Kenneth Dykstra:  

I have hesitated to write this because of reservations about the internet, perhaps born of Baby Boomer reluctance. Who knows, I could wake up dead and pregnant with my identity stolen. However, our first (now 5 day old) grandchild is sleeping, so not much else to do. In my senior year at South, I was accepted into the Clemson School of Architecture where I spent my first year. After receiving the Architure Faculty Award for my efforts, I moved to pre-med and finally graduated with a BS in zoology. In an attempt to avoid the draft in the late 60's, I enrolled in advanced ROTC (certainly an oxymoron) which rendered me draft exempt and began my (almost) 30 year career in the USAF. After Clemson, I attended medical school at Wake Forest. In addition to medical studies, I met and married my wife, Carol (we will celebrate our 39th anniversary this year [2012]). We (it took both of us to survive my medical education) completed a residency in pediatrics at Travis AFB, CA where, not only did I learn how to treat kids, but also spent some time in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys discovering an enduring, but sober, love of wine. Oh, yeah, we made our daughter, Heather, there, also. My first assignment, as a pediatrician, was at Andrews AFB, MD. After 7 years there, we spent a phenomenal 5 years at RAF Lakenheath, England where we adopted our son, Daniel. That tour of duty ended when I was accepted into a 3 year pediatric endocrine fellowship at Walter Reed AMC in Washington, DC. The next 7 years, practicing pediatric endocrinology, were spent at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX. As the 30 year mark in my military career approached, it was time to look for a "real", civilian job. What Col. Dykstra found took us to Wic...Expand for more