I started playing basketball in 7th grade at Fogarty Jr. High in Guthrie, OK. I was all arms and legs and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, but was really agressive so I was good at defense and handing the ball off to the good players. I took up wrestling in 8th grade and liked it. I was still really gangly, but enjoyed the competitiveness and we had a great coach. I wrestled for several more years, but it was difficult because we lived in the country and if practice ran late I had to get a ride home which wasn’t always feasible, plus I had a lot of chores on the farm and other responsibilities. We continued to raise livestock and show it, and as I went into High School I joined FFA (Future Farmers of America) and joined the public speaking team and the livestock judging team. I was pretty good at both since they involved talking. It was great experience because we traveled all over the state to different small colleges and performed. Our Ag teachers Tom Carey and Don Coffman were really good at preparing us and training us, and made us practice a lot which was great. From Jr. high on I generally hung out with a tougher older crowd (some of which were guys that knew Paula and Karen my sisters such as John Daves (who later married Karen) and Fred Lowery who was Paula’s first serious love (he was killed in Viet Nam a few years later). So I started smoking and drinking beer at lunch time and skipping a lot of classes. I maintained passable grades, but if my folks had know 1/2 of the things I was into they’d have killed me. I was constantly getting in fights on the weekends and the local cop, Leroy Sears would clock me over the head with his flashlight and haul me to the police station for a couple of hours. He would always lecture us severly, then kick us out until the next weekend. We were not really doing anything illegal, just being a bit rougher than the normal kids. As high school progressed though, so did our activities, and I was expelled several times my sophmore and junior years. I was told on no uncertain terms that I would not be welcome back my Sr. year. As luck would have it, my folks had bought a place in Forest Park and they moved there. It was in Midwest City school system, so I enrolled there. Shortly after moving there and starting school, I moved out and moved into an apartment on N.W. 16th just west of Classen in OKC. Since ROTC was required for two years at Guthrie, I had enough hours in that I only had to go to school until noon. I got a job at a business called Oil Field Ignition working from 1-5:30 rebuilding starters and alternators for big trucks and oil field equipment. When school was out I went to work for my dad in the pool business. I had worked for him and my uncle Sam during the last couple of summers in the pool business and they had split off at this point into their own businesses. My brother in law, John Ford had joined my dad in the business as well. In June I decided I wanted to join the military and serve my country in Vietnam, and after some investigation, decided to join the U.S. Navy Seabees. They only took people that had at least two years of construction experience, so I had to have some letters of reference etc; but was ultimately accepted. I was 18 at the time and the recruiter told me I was the youngest inductee to the Seabees since WWII.
When school was out I went to work for my dad in the pool business. I had worked for him and my Uncle Sam during the last couple of summers in the pool business and they had split off at this point into their own businesses. My brother in law, John Ford had joined my dad in the business as well. Vietnam was still going strong and I had decided that I wanted to go there and do my part. In June I decided I wanted to join the military and serve my country in Vietnam, and after some investigation, decided to join the U.S. Navy Seabees. They only took people that had at least two years of construction experience, so I had to have some letters of reference etc; but was ultimately accepted. I was 18 at the time and the recruiter told me I was the youngest inductee to the Seabees since WWII.