I was raised in a small farming community in northwestern Ohio. My mother and father raise six children and I was the only boy. Being the only boy and living on the farm there was always plenty of chores for me to do. And back then there were no cell phones, computers, or the internet to broaden one’s experience beyond life on the farm and small town life. After high school I attended a branch campus of The Ohio State University. It was during this time that I met my future wife, Maggie. As a 19 year old kid I just could not get too interested in my college studies so I decided to join the Army.
Being from a small farming community, army life came as somewhat of a surprise. I went through basic training at Ft. Jackson with a bunch of guys from New Jersey and New York. Needless to say that was a new cultural experience. But they were great group of guys once I got to know them, and we all learned very quickly to pull in the same direction.
Right after basic I was sent to Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas for AIT (advanced individual training) as a medical corpsman (MOS 91A10). After 12 weeks of training I was given two weeks of leave to go home before being sent to Germany. Landing in Frankfurt we took a bus to Leighton Barracks in Wurzburg where I was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment (The Cottonbalers) in Aschaffenburg at Graves Kaserne.
I was assigned to Headquarters Company as a medical corpsman providing support to the line companies and the heavy weapons platoons. After two months I took a transfer to Headquarters Maintenance as a clerk since the number of medical corpsman for the company exceeded the TOE. And then I was asked to become the driver for the battalion 6.
In June 1970 I went home on a 30 day leave. During that time Maggie and I decided to get married. Later, Maggie came over to join me, and in September we went on our honeymoon in the Alps.
In January 1971 I received my separation from active duty, and I reenrolled at Ohio State while Maggie worked as a registered nurse. I graduated from Ohio State with a BS degree in Finance in 1973. In 1979 I received my MBA from the University of Dayton.
I spent most of my career working for Battelle Memorial Institute, a research and development company, and then for The Boeing Company in their defense division. During this time Maggie and I raised three sons all of whom served in either the Marine Corps or the Army.
Maggie and I are both retired and we enjoy traveling and visiting our children and five grandchildren.