I joined the army in March 1958 at the ripe old age of 17 and took my basic training at Fort Carson, Colorado. I fell in love with the state and swore whenever I got out of the army I was moving to Colorado!

I served at Red Canyon, following a tour of duty in Korea, from about September 1959 to about December 1960 as a medical aidman in the dispensary. Working with me was SP5 Raymond Mays and SP4 Dale Whaley. I was an SP4 at the time. On Jan 2, 1960 I married Frances Vega from Carrizozo. She was the deputy county assessor at the time. Her father, Leandro Vega, owned the Village Inn restaurant, a grocery store, the Vega Feed store and lumberyard in town. He was also on the town council and served a term as mayor of Carrizozo.

In 1961 I was assigned to the 6^th Msl Bn 52^nd Arty, a hawk unit, and the unit was sent to Wurzburg, Germany, supporting the 3^rd Inf. Div. I completed the 3-year tour in Germany and then had two tours in Vietnam (1965/1966 and 1970/1971) getting two purple hearts for my effort. In between the tours I served as an instructor at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Following my second tour I served as an instructor at the Army Aviation School for Flight Surgeons at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

As the Army reduced in size after Vietnam I went full time to Troy State University, Troy, Alabama under the bootstrap program earning my BS in Business Administration with a major in Accounting. I was then assigned to the USAH Ft. McClellan, Alabama in the S2/S3 shop. While there I earned my MBA in Finance from Jacksonville State University and retired in March 1978.

I then went to work for the Office of Indian Programs (HUD) in Denver, Colorado doing economic development, housing development and housing management on 28 Indian reservations in 8 states. No matter where I traveled to, I kept comparing it to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, next to the Southern Ute reservation. In 1992 we bought a town home there as a second home to make sure that we really liked the place. In 1996 I retired from HUD and Fran and I spent one year traveling all over the US comparing other localities to Pagosa Springs. By the end of the year we were positive Pagosa was the place to be and moved here full time.

I attempt to spend a minimum of one day a week in the mountains, hiking, fly fishing, black powder and archery hunting or whatever and do volunteer work with the Forest Service in the Weimenuche and South San Juan wilderness areas. Both within 30 miles of our home.

The coffeepot is always on and our door is always open. If you come through town give us a call and we will give you directions to come by and visit! We are in the phone book and believe in old fashion western hospitality!