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of a primary topic. I have two great secondary topics as off-shoots of my talking to this man. The first is Carlson's Raiders, an elite fighting force within the Marine Corps. This unit only existed for a few months; but, carried out many important missions. President Roosevelt's son was the executive officer,of the Raiders. My subject's ship transported Carlson's Raiders on several missions.

The other secondary topic is The Port Chicago Mutiny. I had never heard of this chapter of World War II history but, my subject was there. After explosions at the Port Chicago munitions facility in California resulted in massive work stoppages he, along with others who were experienced munitions handlers, was sent in to help train and to stabilize the port workers.

"O.K.", you say, "But he is unique." No, he is not.

There are tens of thousands of veterans with stories just as compelling; about being prisoners of war, about the Battle of the Bulge, about the African Campaign, about the war in Europe and on and on. These people were not just eye witnesses to history they were the authors of history.

There are many stories that need to be written about the roles of women who served in the military. Even children served. One of my residents in another home was on Guadalcanal on his seventeenth birthday. "It was about then that I decided that lying about my age to enlist was not a good idea." He told me. Coincidently, he later served as a consultant to Robert Redford in the movie "The Horse Whisperer."

In the same home as the Guadalcanal hero is a 103 year old lady who is a true pioneer of special education in the Texas Panhandle. She had five children. Her youngest was born with mental retardation; when this child reached school age he wanted to go to school,just like
his brothers and sisters. Since there were no local programs available for mentally retarded children at that time; she approached the local teachers college and petitioned for the creation of a special education curriculum.

They agreed, if she would become the program's first student. The deal was cut and, a plaque from the, now university, hangs on her nursing home wall; commending her leadership in making special education a reality in the Texas Panhandle. She also went on to have an exemplary teaching career. Beginning at the age of 35; she started five different special education programs in five different Panhandle school districts. She retired in her early 70's after 35 years of teaching. In addition, she managed

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