Charles Mitchell Jr:  

It all began at an early age when I was born in Sewickley, PA. My early days I remember as being with my Grandmother and Grandfather (was the Beaver County DA - Daniel Twiford Esq.) and playing at the old County Jail in Beaver, PA. Next came Grade School at Lincoln Elementary. Most of it was a flash and I only remember my 4th Grade teacher, Mrs. Beyerly and another 4th Grade teacher who was legendary, Mrs. Reed. From there it was on to Jr. High School in an old rundown building on 2nd Street behind the jail. It's a wonder it didn't fall down and kill all of us. I only remember Canteen there and one dance where I forgot a cute girl I had invited and forgot (sorry KM). Next came HS at the equally old and run down Senior HS on College Ave (1/2 in a building that should have been condemned and 1/2 in a new facility). Best memories include knowing Dr. Charlesworth, Mrs. Hockman, John Haddad and Mr. Berdell (soon I would learn where he got his discipline and drive from to succeed, adapt and overcome). Last memory of that facility was leaving it with all of our books in hand and the "March" to the new HS in "The Glen". (I'll break here as it's time to go dig out from several feet of snow in Tug Hill tonight. Maybe I’ll get time to do more in Tampa, FL. We head there to to be with our son and his family for the winter.) Well, a year has passed and activities have precluded me doing any updates. So, I’ll try again to expand the story. Beaver Area High School was a place staffed with most teachers very caring and professional trying to get all of us to listen and learn. The three years went by quickly, seeming like days rather than years. Most of the courses helped prepare us for college or employment; a few others sucked (French Class). I’ve always believed that my classmates were all intelligent and had something special to share with the world. I’m certain all of them have done well in their careers or chosen fields. Unfortunately, my work schedules had me out of the country to South America, Japan or Europe and all over North America for the better part of my career at Xerox. One of the best memories was of all the beautiful girls in my high school class and the classes following the class of ’61. In retrospect, I wish I had gotten to know more of them. They were and are special. I started college at Washington & Jefferson and after two and a half years came to a fork in the road. As Yogi said, I took it. Although I was doing well in school, the combination of feeling I was wasting my parents money coupled with the loss of a very special girlfriend, I took time to reflect and question who I was, what I wanted in life and how to respond to the loss of a girl I loved very much (her father was intransigent; her mother an angel who spent time with me to make everything OK before heading to Parris Island). I thought about what happened to JFK and why. I wondered what was out there in the world outside of the protective environment we all had surrounding us. There was a war in Vietnam; why, what was going on over there; why were people dying. So I decided the quickest way to see the world and learn more was to enter the military. Much to my mother’s horror, I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. I choose the Marines as they offered me the best opportunity to leverage my math and science skills. When enlisting, I was guaranteed a spot in the aviation field as an avionics’ technician and an assignment after boot camp to the Naval Technical Training Center in Memphis, TN (Millington). I could write a book on what the boot camp experience entailed. Suffice it to say, if you never were there you couldn’t understand. We spent the first several weeks in a mild state of shock. You quickly learned discipline, respect and to never quit on anything you undertook. I went from a skinny 160# kid to a 225# man in 13 weeks. At the mess hall, they would take the food from the fat kids and give it to the skinny kids. From 5 AM until dark, you had PT three times a day and classes with meals squeezed into your day. Quite by chance when going into Memphis one Saturday, we caught a ride with Judy Hutchinson and her husband. Talk about a small world. After a year, I graduated from ‘A’ School with one of the best avionics educations in the States. Memphis was a blur and over too soon. There were lots of women, parties and wild times. Although I spent a lot of spare time with a girl from the University of Memphis (Kathy) still couldn’t get serious thinking back to that special girl at home I lost. My next duty station assignment was El Toro Air Base in California. I was assigned to a Headquarters’ and Maintenance Squadron, working on the electronics for the...Expand for more