John McGovern:
CLASS OF 1971
Harding High SchoolClass of 1971
St. paul, MN
John's Story
Born and raised in St. Paul, I always wondered if I would be one of those who managed to stay there all my life or if I would end up somewhere else.
After graduation, I enlisted in the United States Air Force. My first home away from home was Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX. From there I went north to Witchita Falls, TX for my "career training" which ended up being, of all things, operating heavy or construction equipment.
Out of school, my first assignment was to Gila Bend, AZ. There I spent 18 months on a bull dozer pulling a plow to comb the sand on the bombing ranges. This was done in order to keep the sand soft so that the aircraft would not shoot itself down with a ricochet off the hard desert surface.
From there I was assigned to Little Rock AFB in Little Rock, AR, where I lived for two years. Being a large base...Expand for more
, it was far more formal than my desert days and the work was mostly routine - driving a dump truck or a flight line sweeper.
My military career ended in Little Rock and once discharged, I headed back to St. Paul where I worked in high tech until the year 2000. In October of that year, I moved to Neptune, New Jersey.
A little less than a year later I would take the short drive to the ocean and look north to see the smoke from the World Trade Center drifting slowly to the east. It was only months earlier that I, my son, and my daughter were sitting atop the World Trade Center (North Tower, I believe..), having lunch.
I left New Jersey for Wilmington, NC, in 2006 and that is where I remained for a about 3 years.
I have now come full circle. Once again I find myself in Minnesota. It's the winters. Gotta be the winters.
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