Jo Manson:  

Hi everyone, I just wanted to take the opportunity to say a sincere thank you to all of you that have viewed my profile. Hard to believe that it is now 2024. A lot has happened since high school. After Lanier I went on to Texas Tech Univ. in Lubbock and graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Geography with a minor in Environmental Studies. Tech was a wonderful school and I enjoyed it very much. I was in Air Force ROTC for 1.5 years and thought about continuing but decided to hold off to pursue my masters degree. I moved to Riverside, CA in September of 1979 and attended University of CA (UC) Riverside where I received my Master of Science (M.S.) in Geography (emphasis on geographic information systems) in December 1982. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to be both a teaching assistant and a research assistant during my graduate years to help pay for school. To pay for my last year at U.C. Riverside I worked full time for the U.S.D.A. Forest Service at a forest fire research laboratory as a consultant on a forest fire computer simulation model. I worked on my masters thesis and took my last couple of classes at night while I worked during the day. One of the most unique experiences in my life. I have never looked at a forest fire the same way since.... that kind of vegetation, what type of fire crews to send, etc. After another year I decided it was time to move on and in June 1984 I took a job as a Geographer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in downtown Los Angeles. I worked on civilian recreation and military environmental projects and had a variety of experiences working on both civilian and military projects. While I was there I had the chance to travel quite a bit and even got to go to the Pentagon for a meeting...that place is truly a maze!!! While at the Corps I met my future husband, Jon. Jon was a Major in the U.S. Army and a combat engineer. We worked together on a project at Fort Irwin, CA located out in the middle of the Mojave desert near Barstow. My friends at church in Sierra Madre (in the LA basin) where I lived always kidded me that with all the guys in the Los Angeles basin I went and found the right one in the middle of the desert!!! Jon and I worked together for about a year and then one day I mentioned that my singles group at my church was going on a camping trip....2 weeks later Jon asked me out.....3 months later Jon proposed!! Jon was already set to go on a one year unaccompanied (no family goes with him) tour of duty to South Korea. So, we got engaged in October 1988....Jon flew to Korea in April of 1989.....Jon came back to L.A. in September 1989 and we got married, Jon flew back to Korea in October 1989...I visited Jon in Korea in December 1989 and then Jon came back to the states in April 1990. Whew!! I visited Jon in South Korea in December 1989 when he was stationed there. The highlight was when we went to the DMZ and got to go on a tour for American soldiers and their families. We went inside the building where negotiations are held between North a...Expand for more