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After nine years as a carefree b achelor, well versed in the mysteries on the Far East and fully subscribing to the theory that "if the Army wanted you to have a wife they'd "issue you one", I was classmated! Butch Ordway introduced me to a Kentucky belle, and we were married three years later. Lesson Learned: two cannot live as cheaply as one!

After graduation and usual basic, ranger, and airborne courses at Benning, I reported into the 82nd Airborne Division at Bragg, only to find my platoon had already deployed to Alaska for two months of winter maneuvers -- and I thought the snow in ranger school was cold! Some months later, together with fourteen other classmates, I rotated to Okinawa with the 503rd Airborne. I later switched to special forces and began a series of six-month tours to Vietnam in late 1960. It was interesting to see the changes between then and 1967 (my last tour in RVN) or 1973, when I frequently traveled to RVN from Cambodia.

After moving every one to three years for my first 38 years, I decided to put my roots down in the Washington, DC area where I have been ever since. I served seven years in the Army Staff and another seven years on the Secretary of Defense's Staff -- both in manpower -- and loved the excitement and challenges of those positions. I came to the conclusion that what makes a tour in the Pentagon rewarding is to stay long enugh to see the results of your efforts actually implemented in the field -- and this sometimes takes awhile. However, the greatest reward of being in the DC area for me is being near my parents and my brothers and sisters, and seeing the many close friends and classmates who either live in or frequently transit the area.

My stepdaughter from my former marriage (Elaine is remarried and living in the DC area) lives in Kentucky and has a beautiful son, Eli. My son, George, who lived with me after the divorce, is now a sophomore at Mary Washington College, where he is seriously considering majoring in physics, but has a wide variety of interests and abilities that lead him to success in a number of area. At the 1987 Army-Navy game, I met Mary Lindquist who causes me to travel back and forth to New York frequently. If all goes well, perhaps I can talk her into sharing the bliss of retirement.

Comments re 503rd:
1 September 1957:
Company B, 503d Airborne Infantry redesignated as Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 2d Airborne Battle Group, 503d Infantry, assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, and activated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (organic elements concurrently constituted and activated).

1 July 1958:
Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 1st Airborne Battle Group, 503d Infantry relieved from assignment to the 11th Airborne Division and assigned to the 24th Infantry Division.

From 2008 50th Reunion Directory:
This has been an exciting journey through life so far. I am the product of a military family; born, raised, and served in the Army. My dad is a grad, my two brothers went to USMA and served a full career in the Army; a sister who married a grad who served 30 years, and a number of nephews and even a grandniece who are grads and served honorably. I will always treasure my membership in the Class of 1958 because of so many wonderful classmates and friends. I know that I would not be the prrson I am without the values my parents installed in all of us, which were only reinforced at the Academy.

I feel I have had an interesting career in the Army, both as an enlisted man and officer I had the good fortune of some interesting assignments (1) the 503rd Airborne both at Ft. Bragg and on Okinawa where I served with about 17 classmates and other officers who have been lifetime friends and supporters (2) as a Special Forces officer in Vietnam, (3) as a Tac At West Point where life was stable and the pleasure of working sith some fantastic cadets who I did appreciate as much as I should, after some arduous years in RVN, and (4) backto-back assignments for an unusually long time in the Pentagon where I met some interesting people and hopefully contributed to the betterment of life in the military.

After retirement, I played at the beach and skied with my sone for a few wonderful years and then began preparing tax returns for H&R Block, which afforded me the opportunity to work with numbers, which I love, meet new people, and find ways to save people tax money. I also was fortunate to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and thus be chosen to the first Chairman of our class Executive Committee, and served in that capacity for ten years. I believe the committee collectively set the tone and involved the class in the many different activities for which it is now known. The two most notable are the establishment of the Fist Class Club and supporting the creation othe Perpetual Endowment Fund.

The biggest stroke of luck was meeting Mary Jane at an Army/Navy game and ineriting her four children, three of whom are successfully married to spouses that are not only perfect for them, but who have also borne six wonderful grandchildren, all of whom live nearby. We see and play together regularly. I continually brag that MJ is the best mother and grandmother known to man. Unfortunely, my son lives across the country and is thus not able to experience the closeness of this part of the family.