Duncan Rasmussen:  

The instructions are to tell my story, and being a literal person, here it is, for the last 49 years or so. I periodically edit this post as something comes to mind. Anything I write here or pics I post are not meant to be a case of "how do you like me now" (which is a great song). It is filling in the almost half century since I have seen anybody from the class of '74. Anyway, I am a retired career soldier, and served from October 1974 – October 1994. I retired as a Master Sergeant (pay grade E-8). In my final four years I fulfilled two assignments as a company First Sergeant (same pay grade, but a fancier chevron). I’m not a combat vet—I was too young for Vietnam (obviously), and too old for the Middle East wars. During Desert Shield/Desert Storm, I was part of a group of Regular Army soldiers assigned to advise and assist National Guard and Army Reserve units. We did not deploy with the units, however. I essentially was a Cold Warrior, with assignments to a variety of foreign or otherwise strange locations, which included West Germany, West Berlin, South Korea, Northeast Alabama, Mid-coast California and Northwest New York. I have no plans to run for Congress, so I won’t embellish my record with things that never happened and awards I did not earn. For instance, it is simply not true that I single handidly turned back the Hun in the trenches at the Battle of the Chateau-Briand. During my years of service I completed an AA in General Studies. After I retired from the Army I went to school full time and completed a BS in History with an English minor. I then earned a Master of Arts in History, in May 2000. I concentrated on Colonial New England, with a secondary area of Asian History. My thesis was on the communal issues in a period of history (1666-1707) in Topsfield. I don't think I ever gave a copy to the Topsfield Historical Society, so anyone who wants to read some very dry historical writing is out of luck. (Yes, I know that plenty of classmates are not in the area.) I worked in various jobs in the private and government sectors and retired from Dept of Vet Affairs in December 2017. Currently I'm a hungry artist and I'm doing some grandpa daycare with the youngest grand-munchkin. My wife Cathy and I married in 1977. She is also a veteran and she served over 4 years in the Army Finance Corps. She has a BS in Business and Accounting. I trust her completely with the family finances--as long as I have a reasonable allowance to make use of. We have two sons, two daughters-in-law, three granddaughters and one grandson. and an occasional dog and cat. (Puppies and Grandkids are the embodiment of unconditional love.) Our oldest son is a corrections officer and his wife is an elemenary school administrator. Our younger son is a graphic designer and his wife is a business woman (owns a dance studio) and is a lawyer handling real estate. At the peak of my military fitness I was 185 pounds of tempered steel and sex appeal, but now I'm just old, fat, and gassy. I’m just wiling...Expand for more