Clayton Dean Brannon:  

Life Retired in November 2005. For the first time I have the time to enjoy reading and traveling with my wife. We have been to the Westcoast, Alaska, Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands & Florida since retiring. Have a trip planned for Australia & New Zealand this fall. Looking forward to it. If things go well we will go see USC play in the Sugar Bowl for the National Championship this January. It is just nice to be able to get up when you want and go to bed when you want. We are remodeling the house at present. Starting with bathroom and finishing with the kitchen. Have no specific plans except to continue to do what we have been doing for the last 18 months. It is now the first of December 2007 and USC will not be going to the Sugar Bowl. The Rose Bowl is not a bad second though. I would like to go but that is really a long trip. The bathroom is completed and on to the kitchen now. It will be a much more difficult task. Still I look forward to a new kitchen. Anne also has put new carpet down in all the rooms except the library. School What can one say about ones early education. You just hope that you were given the best opportunities for education so you could make the best of life. I was lucky in that I had a number of really great and inspiring teachers along the way. The first I remember is Mrs Williams who taught me in the second and third grades, later came such teachers as Mrs Baldwin, Mrs Brown and Mr Perry for teaching me the value of patience, how to live with disappointment and the value of history. I also made some everlasting friendship along the way. Many of these people I see rarely if at all but know deep down that they are still my earliest and best friends. Others may come and go as life dictates but these are your constant companions. Military I have done few things in life that have effected me in a more positive way than my 5 years of military life. The only thing that has had a more positive lasting effect was to marry my Anne. The people I met gave me a true sense of being a part of a much bigger world than what I had experienced growing up in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. It was not only the many individuals I met who I was stationed with but also the many individuals I met who were citizens of the countries I was privileged to visit. I spent most of my years on overseas assignments ranging from the Panama Canal Zone to Europe on to the near eastern countries of Turkey and Greece. The different cultures I came in contact still serve me today. The things I found most common among all people from Norway to Turkey was that we as humans our basic needs wants and desires or not much different. A room over our heads, food on the table, peace and the ability to provide for our families now and into the future. It seems that to me it is only a few individuals on both the left & right of the political spectrum who want to control everything. These are the ones who keep upsetting the rest of the world. Enough about the world in general. I truly enjoyed my years serving my country. I still wonder what has happened to many of the people I met, both civilian and military whom I came into contact with. I keep looking for some of those people here at Classmates hoping I will see a familiar name. Alas, no luck. College One of the things I regret about college is the fact that I did not prepare myself during my high school years. I wish I had taken more Math, Science and English classes. Another thing I wish I had been better at, which at the time was not available, was classes on how to read and comprehend better. Sadly I was not much of a reader prior to college. That sure changed in a hurry. I now have a greater appreciation for the written & spoken word. I think earlier training would have been a big asset. It would have made things a lot easier. I enjoyed my college years and the many people I met. I worked full time jobs and carried full loads of classes and attended summer school while in college. I had a limited amount of money to spend on college. I was fortunate enough to have the GI bill to pay for my school. Work paid for the rest of my living expenses. I did not have the time or the money to spend on a lot of parties. All work and no play did make me a dull boy. All I could talk about was work & school. I am sure I bored a many poor soul to death. It was not until my senior year that I joined a fraternity. Lamda Chi Alpha. Made many friends that I still try to stay in touch with. Although not as often as I would like. Graduated in 1973 with a BS in Psychology. The years in which I was in college were the winding down years of the Vietnam War. My years in the military gave me a deeper appreciation of the Vietnam war and the military in general than my college peers. I saw both sides of the issue more clearly than most did. I stayed on the side lines as much as possible although I did get involved in a few political & anti war demonstration. UTC where I went to school was more a commuter school than most large colleges. Most of the student body went home in the evenings. There was a very small group of students who lived on campus. This group was more free spirited and more the center of after hour activities. I identified more with this group from being on campus taking night classes. There were a few clubs & bars that this group could be counted on to be at regularly. I guess you could call us the hippies of the area. Long hair, bell bottoms and tye die shirts. That all changed a great deal once I graduated in August 1973. After that it was no more long hair or hippie clothes. It became polished shoes, suit & ties after that. All in all my college years were very rewarding and a lot of fun. Enjoyed all of my teachers especially the ones in the History department. My favorite of all was Dr Moore of the History Department. These teachers made my college experience one of lasting value & fond memories. Work & Retirement What can I say about work! The best way I have been able to describe work is that no matter how you try to spell it you can never spell it f u n. I spent most of my adult life working for Newton Chevrolet. I was the Finance & Insurance Manager there for about 25 years. My next length of time was working for the Boy Scouts of America. It was the only job I ever had that came close to being fun. You talking about great experiences. I met and worked with some of the most dedicated people one could ever meet. Looking back at it I was a fool for ever leaving the BSA. When you are young you sometimes allow people to influnce you that do not have your best interest at heart. That was the case here. I got a lot of personal satisfaction working with young men. The scout program is not for every boy but those that do join and stick it out will come away with tools that will serve them well throughout life. Working for the BSA is not about money it is more about serving the community you live in to make it a better place. I can only say that if I had not left the program I would not have met my wife. That in itself was enough to justify anything else I have done with my life. She is the reason I have become the person I am today. I worked a lot of different jobs before I joined the military and while I was in college. These were jobs that mainly kept me from starving while trying to figure out what I wanted. I am now retired and enjoying myse...Expand for more