Lee Note 108 David Alford September 21, 2001

On November 30, 1960, I left good ol' Baytown for San Diego, California and Marine Corps Boot Camp. I never gave it a thought about staying in longer than 4 years, but prior to November 1964 - the end of my enlistment - I made the decision that I would become a Marine Corps "Lifer".

December 1, 1980, "rolled around" before I knew it, and on that date, I retired from the Marine Corps as a Gunnery Sergeant.

During those 20 years, I was able to see many parts of the world that I, most likely, would not have had the chance to see. Stateside, I had duty in San Diego, California, Santa Ana, California, 29 Palms, California, Columbus, Ohio, and Lansing, Michigan. Overseas, I was stationed in Japan, Okinawa, The Philippines, Thailand, Korea, and Viet Nam twice. It wasn't all bad though...I had R&R in Sydney, Australia!

My duties ranged from playing baseball for the Marine Corps, infantry small unit leader, and during my last 6 years, I was a Logistics Chief.

There were many rough spots, but I can honestly say that I "had one Hell of a time" during those 20 years!

The "Baytown Connection" was alive and well during my tours in Viet Nam. Major George Gentry, the son of the School Superintendent, and I crossed paths in ChuLai during 1966 and, during that time, I was told that Bobby Paulson was working with a civilian construction company in the area but we never got together.

During my second tour of Viet Nam, Marine Corps Captain David (Chuck) Saunders and I got together at a nice little out-post called CuaViet. Chuck was a jet fighter pilot but he was flying as Co-Pilot on a Huey Helicopter at that time. We had a real nice visit in the skies of Viet Nam!

About 6 months prior to my retirement date of December 1, 1980, I moved my family to San Antonio. We found a house and I went back to Lansing, Michigan to finish my remaining time. My sister Diana and her husband Roger were a great help during this transition time.

My wife, Marsha, has had a Day-Care business for the past 18 years and will probably continue for several more years. One of my sons, Billy, is a senior at Texas Tech, majoring in history.

My other son, Bobby, is a 5th year senior at UTSA, planning on becoming a coach...he is helping with the UTSA baseball team at this time. Bobby had a very successful baseball "career" during high school, Junior College, and Division 1. He made All-State as a high school senior, and was selected All Southland Conference Academic team, 2001. He was football captain at Madison HS, baseball captain at Vernon Junior College, and Defensive Player of the Year at UTSA this past baseball year. We are deeply proud of both of the boys.

I also have 2 other children from my first marriage. David is a police officer in Baytown and Wendy lives in Highlands with her husband.

I seem to have enough spare time to try and master the lovely sport of Golf! We have some great courses in San Antonio and some of the best are at the military bases. I have also been doing a lot of wood crafts. I haven't got a hole-in-one and I haven't cut any fingers off, but I still enjoy both!

I often think of the great times that we had at REL and of the many good memories. I remember our "big snow storm"...eating the best Chili and tamales in the world at PACE'S...all the miles driven from Trainer's Drive-In to the Big Oak tree and back... Miss Gwendolyn Wright singing "The 12 Days of Christmas" in homeroom, and someone (I still don't remember who!) kept asking her to sing it again...the Quack Shack...the music we listened and danced to..."My Prayer"..."My Dream"..."In the Still of the Night"..."My Happiness"..."Sleep Walk"... "Over the Mountain"..."One Summer Night"..."It's All in the Game"...Paul Anka's "All of a sudden my heart sings"... and a whole bunch more! There are people other than class-mates that I think of: Mrs. Gelber..Coach Don Treuhardt.. Coach Paul Bill Kern..Coach Kudla..Coach Armstrong.and one of the nicest ladies that I knew, Mrs Rockhold.

What took place on Sept 11 has made me realize just how short things can be on this earth and all of the above memories brought some smiles and great thoughts of some pretty great people during a great time. GOD BLESS AMERICA.

Kay, I may not have made a million dollars or earned a bunch of titles to put next to my name but I sure had a "great time!" I often wonder how things would be NOW if I had "turned left" instead of "turning right" in 1960.

Thank you again, Kay, for the opportunity!

David Alford