I
am the youngest of 3 children and was born at the (very) end of the '40s,
raised in Park Ridge, Illinois, a few miles
from O'Hare Airport in Chicago. In early 1967,
I went to work for an Advertising Agency in Chicago, but when I turned
18 later that year, I joined the Army and, after my basic and clerk-typist
training, was sent to an Engineer Unit near Mainz, Germany.
After 6 months there, I volunteered to go to Viet Nam and in January 1969, I arrived at the 199th Light Infantry Brigade in Long Bien, Viet Nam.
When my tour ended in January 1970, I was reassigned to Fort Ord in Monterey, CA. I did a short tour there, and was then assigned to US Army, Europe Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany.
Upon completion of that tour, I once again was assigned to Fort Ord in Monterey, CA. Then it was on to Okinawa, Japan - my final Regular Army assignment, being released in 1975 at the rank of Sergeant E-5.
I then went to San Francisco and joined the Army Reserve across the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito. Within 2 weeks of joining, I was promoted to Staff Sergeant and 6 months later, was working as a civil servant for the Reserves. My civil service promotions went in line with my Reserve promotions - a year later being promoted to Sergeant First Class and a year after that - December 1977 - receiving a direct appointment to Warrant Officer One.
In 1978, I left the Reserves and worked as a Paralegal for an attorney in San Jose for six months before he discovered he couldn’t pay me anymore.
Returning to Sausalito in '79, I was asked by my old Reserve boss if I wanted to take his old job – either a civil service promotion for me or an Active Duty position in the new Active Guard Reserve Program. By that time, I had been promoted to Chief Warrant Officer Two and with more than 8 years active duty under my belt, I opted for the uniform.
In 1982, I met and married the mother of my two children who, during a six week period at the end of ‘82, graduated from college, gave birth to my youngest daughter and was commissioned as a 2LT in the Regular Army. Leaving my active duty status, we traded places, and after her initial training, we went to Germany and I played "Mr. Mom" with my 2 daughters - one six and the other 6 months old. During my time there, when my youngest was old enough for daycare, I served about 6 months on active duty in Frankfurt and also served as a civil servant as the Physical Security Inspector of the Munich Military Community.
In 1986, we returned to the US - Washington DC - and I reentered Active Duty, serving at the Pentagon as a Computer Systems Analyst and then First US Army Headquarters at Fort Meade, MD, where I served as Chief of Officer Promotions.
After my ex and I went our separate ways in 1990,
in 1992 I was assigned as one of 4 Warrant Officer
Personnel Managers at the US Army Reserve Personnel Center in St Louis, where
I finally managed to meet the woman of my dreams, who you all know as Betty,
who was working in management for SBC (Now known as the "New AT&T"). On May 20, 1995, a year after my retirement,
Betty
and
I married (back in those days, they only let Reserve officers serve 20 years
active duty - I doubt that's the case today!) From 1995 to 1998, I worked for
various companies in the Information Systems arena as well as owning my own Computer
Repair Company and in 1998, we managed to convince SBC to move us to California,
where Betty was a Project Officer for SBC, working at Pacific Bell in San Ramon.
We lived there for five years in Brentwood, located in the East Bay SF area. During that time, I worked at the Corporate Headquarters for Westaff, a temp staffing firm in Walnut Creek. I also worked as the Webmaster and Clubs and Events Editor for Miata & (PT) Cruiser Quarterly Magazines. In November 2000, after her retirement, Betty met Willis and Sharon Lamm and rediscovered her love for horses after a 20 year lapse.
We moved here to Stagecoach, Nevada in August 2003 and
have lived happily ever after. As many of you are aware, I have my own company,
doing computer/network repair and website hosting.
Since
December 2005,
I have served as the Business Manager for Lacy J Dalton Productions
LLC and Song Dog Records. Since April 2006, I have served
as the Registered Agent for the Let ‘em Run Foundation.
I am currently Webmaster for High Desert Horsemen & Wild Horse Preservation
League in Dayton, NV; The Good Old Songs in Virginia City, NV; LERF and LJD
Productions sites in Virginia City Highlands, NV; and High Desert Barns in
Carson City, NV.
I have 2 daughters. My oldest, Jennifer, is 33 years old and works as an
Architect in NYC. My youngest, Jesi, 27, along with my grandson,
Ronan,
who was 2 years old in September 2009, both left for England for 4
years on January 16, 2010 to live with Jesi's Mom and Stepdad.