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 Neil Heckman
Tom Pinnock
David Witty
Timothy Yde
Best Moment Who can forget the "Wizard of OCS" skit at our Senior Status Formal or CPT Jesse McCorvey as "Karnack the Tacnificent" at our Intermediate Status Picnic?
Any successful "pogey" run. . . .
Worst Moment My initial counseling session with my platoon Tac, 1st Lt. Lawler. He made it clear to me from the beginning that he was going to make my life miserable for the next 14 weeks because I was severely infected with a bad case of "NCOitis," as he termed it. I was an E-6 with six years in grade on was selected for early promotion to E-7.
When he called me into his office he left me standing at attention for the entire session. He swiveled his chair around, took a felt-tip pen and drew a black dot on the while at my eye level and told me whenever I was in his office I was to keep my eyes focused on that dot. If not, he would gig me for "eyeballing." He went on to say that he would either keep me at the position of attention or, if he was in a good mood, would allow me to stand at parade rest.
He was true to his word. He was so rough on me during room inspections that he rotated me through four roommates during the course as he thought it unfair to subject them to more than a few weeks in that environment with me. I toughed it out though--despite being the only Senior Candidate still marching tours with the 51st Company "bean heads" on our last weekend before graduation!
Other Memories *Running 10K races with the OCS running team. It was a great way to get out of the OCS environment for a few hours. . . .
*The showers that suddenly went cold when somebody flushed a toilet. . . .
*Watching the little guys bath in the large mop-cleaning sink in an effort to save time when all the showers were being used. . . .
*Sending wives of married candidates to fast-food vendors near closing time to order enough burgers, fries, shakes, sodas, pizzas, etc. to feed the entire platoon and then sneaking the contraband into the barracks and eating it under the noses of our Tacs. . . .
*Only being able to see my family once a week in the company day room even though they lived in Senior NCO housing a quarter of a mile from our barracks. . . .