Grandson of an Irish immigrant who landed at Ellis Island in 1904 before fighting in France as a Doughboy with the New York Rainbow Division in World War I. His father, a career naval aviator, saw ...view moreGrandson of an Irish immigrant who landed at Ellis Island in 1904 before fighting in France as a Doughboy with the New York Rainbow Division in World War I. His father, a career naval aviator, saw action in World War II, finally retiring after 35 years of service following Korea and Vietnam.
He grew up on naval airbases in Cuba, Hawaii, and Japan, where he climbed to the summit of Mount Fujiyama at the age of twelve. A highly competitive swimmer and diver, he was a member of the All-Navy junior Olympic swim team. His insatiable curiosity as a child once led him to stow away on a Japanese fishing vessel in Yokohama harbor at the age of ten, only to be discovered while the vessel was twenty miles off-shore in the Sea of Japan.
After failing his physical for Navy flight school while in college, he enlisted in the Army as a paratrooper in 1966. He earned his jump wings later that year and was selected to attend infantry OCS at Fort Benning, Georgia. Commissioned a second lieutenant in 1967, he graduated from the John F. Kennedy Center for Special Warfare at Fort Bragg, and was assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group in Bad Toelz, Germany. He served as an A-Team executive officer, detachment commander, as well as the S-3 Officer for B Company, 10th SFGA while stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. He volunteered for duty in Vietnam in 1969 where he served as the CO of an 'A' Detachment on the Cambodian border. He was later informed that he was the youngest Captain to command a Special Forces A-Team in Vietnam at the age of twenty-one.
He left the service following his tour in Vietnam and returned to his Alma Mater, earning his business degree from Texas A&I University in Kingsville, Texas. Following a ten-year career with the Surgical Products Division of Procter and Gamble, he partnered in a medical device company in Dallas. He currently specializes in total joint replacement for hips and knees, servicing orthopedic surgeons in Arlington, Texas.
He is active in the Special Forces Association and enjoys his profession, off-shore sailing, and gourmet cooking while spending time with his son and close friends.view less