Aside from a three-and-one-half year stint as Tactical Officer of C Co. and Field Music at Valley Forge Military Academy & College in Wayne, PA, I worked in the publishing industry after retiring from the Army in September 1991. I started out as Executive Editor of Presidio Press, a San Francisco Bay Area book publisher specializing in military history and military affairs. After leaving VFMA&C in the summer of 1998, I became my own boss--using contacts I'd made with Presidio to line up freelance copy-editing projects for several commercial and scholarly book publishers. I finally had to give up work entirely in 2004, however, when my body began letting me down. Fortunately, all of my disabling conditions are either directly or indirectly service-connected--making me eligible for a wide range of VA benefits--without which I'd be up the proverbial estuary without a manipulator!
Other Comments:
For 20 years I lived on Hawaii's Big Island with my wife, Carol, in a subdivision about a mile outside of Mountain View--almost exactly halfway between Hilo and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. However, I moved to Idaho in late July 2019 to settle in the Sagle area not far from the Pend Oreille River. Between the Blue State politics, earthquakes and eruptions, I decided it was time to bid Hawaii Aloha and head for cooler climes! It was a wise decision. I absolutely love it here in the northern Idaho panhandle!
Best Friends 1SG Robert A. Murphy - Top was simply amazing! What else can I say? CPT Dave Niedringhaus - C Co. CO CPT Joe Curro - HHC CO CPT Jim Guyll - S4 CPT Tony Shafer - S1 MAJ Dick Wallace - S3
Best Moment The "Deathdealers" winning the Draper Award for Armor Leadership in FY '85
Worst Moment *Dec. 26, 1984: my wife--and mother of my six children--saying she'd had enough, didn't love me, wanted a divorce, and wanted me to move out that same day. I was so stunned I couldn't think of anything to say, so I left, made a few calls and CPT Jim Olecki, our A Co. CO, offered to let me stay with him until I could find a place to live. *Getting blood clots and a staph infection in my right calf during the offensive phase of REFORGER '85 and nearly losing my right leg below the knee. That's what the battalion was told and CPT Tony Shafer, our S1, was given command of D Company. They were shocked to see me upon my return to Ft. Carson, but I got command of D Company restored.
Chain of Command COL John R. Landry - 3d Bde., 4th ID CO LTC Richard W. Rock, Jr., 2-34th AR CO
Other Memories "Top" Murphy and I drag racing from in front of our battalion area to just past the MP battalion area. Murph had a '69 Camaro and I had a '67 Camaro. We were neck-and-neck at 80 mph in a 35-mile zone when we came to our senses and slowed down before we got pulled over. The next morning we went into LTC Rock's office at 0730 and told him he'd better check the MP blotter report. When he asked why we told him we'd been nailed by the MPs. He went ballistic and we let him go for a few seconds before we told him we were only joking. We agreed after that we would never depart the company at the same time again so as to avoid the temptation to drag in our Camaros.
