Bill Ashbrook:
CLASS OF 1967
Cooper High SchoolClass of 1967
Abilene, TX
Abilene Christian UniversityClass of 1976
Abilene, TX
Farmington High SchoolClass of 1967
Farmington, NM
Abilene High SchoolClass of 1967
Abilene, TX
Bill's Story
Life
My Spouse
I met my wife at a church youth rally that I was speaking at. I invited her to go out for a Coke after the rally and she said sure as long as her boyfriend could join us. The game was on! I won. Nuf said.
My Kids
Best ever. Two boys and two girls.
Billy Jr. Age 30 Hospital Tech. & outstanding father.
Chritie Age 28 Graduate of
Texas Wesleyan Univercity. Currently married.
works for Alcon Labratories.
Shiann Age 12 Student
Austin Age 11 Gonna be my
linebacker!!
My Job
Senior Project Manager
Engineered Equipment Division
College
Went to technical school after high school and received an associate degree in Drafting & Design Technology.
1968 ~ Took a break from school and work to fullfill my military obligation.
After a short military career I spent a few semesters at Abilene Chritian University, Hill College and Tarrant County College. Wasn't really sure what I wanted to be when I grew up. Still not!
Workplace
I have worked in the field of Engineering for all of my working years except those spent in the Marines.
I have worked for the same company, Thomas Conveyor Company, for the past 29 years. It's been a challenging and rewarding part of my life. My colleagues and I have taken the company from a small struggling manufacturing company to the number one conveyor manufacturing company in the states. We manufactuers of all types of Conveyors, Bucket Elevators and related equipment.
As part of my duties I perform start up inspections and field training, traveling all over the U. S., Canada and Mexico.
Military
You might remember earlier, that I said I wasn't sure of what I wanted to be when I grew up. That wasn't exactly true. In October of 1968 I left Abilene for what I hoped would be a long career in the United States Marine Corps. Semper Fi!!! I went through basic training at the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego, California where I graduated in the top 4% of my training unit earning my firs stripe. I was transfered to Camp Pen...Expand for more
delton, a few miles North of San Diego and just South of Los Angeles, where I receiver my advanced training in mititary weapons and jungle warfare. I truly enjoyed life in the Marine Corps and had decided to make a career of the military. After we finished training we got our next orders and goi to go home on leave. I received orders to go to Viet Nam with a infantry unit and after taking my 17 day leave I returned to Pendleton for additional training wile in staging for Viet Nam. We were woken before dawn on April 1st 1969, and bussed to El Toro Marine Air Station where we immediately boarded a TWA jet liner and took off for the long, long flight to Okinawa where we spent a couple of days befor catching a flight to Viet Nam. We landed in Da Nang in the Northern part of Viet Nam where we got our field issues, weapons and transportation to the field where we were assigned to our units. After that ride we walked everywhere we went. It seemed like a never ending hike. It was hot, and humid and every once in a while someone would take a potshot at us. Not a great place to live! Anyway I still loved what I was doing and was vary into the whole freedom and patriotism thing. On April, 19th we were on what was called a search and secure operation. I was in direct contact with a small survellance aircraft directing fire on a small group of trees that we had just seen a unit of NVA move into. We were running out of a rice patty onto a small sand dune when we set off a series of boobie trapped rounds. I stepped on a morter round and saw two others go off as I was spun around from the impact of the explosion. As you might guess that ended my Marine Corps career. I spent around a month on the USS Repose, a hospital ship known as "The Angle of Mercy" because it treated many of the civilian casualties in the area around Da Nang. I spent another seven months in the Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland, California recoparating from my wounds. I was officialy retired from the Marine Corps January 15th, 1970 and have had a great life. I wouldn't change anything.
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