like to sit there and have a cup of coffee, and think about this for a little while. But you can't. You really have to take action right away," said Luby.

Luby immediately had nine lymph nodes removed. Thankfully, the cancer had not spread through Luby's body. Now Luby is fighting a different war--- a war against something Americans seems to love: a great tan.

From a