Mark Knuckles:  

I live in Hickory, North Carolina with my wife Joy (Barnes GHS 66) of 45 years. We have two adult sons, John and James. John is a district sales manager for Coca Cola and lives with his wife Sandy in Boone, NC. James is my finance manger and lives with his wife Heather in Hickory, NC. After Gordon, I attended DeKalb College for about a year and then enlisted in the U.S. Army to fly helicopters. My basic training was at Ft. Polk, Louisiana,then primary flight school at Ft. Wolters, Texas, and my advanced flight training was at Ft. Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, Georgia. I served in Vietnam from December 18, 1968 to December 17, 1969 with the 135th Assault Helicopter Company, a special military unit made of both the U.S. Army and the Royal Australian Navy. We flew combat assaults in the Mekong Delta south of Saigon. While there, I earned 27 Air Metals and was awarded the Bronze Star. Following my tour in Vietnam I was stationed at Hunter AAF in Savannah for15 months. Through out my tour in the Army I remained in contact with Joy and Elaine (Thompson Waters GHS 66) and Cecilia Cooper GHS 65 and started dating Joy while I lived in Savannah. After leaving the Army in March 1971, I went to work for the Atlanta Police Department to fly helicopters. My first assignment was the new mounted patrol. After riding a horse for a year I decided that policing was not for me. I returned to school while Jo...Expand for more