Leonard Knott:  

Life My family moved to DC from New York City in 1941. My twin brother Ed and I attended Eckington, then Benning Elementary Schools and Eliot JHS, and started Eastern HS, moved to NW DC and graduated Coolidge HS. After 2 yrs at Wilson Teachers College and 2 yrs in USCG I graduated AU in '59, attended post grad at Duke 1 yr, then spent next 3 decades toiling for Uncle Sam in Los Angeles and DC, and winding up in Palo Alto, CA where I met my future wife (a farmer's daughter no less). After retirement I became --guess what-- a farmer myself! We farm 160 acres in Central Oregon and when time allows, we ski the Cascades, water ski nearby lakes and ride our horses. No children, just lots of pets, both wild and domestic. Not a bad life for a city boy! And now, after 20 years of farming we're starting to kick back; we've bought a motor home and are planning to do some serious touring. Look out! We may be dropping in on you! School Growing up, our family moved around a lot. Ed and I attended Eckington and Benning Elementary Schools, Eliot Jr. HS, Eastern HS and Coolidge HS. At Coolidge played varsity football and graduated in Feb 1953. Going to school in DC in the late 40's and early 50's was incredible, and I look back on it and the memories of my schoolmates with relish. I've attended the 40th and 50th reunions of the 1953 class, and it was great seeing all those faces again (even though some have changed a little, including mine). College College life for me began in Feb 1953 at Wilson Teachers College, immediately after graduation from Coolidge HS (we were on semester system back then and I was a mid-year graduate). I spent 2 1/2 years at Wilson, mostly clowning around and having a great time playing some football and baseball (I'll never forget those football "scrimmages" in the gym, we didn't have our own football field). I left in June 1955 to go on active duty with the US Coast Guard. After two years I was released and enrolled at American University in their psychology program. This time I knuckled down, did some serious studying and made the dean's list the four semesters I was there. Graduated in 1959 and after a couple of years working at the AAAS I attended Duke Graduate School for one year. That ended my formal education; it was time to get a career going. Workplace My work life began in 1951 as a 16 year old part-time clerk in Rosenblot's Delicatessen on Georgia Ave. in DC while still in HS. In 1957, while attending AU I took a part-time job with the American Assn for the Advancement of Science as a research asst. This became full-time in 1959 when I graduated AU until I left for grad school at Duke in 1961. In 1962 I left for the west coast and hooked on with the VA in Los Angeles as a personnel specialist. In 1966 I relocated to the VA Central Office as a management and operations internal auditor (known today as the office of the Inspector General). Finally, in 1970 I relocated to the Palo Alto VA as the administrative officer in the medical center's research program. I retired in 1990 and the real work began as a farmer in Central Oregon. What a lifestyle change! Military My military career began a few days after I turned 17, while a senior in HS. I joined the Coast Guard reserve signing on for the standard 8-yr obligation that existed back then. I attended drills at the Treasury Dept. Bureau of Engraving on Tuesday nights for 3 1/2 years and did two-week summer stints at Ellis Island NY, Cape May NJ and Baltimore MD. In July 1955 I went on active duty and got assigned to my last summer site as a reservist at CG Group Baltimore. My first job was as a crew member of a 40 ft harbor patrol boat, whose two main functions were harbor search and rescue and escort and surveillance of commercial ships coming to Balto from communist countries (this was post-Korea and paranoia was high). When the command learned that I knew how to type (my typewriting class at Coolidge HS gave me probably the most useful, long-lasting skill in my entire educational life), I was reassigned to the Group HQ as a communications watchstander (great duty, no more rolling around on Chesapeake Bay in bad weather, breathing in diesel fumes). Had a wonderful time in Balto, good duty and close enough to home to make it feel I was never really away. I got released in summer 1957, enrolled at AU, and rode out the rest of my 8-yr enlistment obligation on inactive reserve duty. In 1973 in Palo Alto, I decided to reenlist in the CG Reserve (I think I was the oldest E3 in the nation). My duty stations were at San Jose, then Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island, doing search and rescue on San Francisco Bay. Summertime active duty tours included YBI, Stockton, Lake Tahoe, Monterey, among others. During this time I started climbing in rate and became a Chief Petty Officer in 1982 (Boatswain's Mate rating). In 1987 I was commissioned a Chief Warrant Officer and became a duty watch officer in Alameda. One of the most interesting summer tours was spending two weeks as a Situation Report (SITREP) Officer during a simulated west coast nuclear attack exercise held at 11th CG District HQ. In 1990 I retired from Civil Service, left the Bay Area and relocated to Central Oregon. My final two assignments as a reserve CWO were at Kennewick WA as a duty watch officer and at North Bend OR as admin officer for the unit. I retired from the reserve in 1995 with absolutely no regrets for having served all those years. It was a great experience and I met and worked with fantastic people everywhere I went. Update to the above as of May 2011: We sold the 160-acre spread to my wife Kay's nephew several years ago and have just rented out our 17-acre home. We've been living in our motor home (still on the property) for almost two years now, and once we clear out more of the detritus we've accumulated over the years, we'll fire up the m/h and hit the road for a couple of years. We don't have a destination in mind; we'll go where the wind blows us. After traveling around the US we'll assess our situation and decide what we do and where we go from there. There's lots to see and do, and we ain't gettin' any younger. So off we go! If I can figure...Expand for more