Donald Patrick:  

Life I was born and generally was raised in Shreveport, LA. There were a few interruptions, though. My father's enlistment in the US Army in the mid 50's took us to Fort Hood, TX for a short while. Later my mother's re-marriage took us to Many, LA in the early 60's for another short period. Throughout my school years, I kept fairly close to myself as I was shy. Still am, but am working on it. I joined the Army in 1965. Served 25 years in Louisiana, Texas, California, Germany, Vietnam, Alaska, and Kansas. I met and married Wanda Godsey in New Orleans in 1970. Our son, Walter Stuart Patrick married Heidi Jones at Fort Leavenworth, KS in 1995. They had a daughter, Nicole Elizabeth Patrick, in 1996. My wife, Wanda and I were introduced by friends on Friday, August 28, 1970 in New Orleans. We played poker for most of the evening. As it was near the end of the pay period, I didn't have much money - she took what little I had. I went home to Shreveport the next day and told my mother, I had met the lady I would marry. My mother's only question: Have you told her? When I returned, I was unsuccessful in getting a date with her for nearly a week. A week later, I proposed marriage. When she agreed, she insisted that the marriage wait until Oct 1, 1970. This allowed her to say we had known each other for three months. The courthouse initially refused to accept Wanda's birth certificate for our marriage license. Her name written in long hand, appeared to read "Ulanda" and not "Wanda". I don't remember how we got around the problem, but remember Wanda didn't seem to believe me when I told her of the problem. The day we were married I was very late in picking her up. I had purchased my first Gillette Platinum Plus blades. Used to having to use a lot of pressure with my Blue Blades, I immediately cut a large place on my upper lip. Blood all over the place. I tried everything I could do to stop the blood flow. Finally used a large piece of tissue to stop it. By that time I was 30 minutes late. I rushed over to her apartment to pick her up. She was in tears; thought I had run out on her. We raced through the streets in the French Quarter. We had to be at the Justice of the Peace's in 15 minutes and it was easily a 30 minute trip from her apartment. The judge had warned us that she only had a 15 minute window of opportunity for our marriage. To this day I don't know how we made it. When the judge finished, she handed the certificate to Wanda and looked to me for the money. My wife, Wanda has recently begun the latter stages of Alzheimer’s. I retired from the US Army as a Master Sergeant in December 1990, joined the Civil Service working for the US Coast Guard, Wash D.C. until 1995, and then moved to Copperas Cove TX. Currently in Civil Service with US Army as a Computer Specialist. Teach in the evenings for Tarleton State Univ. I had a taste of college in the 1970's, but didn't think it was necessary. When I retired from the Army, I discovered real quickly how important it is. I graduated from Park College with a BS Mgmt/CIS in 1991 and Webster University with a MA, Computer Resource & Information Management in 1992, and a MBA in 1993. A past marathon runner, I participated in more than a few hundred such events in Europe - a few in California, Vegas, and Alaska. My hobbies include philately, computers - including gaming, weapons, chess, roses, and genealogy research. I especially enjoy Jazz (Latin Jazz for sure), Pop, Classical, Opera, and Country & Western music. School Most of my elementary schooling occurred at Caddo Heights Elementary. I didn't apply myself as I should have. Was more interested in having China Berry fights and chasing the girls on the playground. I was into the Arts. Liked them all, even participated in several school plays. It was during this time, I discovered I needed eye glasses. Some of my fellow school mates were unmerciful in their remarks concerning my four eyes. I don't think that bothered me as much as my lack of depth perception - I was always the last to be selected for one of baseball teams. Later at Many Junior High School I experienced the wraith of my geography teacher and his special whipping board. He had drilled holes in it, so that it would whistle when in use. Then my English teacher caught me reading in class. I had a comic book stuck inside of my English text book. Escorted to the principal's office, the principal chased me around his office desk trying to whip me. It wasn't a real stellar beginning to my middle years of education. I didn't get along well with my new step-father. I was seeing a girl, whom he disapproved of. He had another girl in mind. He went out of his way to give me additional chores in the restaurant and on the farm to do. I ran away from home - ended up living with my Grandmother in Ardmore, OK for a short while. I attended Ardmore Junior High School for a year. It was a good year for me and algebra. My Mother left my step-father. I then returned home with her - back to Shreveport. I went to Linwood Junior High School for my last year of junior high. The following year, I attended Woodlawn High School, though ended up finishing the latter part of my Junior year and my Senior year at Fair Park High School. I wasn't among the most social at school. My focus seemed to center on Jr ROTC, Art, History, and the Drill Team. After school I had to rush over to the Ko Ko Mo Drive In, where I worked as a car hop. I do remember one special event while I was at Fair Park High School. There was a girl sitting near me in Mr. Burgess' Math class. She had long braided pony tails. The fellow sitting behind her, a member of the school football team, had a propensity for pulling her pony tails. She asked him several times to stop and was ignored. Mr Burgess' seemed intent on ignoring it. Finally, I asked the fellow to stop. Challenged, he invited me to meet him behind the gym after class. I figured I was about to be pounded into pulp. He was this hulking figure of a person and I was lucky if I weighed in at 125 lbs. We met behind the gym and began to shadow box with each other. I began to realize, he was just as afraid as I was. A large number of students began to circle around us - egging us on. Finally, after a "no blows" fight of some duration, a teacher came and broke us apart. The principal informed me that I was the responsible party and I was given 'after school' detention for a period of time. I did have special teachers, I can remember: Mr. Beard, My Art teacher (Linwood Jr High) was among the most talented of my Art teachers. He seemed to excel in every facet of Art. Mrs. Jenny Jones, my English teacher (Fair Park) was probably the hardest teacher I had, but she did inspire me. She used her leather mallet on me frequently, but I did learn quite a bit from her. Mr. Burgess wasn't a hard Algebra teacher (Fair Park), but he was a kind person. He taught me to respect the more gentlemanly ways in life. Mr. Nutt was a fantastic American History teacher (Fair Park). He was one of those rare teachers that could excite an interest in what was taught. I remember his classes being so interesting, all I had to do was attend class and listen to his lectures - I could max any exam I took in his class. His class was one of my few "A" classes. Eligible for the draft and with only fair grades, I went directly into the military after my high school graduation. College I wanted to attend college after I graduated from high school, but didn't have the money nor the grades. Couldn't find employment since the draft was in. So instead I joined the Army. After a few years in the service, decided I wanted to further my education. Back then the Army didn't believe that enlisted personnel really needed college education. Most of the available funds were reserved for officers. I took a CLEP exam and picked up 30 semester hours. Went on to take several college courses at Central Texas College. I made straight "A's" in English and algebra, didn't attend many of the class sessions, and was bored. So I quit - after all the Army was not r...Expand for more