I grew up on a small Kentucky farm. I graduated high school in 1951, and sailed the Great Lakes as a deck hand. I joined the Army as a slick sleeve private in December of that year, and retired as a Lt. Col. I was a paratrooper for sixteen of my twenty years, with service both in Korea and Vietnam. Along the way I married my high school sweetheart, and we had three sons. After all too many night classes I earned a Bachelor of Science degree, then later, a master's degree. My first wife died at age thirty-six, and I retired from the Army to be with my sons. Later I acquired a new wife, two more sons, and a job with the state of Delaware. After I retired I worked for several years with schizophrenic patients. Leaving the mental health field, I spent ten years working as a part-time security guard at Chesapeake College. Now, fully retired, I spend my days puttering in my workshop, camping with my wife of forty-plus years, scribbling little tales, and musing about my long and busy life.