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A little about me and where I've been. |
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I was born in Vincinzia, Italy with my brother, Chris the stud boy coming a year after. We moved from there to Spokane Washington because my dad was in the Air Force and got orders for the dufflebag shuffle. From Spokane we moved to Medical Lake. Up until this time I was pretty oblivious to what was going' on around me so I have to just trust people who tell me I was at these places. I could have been a 3 year old nazi spy! |
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After living' by the woods with a really cool swing, big garden, two dogs (Dog-go and Runt), and more cats than I had fingers, we packed up again and headed south to Northern California. The only thing I missed was the dogs and a Batcave my dad built for us (it even had a roof and pole to slide down). But hey, we got to bring my new brother Matt along (not that we would leave him). |
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While we were stationed in California, my dad retired as a Major. At that time, my mom decided to re-join the military so she signed up with the Army and we took off to Fort Dix, NJ. Fort Dix was too cool. It had woods, swamps, expended ammo all over the place, cool kids into Star Wars, and local bullies with mean dogs to keep a kid on his toes. It was here I met my best friend (until we lost contact 4 years later), Christian Kelty. I'm still looking for him so if you have any leads write me. HINT: Christian Rodger Kelty of NY |
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While we were in NJ, my mom put us in Catholic school. It really stunk, but not as bad as the third grade teacher my mom was afraid my brother would get if we stayed on the base school another year. Something else cool about NJ, were my favorite relatives were just a half-hour from us in Cherry Hill. They were my favorite because they had lots of kids to hang with. Also, I had never lived within a thousand miles of cousins before. It was a chance to do regular family stuff. |
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While we were in NJ, my mom transferred to the reserves and we packed it in for Port Angels, Washington. I spent another four years there (from 6th to 9th grade). Lots of woods and lots of forts away from my parents. This place was truly heaven for me. I lived in a part of the city that you could see Victoria, Canada from on a clear day if you stood on our roof. I used to clime on the roof just so see. It was like, Wow! That's another country. |
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Apparently, my parents weren't to keen on staying in Port Angeles so we packed it in again to live closer to my grandparents. They lived in Buffalo, NY, so we of course moved to Albany? No, I've never figured that one out. I started my 10th grade year there and would end up graduating. I made some cool friends that I don't keep in touch with well enough. |
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I really hated the NY experience. I never fit in with the locals and really had no desire to. I wasn't a prep, stoner, new waver, skater punk, cool guy, or a brainiac. I was just me, and frankly, very glad to get out of there. . (Since then, I have come to understand how much my friends from High School meant to me.) When an army recruiter came a knocking' it wasn't a tough sale. I was in basic training the Monday morning after Saturday graduation. Now originally, I had joined a reserve unit as a commo dog with plans of going to community college in more upper state NY. |
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While I was pushing down NJ (back at Fort Dix!), my parents moved again. I stopped trying to understand my parents a long time ago, but I understood how much my dad hated shoveling snow at least. They took off for Phoenix, AZ. While I was in basic training I made a few phone calls and transferred to Phoenix. The problem was I wasn't actually transferred to a specific unit. |
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After talking to some different guys about the units in Phoenix, I interviewed with the 297th MI unit. The cool thing here was they supported the 19th Special Forces up in Utah. I got accepted a couple weeks later and was on my way to having some really interesting times. I got to attend airborne school and the SF assessment. Just after that my unit was deactivated. During the deactivation, Desert Shield was just starting up. Later that became Desert Sword and finally Desert Storm. I missed all three (boo hoo...NOT). My mom was over there and said if I made it she would kill me before Sadam (I believed her and didn't volunteer). I wouldn't have volontered anyway, I was in the middle of my first strait A semester. Heh heh. |
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Well, here I was again and with no unit. As luck would have it I got scooped up into the 12th SF group. It was with this unit that I would stay with until my enlistment ended (with the unofficial UN police force). I have to say in retrospect that the people I worked with were some of the finest people I have ever know. I would have willingly given my life for any of them. And there wasn't a time when I didn't feel safe doing dangerous stuff we won't talk about here. I'm not talking about the Chicago guys; they were corrupt bungholes that led to the eventual deactivation of the group. I'm talking about the Phoenix detachment that was formed from the ashes of the 297th MI. Long live the Special Forces! De Oppresso Liber. |
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Meanwhile, during this army thing I met Tod. Tod and I formed a band called Hex 30. Tod was minor god as far as music went. I am still totally in awe of even his unsed talent. Through Tod, I met Russ, Robin, and Roman. We formed Mind Side Out and had some fun times for about 8 years. We played lots of shows, released a CD, and made lots of friends. The companionship that I got out of MSO would have to be what I miss the most because that's what kept me going through the dry spells and messed up shows. |
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Also, during the army thing and MSO, I was doing school pretty hard. I ended up with 5 degrees. Haven't used em though, I just seem to manage pizza places. I did get the opportunity to go to fight school and I am a licensed pilot. I moved to Omaha in 2002 and I'm an assistant manager for Menard's but the music keeps callin' me... |
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Back to Eugene's Main Page |
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On to some pictures |
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