I retired as a U.S, Army First Sergeant. While in transit to my first duty assignment I was persuaded to try and meet the rigorous physical standards to become a U.S. Army Paratrooper, Having met those standards I then attended Airborne training at Wiesbaden AFB in Germany. I was trained on how to hurl my body from a fully functioning flying aircraft. This should give you a little insight into my sometimes questionable rational thought processes. My career included time as a Forward Observer for the Artillery in an Infantry company in the Vietnam War for which I received a Purple Heart for wounds I received from a bullet and fragments from a 75mm Recoiless Rifle round. 

Additionally, I served in Desert Storm as a Senior Air Defense NCO while assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division.  One of my most exciting assignments was as a participant in the 50th-anniversary ceremony of the D-Day invasion in Normandy at Utah Beach in Normandy, France.  I had the rare opportunity to meet both allied and axis veterans who were able to meet, shake hands, and share a glass of delicious French wine under much friendlier circumstances than those that existed when first they met. Additionally, I was very intrigued with how the French elders in the region welcomed us with open arms, copious amounts of great wine, wonderful cheeses, and freshly baked bread (I can still smell that wonderful aroma).   In addition to the wonderful stories from that time, one absolutely marvelous elderly Frenchman who along with his Grandson (who was his translator) presented me with several relics he had collected on the beach immediately after allied aircraft had strafed a German gun emplacement. he stated that the .50 Cal rounds he collected were still warm when he picked them up on that fateful day on June 6th, 1944. He did this all the while bullets were flying and bombs and artillery shells were going off as the allies were landing on the beach amidst strong German resistance. He had packed them carefully in a small metal tin lined with cotton. With tears in his eyes, he said he had waited all those many years to finally return them to what he called his "liberators". I will forever treasure those items and the many wonderful memories of those generous and grateful people. 

After my military career ended I decided that whatever I was going to do, it was going to entail something that would allow me to be outdoors where I could enjoy the company of all the weird and wonderful creatures that Mother Nature has blessed us with. I am at my absolute happiest when I am in the countryside, forest, swamp, or beach with my camera and my wonderful companion Miss Kitty (My Dog) at my side. For those old enough to remember Gunsmoke, I had a teenage crush on Miss Kitty, thus the name. I sincerely hope you enjoy looking at my photographs as much as I enjoyed taking them. Each one of them is special to me and I never tire of looking at them and remembering the story of how I took the photograph.

While you are here please stop by and look in the store for prints and other items that I have for sale. They would make wonderful additions to any home, office, den, child's bedroom, or even a classroom.