Richard Barzelogna:  

Life I was born in Detroit, Michigan between two great wars during a time of economic recession when my father, Robert Barzelogna, decided to re-enlist in the US Air Force and made the military a career. As a result, I was bounced all over the World from base to base, uprooting every 3 to 4 years, and did not have a Home Town until Dad landed us in Bunnell, Florida in 1973 in preparation for his retirement from the Air Force. After growing up in Detroit, Kansas City, Okinawa, Lubbock, Phoenix, Madrid, Alcala de Henares, and Charleston, quiet Bunnell was welcomed with a smile. (To this day, I absolutely detest big cities!) My freshman year at Torrejon HS was far from pleasant due to hazing and the most important lesson I learned there was that a beating was not all that bad, and it was far better to risk a beating than to put up with crap from older classmates. (That lesson later proved invaluable in the USMCR and in the Ring.) At Flagler-Palm Coast HS, I made friendships that have endured a lifetime, developed a fondness for alcohol, got strong being a triple letterman (Football, Wrestling, Track), and high school there was a relatively happy time. After High School came 4 hard years at SMSU (Southwest Missouri State University). During that time, I won an Honorable Discharge from the USMCR. I closed an amateur boxing career that was distinguished with a 72-3 record, 55 KOs, and several titles, brought me face to face with some of the best welterweights in the USA, and contributed significantly to financing college. (I can also remember wearing steak on my face and ice on my hands many times as a direct result of this "money maker." What a way to get through school!) During college, I lost my heart for the first time, established several more friendships that have lasted a lifetime, and should have taken the time to have had more fun rather than so intently focusing on studies and career. (Lesson Learned: Life is short! Enjoy it when you get the chance! And, you can never do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.) My college career ended with the award of a BS in Business and a US Army commission to 2LT in Air Defense Artillery. My military career brought many challenges. The USMCR confronted me with one of the hardest summers of my life, the Quigley Special, the honor of meeting and boxing in the presence of a CMH Winner and Commandant of the USMC, General Louis Wilson, and the intense pressure of Sniper School. The Army cured me of any fear of heigth with multiple helicopter rappels in Air Assault School and nap-of-the-earth flight in the Aircraft Crewman's Course. 31 years, 1 month, 2 days in uniform left me with memories that I can never forget, some of which echo in history. They included US Army Ranger casualties being medevaced aboard the USS Guam offshore from Point Salines; serving as the assigned driver of an MGMC M15 (half track restored from the 24th Infantry Division Museum) for MG Schwarzkopf; the heat and humidity of the Panamanian jungle and Anchon Hill; the remains of El Mozote church where the El Salvadorian Army killed many; Ilopango and the steaming heat and humidity; Armero, Colombia buried under an avalanche of mud and flood water during Operation Volcano; the haze and smog of burning oil wells blanketing Kuwait; Highway 80/ "the Highway of Death"; Check Point 4 and Freedom Hall, Panmunjom, in the Land of the Morning Calm; Camp Eagle, shifting minefields, and the remnants of ethnic cleansing in the Box; cold and wind swept Taszar, Hungary (once a Soviet Air Force Base during the Cold War) and hobbling on a crutch ...Expand for more