Long before I finished high school, I decided I wanted to be a writer. I knew that it takes experience and time to develop the craft, and every beginning writer would do better to have a little income on the side while waiting to write that best seller, or even to write salable fiction. I decided that it would be prudent for me to have a career in the military and then retire at 37 before I embarked upon a writing career.

For some reason I wanted to be a frogman, and the Marines have both underwater demolitions experts and attractive uniforms, so I considered the Marine Corps. However, my home town (Riverside, CA) had a national guard unit, so I joined up. The Army, in its wisdom, decided to make me a tanker, so after basic training I went to Fort Knox, KY, for armored training.

The first time we went on night maneuvers in the woods, I came to the conclusion that any Infantryman with courage could stand behind a tree and destroy my 60-ton steel tank with a hand-held rocket. I decided right then that I did not like tanks and wanted to try something else. You know what? They don't have any tanks in the paratroops, so I volunteered for parachute training.

Jumping out of airplanes and floating gently (more or less) to earth beneath a 32 foot parachute is fun. After jump school I was assigned to the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. Because of my armor background, I was assigned to a recon unit where we drove scout jeeps like the old TV series Rat Patrol.

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