I was born Apr. 27 1929 in Eau Claire Wisc. My family moved to Minnesota when I was about seven, I grew in up in a rural area about fifteen miles west of Minneapolis. We lived on a large lake. I attended a one room school till the 8th grade. I started high school at Wayzatta Mn. I completed the 9th grade and was really trying hard to master the 10th. but WW II was on and I didn`t see how they could win it without me, I was 15 at the time and had to get some old wino to sign papers for me to enlist in the Marine Corps.I was at boot camp at San Diego for about four weeks when the Red Cross tracked me down, and got me kicked out pronto. I never did return to school . I got a job working on the Minneapolis Northfield Southern railroad as a laborer and prospective fireman as the position would open.
I worked as a fireman on the old steam locomotives on the MN&S and a larger railroad the SOO Line for the next four years. At the age of 19 I was getting bored with life as a coal shoveler, so I joined the Navy. I went to Great Lakes for my boot training I then went to Submarine School in New London Ct. I served on submarines for the next 15 years, the last submarine I served on was the USS Nautilus, which was the worlds first nuclear sub. I was one of the nuclear engineers.
I attended one year of classroom and prototype training prior to being assigned to the boat. The highlight of my four year tour was the history making passage from Hawaii to Portsmouth England via the north pole In Aug. 1958. I was promoted to the rank of Ensign in June 1960. This then was the end of my time on submarines. I served as Chief engineer on the submarine rescue vessel USS Skylark for about 18 mos. I then served three years as officer in charge of a floating drydock USS ARD 5 at the sub base New London at which time I qualified as a Dock Master. Next I went to Viet Nam as an advisor to the Vietnamese Naval coastal forces which used both motorized and sailing junks to patrol the coastline and rivers. I served in this capacity from Sept. 1965 till sept 1966. I was next assigned to the US Naval Academy as the sailing yacht readiness officer. In this capacity I logged over 10,000 ocean sailing miles. It was real fun. My tour at the Academy ended in Oct. 1968 at which time was sent back to Viet Nam. This time I was stationed in the delta area at a swift boat base at Cat Lo I was the maintainence officer for Swift Boat Div 13 . I served here till Dec. 1969. I retired from the Navy in June 1970 .
I next sat for my Merchant Marine Chief Engineers License. I sailed on various ship types such as sea going tugs, a bulk cement carrier, an asphalt tanker, and finally a large bulk phosphate carrier which I served on for fifteen years till I retired. I had served 23 years in the Navy, and another 23 years with the merchant marine,so at age 65 I called it quits, moved to Titusville where I live to this day. I actually lived in Duneden Fla. for a few years. I moved here in 1989 . I had allways been interested in aviation I had taken flight lessons in dibs and dabs while serving in the Navy but I never had enough mony to finnish up. After moving to Titusville I was introduced to the ultralight world by my instructor Chris Garrison. I purchased a CGS Hawk and flew that for about four years. My next move was to get my pilot license for real I had been working at it since 1951 off and on, so I decided this time for sure. I checked in at Discovery Aviation, passed my written and four months later at age 70 I finally got my Private ticket. I bought the little Baby Ace I now fly ,keep paying my dues to chapt. 866 and the rest is history.