Introduction Growing up in a small West Texas town during the middle of the Twentieth Century was a very special event. A person’s success was measured by his initiative and ambition, and his dreams could become reality. People were measured by the size of their hearts, rather than the balance of their bank accounts. Jails [...]

The Dog House            June 1953            Our high school football team was called the “Bulldogs”.  They had competed in the State play-offs the past two years under the direction of a new coaching staff, and last season the team went to the semi-finals before they were defeated.  It seemed that everything had an attachment to the name, “Bulldog”.  Even [...]

SMS Throckmorton August 1957 It was less than a month before I would leave for my freshman year in college, and my good friend, Andy Swenson, invited me to an over-night fishing trip with him at the SMS Ranch at Throckmorton. I was no stranger to the ranch; I had worked there with Andy during [...]

War Games October 1958 The ninth week of my army basic training at Fort Hood, Texas, was about to begin. I had endured eight weeks of mental and physical abuse since the day that I stepped off the bus with the other green recruits and was greeted by the First Sergeant who snarled: “you peeples [...]

Turbulent Teen August 1954 Another boring summer was ending, and I would be just another obnoxious, 14 year old adolescent when school started in September. Between my seventh and eighth grades in school, some terrible things had happened to me, both to my body and my mind. I woke up one morning during the summer, [...]