I was orphaned at age 16 when my mother died of cancer. My father died when I was just 9 and my mother was my closest friend and confidant. I was traumatized by her loss and never fully recovered.

I am also a veteran of the Vietnam war and have suffered from PTSD ever since. This caused me to be such a terrible companion that my wife left me after I was forced to resign from the Air Force after 9 1/2 years of service.

I am still bitter and take refuge in my intellect and writing skills. They are not perfect, but I get by.

My passion is ...

Learning

I know too much about ...

almost everything

My parents always told me ...

I was very smart and should never stop learning

My childhood ambition ...

To be an Engineer

My favorite memory ...

The times I spent in Guam with my ex, before my PTSD meltdown

Why I write ...

To try to expose others to my passion for learning

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

I watch CSI (all of them), NCIS, and nearly anything on SciFi

My first job ...

Gas station attendant at my step-fathers Gulf station in Jacksonville, FL

My inspiration ...

Jesus first, followed by my mother in a close second place

Politics, News & Issues > Soldiers & Veterans Reflections: Living on a military salary

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Living on a military salary is easier now than when I first enlisted. Do not get me wrong, it is not all that easy now. However, I do not believe that the situations I have endured are being endured now. The pay is much higher and now both spouses usually work, thus bringing home two paychecks.

I believe it was 1972 when congress passed a large pay raise for the military and virtually all lower ranking service members' pay nearly doubled.

I attended Boot camp in the summer of 1967 in San Antonio, Texas, and was then sent to technical school in Illinois. Upon my completion of that tr...

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