Dave Ringer:  

A lot has happened since high school. Four days after graduating, was at Marine boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina. Then was sent to Camp Pendleton for advanced infantry training. Before the year was up was sent to the American Embassy in Budapest, Hungary and later to Tel Aviv, Israel as an embassy guard. Then came back stateside to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Then became part of the fleet Marine force in the Meditteranean Sea covering southern Europe, Lebanon, and North Africa. Shortly after returning back to the States, my enlistment was up so got an honorable discharge and came back home to Oklahoma. Spent the next 10 plus years roughnecking, farm/ranch work, had a work clothes store during the last big oil boom before the bust and went broke. Started a yard service and rode a bareback bronc in the Elk City Rodeo. In 1986, applied and eventually got on the California Highway Patrol. Did my rookie year at El Centro then transferred to Winterhaven, California where all the officers lived in Yuma, Arizona. After four and a half years, spent a year i...Expand for more