As I recall, we (the Winter Class) graduated on a Thursday, January 27, 1955. Four days later, on Monday January 31, 1955 at 1:00pm, in the basement of the Los Angeles City Hall, I had my right hand in the air to swear allegiance to the President of the United States and become a regular member of the United States Army. I was 19 years old and had spent the last two years in the Army National Guard, 40th Armored Infantry Division. January 31st was the last day of the Korean G. I. Bill. My parents could not afford to send me to college, so I went regular Army, to get the G. I. Bill for college. I really wanted to be a High School Auto Mechanics teacher. When I enlisted, I told the recruiter that I wanted to enlist in the Army Security Agency, which was at that time a "cloak and dagger" outfit. I had hopes of going to the Army Language School at Monterey, California and learning Italian and going to Italy as an interpreter.

That evening all new enlistee's were shipped by train to Ft. Ord, California for Basic Training. There were so many of us that enlisted for the Korean G.I. Bill that it took a week to prepare enough basic training units. In the mean time, we were assigned "chain gang" duties. I got to chop down trees in the middle of a field of poison oak. As a result, I wound up in the base hospital for a week with infected poison oak. It turned out O.K. as I was left off of the duty roster in the training company that I was assigned to. Never had to pull guard duty or K.P.

When we knew we were to be given our first 3-day pass I wrote a letter to my mother and asked her to call Sally and ask her for a date for me. I just knew that she would not be able to say "no" to an Italian mother. All through Junior High and High school I would call her for a date and her dad would answer the phone and Sally always turned me down or had an excuse not to go out. After we were married several years Sally told me that her dad would put his hand over the phone and say to her "why don't you go out with him? You don't have to marry him". He died while we were at JBHS and I never got to meet him. I hitchhiked home on a Friday to the corner of Lankershim and Magnolia, called Sally who said she was waiting for my call. She drove to N. Hollywood and picked me up . . . and we have been together ever since.

After basic I was sent to Ft. Devens, Massachusetts to take the language test (which I failed) and was assigned to other training as my F.B.I. clearance came back as "Top Secret Crypto". While at Ft. Devens I would call Sally once a month (payday). During one of my calls I proposed and Sally said "yes". I was overjoyed! Our romance was by letters. I wrote every day and so did Sally. (Side note) I didn't have enough money for an engagement ring and since my training was from midnight to 8 am, several of us G.I.'s would drive to the apple orchards in Mass. and pick apples to earn a few dollars. That's how I was able to buy her a ring.

After training I came home for a short leave before going to the Far East for my duty assignment. Spent some time in Japan and Okinawa and was finally assigned to Taiwan, free China. My mission was "Top Secret" and still is. I can say that I was assigned to a city called Taichung, on the central west coast of Taiwan, with seven other guys from my unit. We lived in a hostel and received per-diem. The city was about the size of Glendale. We came and went as we pleased and were the only outfit in the Far East at that time who got paid in American money. Everyone else was paid in script. I was friendly with a Chinese family. They taught me the basics of how to read, write and speak Mandarin, most of which I have forgotten.

Came home by ship to San Francisco, in early May 1957. I remember going into the bar at the San Francisco airport, putting my foot on the rail and ordering a drink. I had just turned 21 before coming home. We were married on a rainy Saturday, May 11, 1957. Honeymoon in La Jolla. After the third day I asked the clerk how much the room was. He said $19.00 a day and I said check me out! We found another motel on the beach for $8.00 a day. I still have the receipt from the $19.00 room. Couldn't believe how expensive it was!

Finished my military commitment at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. We lived off base in Bisbee, Arizona about 25 miles away. Carpooled back and forth with other G.I.'s. Discharged as a sergeant (E-5).

Got back to Burbank in January 1958. It was Eisenhower recession time and the phone company would not re-hire Sally. In fact, my father would not give me a job as a truck driver. Said he would have to fire a man who had children to feed, and he would not do that! Told me that all I had to worry about was my wife and to find a job somewhere else. I always respected him for his loyalty to his employees. Did a lot of part time work while attending Glendale College. Sally was eventually re-hired by Ma Bell and we were happy. I continued to go to school and work part time.

My dad died of a heart attack in the late summer of 1960. He was 52 years old. My brother Bud asked me to go into the trucking business with him. I was driving for the business during summer vacations, and dad had taught me a lot about the business. At the time I was going to L. A. State College in East L. A. Jack Kirby and I were education majors.

After discussing it with Sally, I decided to quit school and try to help my brother build the business. It seemed like I worked 7 days a week for 3 years. Drive the 18-wheelers during the day and work in the office until late at night. Never worked so hard in my life. We had 19 trucks on the road. Quite an experience.

Sally was pregnant with our first child (Jeffrey Paul) in September 1963. I knew I would never be a father to our baby working like I was, so I quit the business.

Got a call to be a fireman on Friday the 13th 1963. Had to miss the first hour of work to take Sally to the hospital to have the baby. Jeff was born on the day I started on the Burbank Fire Department. I was with the department for 17 years before I had a disability retirement at age 44. The paramedics actually saved my life during a training exercise by finding out I had a bad heart beat. At the time I was a Battalion Chief.

On January 7, 1975 at University Hospital in San Francisco (2 days before my 39th birthday) I was blessed to be able to give my youngest brother Jerry, a kidney. The pre-surgery tests show that our blood and tissue types were like identical twins. The surgery went well and now over 30 years later he still has a healthy kidney and so do I.

Opened 3 retail stores in less than a year after leaving the Fire Department in November 1980. Sold nothing but musical boxes. Stores were located in the Plaza Pasadena Mall, the Santa Monica Place mall and on Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank. Sold all 3 stores by late 1989 and breathed a sigh of relief. Did bookkeeping for a while and the last 10 years of work before final retirement worked as a collections manager for an advertising company.

We have two children: Jeffrey Paul and Diana Maree (Dee Dee). Jeff went to Cal State Northridge and is a Certified Engineering Geologist. Diana went to UCLA and majored in math. She graduated with honors and is an Actuary with Transamerica, in downtown Los Angeles. Diana, and her staff, write the 401k product Transamerica sells worldwide. Jeff was married several years ago to Karen Anderson. Karen went to UCLA and is also a Professional Engineer. Karen is working on her Civil Engineering degree. Jeff and Karen will have their first child about September 20, 2005 (yahoo! our first grandchild!). The baby is a boy and will be named (their choice) Ronald Anthony, after my father and me. Life is great!

I always remember that my father told me in his Sicilian accent, that there are three important things in life: FAMILY - FAMILY - FAMILY!

Sally and I send our best to our JBHS family - Class of '55.