Larry Cermak:  

Sorry, the following is rather outdated now, will plan to update soon! Reluctantly gave up on the chance of the beard assuring me of a future movie role and shaved it off. Wife was complaining she thought things were growing in it and refused to kiss me anymore Ha! The whiskers are a new addition. They were initially grown for a part as an old miner in the William Shatners "Unxplained" TV series on the History Channel. This segment focused on the legendary "Bigfoot" and included evidence and many documented stories attempting to uncover the truth as to existence of this mysterious evasive creature. My role was to reenact an incident from the 1920's in which Bigfoot was documented to have attacked two gold miners in the wilderness of the Cascade Mountains in Washington State. Have kept the beard thinking the movie company may have another role for me but better not hold my breath! A good part of the full Bigfoot segment was filmed here at my place in Wrightwood using my log cabin out building, big trees and other features. And my son in law, Jeff Cooper, was anxious to learn Shatner had a role for him and thought there would be more when the world saw his handsome face. But the joke was on him as his face did not make it on camera as his role turned out to be that of wearing the "monkey" suit which had an ugly rubber face masking his. Ha!! Lots of things since Cal High. Went on to Fullerton JC, then to Cal State Fullerton where classes were held in temporary buildings from March Air Base and there was no air conditioning and it got hot then cold, pretty awful! The school was originally known as "Orange State" as it was in the middle of an orange grove but latter the name was officially changed to Cal State Fullerton and the orange grove disappeared! Went on to Cal State Long Beach where I earned a B.S. in Police Science and Administration. Was a policeman with the City of Garden Grove when I got my Selective Service induction notice, which questionably superseded my in-process effort to enlist in the Air Force. Even though they wanted every guy they could get to send to Vietnam, the induction staff found some minor problem with my medical history and failed me on the physical! The arrogant sergeant at the induction center there on Broadway St. in L.A. said they needed men for the infantry in Nam but, in an extremely insulting, degrading manner and tone, told me they didn't want me as I wasn't "good enough to serve in the army!" What craziness, never ever before or since failed a physical! I cried all the way home over this rejection! Ya, for sure! But then they did give me a rating of 1Y which is better than 4F I guess so felt a bit better about myself. Please understand, it was not my intent to not fight for my country and for a matter of fact I had taken and passed the Air Force Officer Training School (OTS) written acceptance test at the Whittier recruitment office and in the process of signing up when the draft notice arrived. But the recruiter got back to me and explained the Selective Service 1-y classification just given by the draft board was a disqualification from any of the armed services so there went the Air Force and my willingness to serve! As a point of further clarification and questioning, no one with that 1-y classification was allowed to serve unless there was a "national emergency" or "war." Tell it to those poor guys who went to Nam that with all those bullets flying and bombs going off, it certainly must have seemed like war, but it was not a war at all, just a "conflict!" To have been a "real" war it had to have been declared as such by congress which it never was! Were any lessons learned here?! Didn't like being a city cop very much and that was certainly not my long-term career goal. I always liked animals and nature things with a real goal of becoming a game warden with the State Dept, of Fish and Game. But they were not hiring, and no recruitment testing was in the works. Thought it would be advantageous to get some actual natural resource experience for when the warden exam was offered. so went to work with the U.S. Forest Service. Although I had no previous firefighting experience, Howard Evans, the fire control officer and forest ranger of all forest rangers assigned to the San Jacinto District of the San Bernardino National Forest. hired me directly as the fire truck operator (TTO) out of the Kenworthy Station in Garner Valley near Idyllwild. Letterly, one of those "trial by fire" experiences as this was and remains an extremely active station! In addition to having the college degree, Howard liked that I had mechanical knowledge from my major in "Industrial Arts" at Cal High, which was critical for that job. The assigned truck was a special high cente...Expand for more