Edward Palumbo:  

I enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps after graduating from La Salle Academy in 1964, eager to leave the inner city environment (lower East Side of Manhattan, NYC) and explore elsewhere, because life in a metropolitan area never brought out the best in me. The Corps was very good to me, good for me; I am thankful for many of the people I met and those with whom I served, for the units and ships to which I'd been assigned, for the roles, responsibilities and challenges I'd been given and for the places I'd been sent. I went to South Viet Nam in 1966-67 with 1st Marine Division ground forces, and lasting friendships are rooted in those years, though our ranks are thinning by attrition now. The Corps provided me with the most intensely educational period of my life (though it took years to sort many of those lessons out), as well as a catalogue of great memories, adventures and a lifetime of humor. Aside from the more sobering tasks, there were many opportunities for mischief, and fine people who reached well beyond any reasonable expectation to accomplish the nearly impossible. I remain grateful for the Marines that trained me, for the Marines I've had the opportunity to train, and certainly for the lasting appreciation of the basic priorities that matter most. I had the opportunity to work for and with some remarkable, multitalented people. How so many of us could cross paths from such diverse backgrounds and accomplish so much as a team continues to be a marvel. It was a lasting lesson that remained with me in business: a small, motivated and cohesive group can accomplish much more in less time than a ponderous organization divided by dissent, self-interest, ego and conflicting priorities. After my EAS (end of active service), I returned to NYC but I knew I would not remain; I really wasn't happy there. To the disappointment of my parents and family members, I relocated in early 1972 to southern California's Orange County, having been familiarized with the area while stationed at MCAS El Toro and MCB Camp Pendleton. I remained in SoCal for 25 years, because it was a fine place to live and work, a great area to be young and to celebrate life. In my opinion, it was Orange County at its best, before the citrus groves and strawberry fields were covered by asphalt, tract homes and condominiums. In the '60s and early '70s, it was sunshine, surf, blue sky, 330 days of VFR weather per year, and well-engineered open roads. It was an adventure-filled time to be alive - very much alive - and I celebrated Life. For a while, I rented a small apartment in Corona del Mar, CA, a short stroll from the beach. I attended classes and soon worked nights as a respiratory therapy technician at a small community hospital in South Laguna Beach, then found a job on dayshift at a larger hospital, a more progressive department, in Newport Beach and performed diagnostic tests as a a certified cardiopulmonary technologist and certified pulmonary function technologist. Life seemed to be pointed in a very positive direction. I'd relocated very deliberately from NYC, with no intention of returning, but that wasn't a shared goal in the relationship I had at the time. Other than a dwindling number of relatives, there was nothing left in NYC for me, and a part of me was smothered in the crowded streets, the concrete and glass canyons. Any metropolitan area was anathema to me, and it wasn't difficult to imagine how committed I was to living in a very different environment. I believe people should live where their heart takes them. Despite pressures to do so, I would not return to NYC. I met my wife, Tammy, in southern California in late 1980 and we married in late '82, our children were born there, and I attended classes there. At this writing, we've been married for 35 years, we have a son and daughter, and my family is the center of my world. I earned an Associate of Arts degree at Orange Coast College and Bachelor or Science at Biola University. My major was Business and my minor was Theology. We relocated to the Pacific Northwest 20 years ago, to a suburban community 12-13 miles south of Portland's civic center. There are a great many places in which we could be happy, but this has certainly been a fine area in which to live and raise well-adjusted children. We enjoy the Northwest's multi-seasonal climate and easily accessible outdoor recreation. I've cycled through a several sports and hobbies over the years, and remained with a few of them. Soaring and searching for thermals in Schweitzer 2-33A sailplanes was, for me, the very essence of flight. I absorbed the stick-and-rudder controls and I enjoyed its quiet serenity more than powered flight. I was a technical rockclimber in northern and southern California and southwestern Colorado for 3-4 years, but fractured my right ankle, taking a fall while traversing a rock face in a climb in March, 1979. I was a sport parachutist, from 1968 to 1992, logging skydives at paracenters across the country, and I fractured my left tibia and fibula in a hook-turn landing - my fault - at Elsinore (CA) in November 1992, ironically, the same paracenter where the sport began for me 24 years before. I've enjoyed firearms and their design since my first purchase as a teenager. These days, I practice regularly on the facilities at a nearby club, and occasionally go afield for "pest control". I returned to competitive shooting from time to time; it was an occasionally humbling experience, but it's always fun. Priorities change, so I sold my Yamaha motorcycle and purchased new Nikon DSLR cameras and three lenses. My lightweight "backpacking" camera is an Olympus mirrorless (4/3) digital camera with two versatile lenses, which has been an asset for me. Scuba diving continues to provide me with wonder and fascination, and I'm currently...Expand for more