Greendale

After High School I volunteered for active duty in the U.S. Navy. Thank God I was in the
reserves and only served two years in that outfit. I was a Quartermaster which entailed the
signalman/navigation duties. Bob Boschke and I were on the same Destroyer until we were
discharged. I loved my job but hated Sea Duty. Bob and I had two trips on our ship to the
Mediterranean Sea and visited most of the border countries. Needless to say we had a ball.

After the Navy I worked as a Lineman for the Wisconsin Electric Power Co. I had some very
interesting times doing that duty; especially in inclement weather when power was lost to the
customers and we had to repair the power lines. One day in the middle of January, I was on top
of a sixty foot pole with the wind blowing up my backside when I thought that there may be a
better way. I remember a picture that a friend sent me of when he was in the U.S. Air Force.
He had a nice room and connecting bath. I thought that I would try the Air Force. I talked to
the recruiter, took my tests, and I qualified for all their schools. I selected Aerial Photography.

They neglected to tell me that most of the job consisted of flying through Hurricanes in order
to find the center of the storm. I had a little fear and reminded myself that my fear came
from the confidence that I had in the driver. It's like somebody driving you in a car in the
mountains at a fast rate of speed. The driver has all the confidence in his abilities but as a
passenger you don't share the same feelings. I thought that if I continue in this field I would
have to wear many diapers. During my flying period I took up Shodokon Karate. I was one of
the Air Force champions for two years in a row (1961 and 1962). We were invited to the Johnny
Carson show in June of 1962. However, about 3 months before the show I volunteered for a
special assignment to observe operations in a country that I never heard of. That country was
called Vietnam. Some of the training required for the assignment was Army jump school and
Army Ranger training at Elgin AFB, Florida. After I completed their training I was then sent to
Viet Nam for a period of 4 months. After that tour and back in the states I talked to our
personnel people and they mentioned a fairly new field concerning Nuclear Weapons
Specialist/Technician. I applied for and was accepted for the school.

The school was 54 weeks long and was given at Sandia Labs in Albuquerque NM. The first part
was 30 weeks of electronics. The 30 weeks of electronics gave the FBI enough time to return
with my security clearance before continuing with the school. The remainder of the school
consisted of studying the theory and maintenance of the weapons. At this point all homework
had to be done in the classroom which was located in a secure area. Some of the homework took
until ten or eleven at night. But I loved it. I graduated and throughout the rest of my Air Force
career I was stationed at many NATO and US bases. When I was stationed on Okinawa 1964
to 1966, requests came down for any one that worked with explosives was to be sent
temporarily to Viet Nam. The reason given was to help with the disarming of some faulty
munitions. Since I was qualified to work with explosives I was allowed to "volunteer" for the
assignment... However, after about a month in Nam our base was overrun by the VC and during
the fight I was wounded in the leg. I didn't even know it until the skirmish was over.

In 1972 I arrived at Lowery AFB to teach Nuclear Weapons to new students. It was then that
I met my future wife. Fortunately I met her because my nightly hunt for companionship did not
produce like it used to. Those nightly hunts got me sick and tired of waking up sick and tired
every day. We were married in 1976 one year before I retired from the Air Force. We had a
baby that lived for three months. It caught us off guard and to this day it has affected us. It
took several years before we had the guts to try again. Our next guy made it and he will start
college in the fall of ‘08.

After the Air Force I tested and received my Real Estate Sales license in Denver, CO. I did
very well until the early eighties when interest rates went to 14%. It was time to leave. Rocky
Flats Nuclear Weapons plant, located 16 miles NW of Denver, had been asking me to work for
the Department of Energy (DOE) to oversee the contractor on the manufacturing of Plutonium
processing and other parts for the weapons. I took it.

In 1986 and after waiting 1 year for my clearance I started working for DOE at Rocky Flats.
Every morning while driving through the main gate I had many laughs due to some of the screw
balls that demonstrated outside our security fences. Some of the guys demonstrating had
spiked hair of every color of the spectrum. I thought the guy that had purple spiked hair was
very becoming. The DOE sent me to many schools which included universities of Oregon,
Arizona, Chicago, Colorado School of Mines, et al. When they ran out of schools to send me to I
became a Nuclear Engineer. I can thank the Air Force for much of the necessary required
schooling. I retired from The DOE at Rocky Flats in 2003.

I now play some golf and try to grow stuff in my garden. My neighbors think that my hands
have discovered a new herbicide. All my plants either wilt or die just like my body does. As for
my health I have that blasted diabetes and also while at Rocky Flats I inhaled Beryllium dust
and oxides in my lungs which gave me Chronic Beryllium Disease (CBD). The Department of
Labor is footing the bill for all tests and medications for my CBD. Also, I might be a little
overweight because my legs are telling me that they think that they are supporting 20,000 lb's.
My health reminds me of a flyer that I seen for a lost dog in my area. It read lost dog, blind in
one eye, missing one ear, has a crippled leg and recently castrated, answers to the name of
"Lucky". I used to be able to drink a half a case of beer at one sitting. Now I can only handle 3
beers. I drink one, spill one, give one away and then I can't find my butt with a search warrant.

Currently I am the curator of the Nuclear Weapons display for the "Wings over the Rockies"
museum located in a hanger at the now closed Lowery AFB.