I was born in West Virginia in 1947. I grew up in the country, in a good home, but not a Christian home. While in the eighth grade my attitude about life in general began to change.
At the age of 13, I had been smoking for several years. I was arrested for being out past curfew, hitting an old lady with a snowball, and then running from the police. At age 14, I was arrested for auto theft. "Sin only gets worse." I began drinking and at the age of 15, the police escorted me from the public high school for choking the principle. At the age of 16, my life was pretty messed up. I was tired of people always telling me what to do. I needed to get away from home, away from all authority, so t
First, boot camp at Paris Island, South Carolina, then ITR at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and then to Camp Pendleton, California. From there I went to Okinawa, Japan and then to Denang, Vietnam. Here I had my 18th birthday. After 13 months and 28 days I left Vietnam with the promise of a mercenary position when released from the USMC.