Before they were soldiers

“History is one of my loves. I do not have a college four-year-degree, but I did get electronics training while I was in the military. If anybody comes over to the rec center [in Kirkwood] I am part time front desk clerk.”

“My son and my daughter both graduated from KHS. After two years of college my mother came up to me and told me [my parents] couldn’t help me with college any longer. I had three younger brothers and my family had a very modest income. When I came back to school after spring break there was a navy recruiter there and he was talking about the Navy’s NAC program. That’s how I got into the Nav...

“I wasn’t a stellar student, but I was an athlete. I was a wrestler. I was too short to play basketball and too small to play football. I also played tennis. I was more artistically inclined. After high school I went to a community college, and I took one course in photography and I was blown away. I wasn’t good at sculpture, drawing or painting but photography enabled me to show the world as...

“I graduated from KHS 50 years ago. 1967 was a great class, even in the middle of the Vietnam war. I am one of 8 kids and the second oldest out of those 8. My son is the coach for water polo and, if you’re involved in plays, my daughter is involved in that at KHS. My family and I are definitely involved in the schools. I was an average student when I was [at KHS], and my favorite classes were re...

“I was the company commander of the 515 transportation company in the winter of 1971. I was a Brentwood High School boy I graduated in 1963, and at that time when you turned 18 you signed up for the selective service act. You had no choice in serving in the military. I do not like to sweat. I was not good at sports, I was a pretty average student at Brentwood. I am an Eagle Scout and I do like ca...

“I went to a public prep school in Massachusetts. I went off to college, and found out I wasn’t bright enough to be in college at that time. I had some growing up to do. I went to the college and told them I needed a leave of absence. They told me I should take as much time as I need. I never went back but I did go and get an undergraduate degree in what was then St. Jesuits in Kansas. I came t...