Kim McClane:
CLASS OF 1961
Watsonville High SchoolClass of 1961
Watsonville, CA
Golden Gate University - LawClass of 1984
San francisco, CA
University of Dayton - Graduate SchoolClass of 1979
Dayton, OH
Cabrillo CollegeClass of 1963
Aptos, CA
Salsipuedes Elementary SchoolClass of 1957
Watsonville, CA
Kim's Story
Where do I start? I guess after June 1961. I enrolled at Cabrillo Community College where I majored in Electronics Technology. We were the first class to attend the new campus in Aptos. I graduated in 1963 with an "AA" degree in Electronics Technology.
I joined the U.S. Navy as a Naval Aiviation Cadet (NAVCAD) in April 1964. After I earned my Wings of Gold I was assigned to an Attack Squadron flying the A1 Skyraiders and deployed to aircraft carriers off the coast of North VietNam for about 7 months.
I then returned to Naval Air Station Alameda, CA. While at NAS Alameda in February 1967 I met an Army Nurse (Genie Doyle) who was stationed at the Persidio Army Hospital. In April 1967 I deployed back to aircraft carriers off the coast of North NietNam for my second tour in VietNam. I returned from VietNam in September 1967. In October 1967 Ms. Doyle and I were married in her home city in New Jersey.
In December 1967 I transitioned to jet attack aircraft. Next in August 1968 I went to NAS Glynco Georgia and was trained in programming in order to train students in combat situatiions. While in Georgia we had our first daughter (Kristina 1969).
In December 1970 I was assigned to a squadron in Alameda, CA which was assigned to Carrier Air Group 15 attached to USS Coral Sea (CVA43). During the next year and a half, while the the Coral Sea underwent overhaul my wife and I had our second daughter (Kelly 1971). In December 1971 I was back off the coast of North VietNam for my third tour. That tour ended in July 1972. On one of last flights I had a very hard landing on the carrier. I had shooting pains in my low back, the Flight Surgon told me it was just a strain and placed back in flight status. I flew about 20 flights after that incident.
Over my three tours in the VietNam arena I flew over 300 combat missions over North VietNam. I was awarded the following awards: Air Medal with Combat V, Gold Star and numeral 12, Navy Commendation with Combat V, Navy Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Unit Commendation with 5 bronze stars, Navy Meritirious Unit Commendation, Reserve Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (VietNam and Korea), VietNam Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Cross of Galantry Medal VietNam, plus several other VietNam service medals.
After I got back NAS Alameda I got checked out at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, Oakland, CA. The doctors decided that I had severely injured my low back disk L5 and operated on L5, but I still had pain in my low back and right leg. The problem was that L4 was the primary injured disk. In April 1973 my third daughter (Karina) was born. In November 1973 after being selected for the rank of Lieutenant Commander, I was given a Honorable Discharge with a disability rated at 30%.
After I got out I went to work for Ross Perot's company, Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in Columbus, Ohio (Go Buckeyes) as a Systems Engeneer. While in Columbus I completed a Bachleor of Science in Business and Bachlor of Science in Accounting degrees, I grauated cum laude in both, Business Administration and Accounting. After EDS, I moved to Dayton, OH to work for NCR I attended The University of Dayton and earned an MBA. After that I applied to Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco. I was accepted, I got a job with Bank of America as a Major System Program Manager and we moved to Walnut Creek,CA. We then moved to Benicia, CA and I changed jobs to Wells Fargo Bank as the Director of Programming for Payroll projects. While at Wells Fargo I graduated with my Juris Doctorate degree and passed the California State Bar exam. I then went to work for Intergral Systems Inc (ISI) as a Senior Project Manager.
During my time at ISI my wife and I realized that we had drifted apart and we got a dissolution of marriage. I got custody of daughters (one of the first father to get custody), my oldest was attending college at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA, my middle daughter turned 18 and moved to Spokane to be with her older sister.
While at ISI I joined the International Division. I worked for 6 months in Toronto, Canada, then over 2 years in Wellington, New Zealand, then a yea...Expand for more
r in Singapore. My youngest daughter Karina, accompanied me to New Zealand and Singapore.
While working in Singapore I spent a weekend in Puket, Thailand where I met my soul mate, Frances Mink from Toronto, Canada. She was there while exploring Southern Asia with her girlfriend. I invited both of them to stay at my residence in Singapore instead of paying for a hotel as I was going home to Singapore the next morning. They accepted and the next afternoon they arrived in Singapore. Fran and I spent the evening along with Karina out having dinner and going to a jazz concert. After we got home that I opened two bottles of Cuv'ee Dom P'erignon. (it's a wonderful ice breaker). Fran and her friend had to leave for London, England the next day. Fran was planning to take a 3 month leave of absence on one of the Caribbean Islands (Saint Luicia) from her job as the Director of Speach Pathology in a hospital near her home in Burlington, Ont. I talked her into comming back to Singapore instead and she agreed. She "accidently" left a jacket at my place in Singapore. So I returned it to accompied with a bottle of 'Joy' perfume. I then sent a dozen roses each week for the next 4 months. When she returned to Singapore we got engaged within 2 weeks, I proposed to her while riding a tri-shaw, like a rick-shaw but the driver rode a bicycle. Her answer was "What?" but accepted a day later. She stayed with me until May 1991 and we were married in October 1991. An interesting point is that: 1) When I worked in Toronto Fran lived about 3 blocks away. 2) When I was working in New Zealand, Fran was also in New Zealand (engaged to some NZ guy!!!) and 3) When I was commuting to New Zealand, about once a month, I would take a stopover for a few days in Morea, French Polynesia, Fran was also in Morea. All the passing but no meeting until God wanted us to meet in Puket, Thailand.
On our honeymoon I introduced Fran to scuba diving. In November 1994 we were on a diving/sightseeing trip to Egypt. In Egypt at Luxor there was a statue of a scarab (a beatle). It was said if a person goes arround the statue 9 times they will have a baby. We went arround 9 times and about 9 months later we adopted our first child (Lia Jean, born 2/26/95) from China. She was about 8 months old when we got her. Three years later we adopted our second child (Luisa, born December 9, 1997)from China. Then 4 years after that we adopted our third child (Hope, born April 20, 2002) from China. They are now 14, 12, and 7. Fran and I had been scuba diving until we adopted Luisa. We dove in Thiland, Morea, the Red Sea, most of the Hawaiian Islands, La Paz, Cozamel, Cancún (Mexico), Turks and Caicos Islands, Saint Lucia, Martinique, Bora Bora, and other islands in French Polynesia.
After getting tired of data processing I opend my Law Office in Fairfield from 1994 thru 1997 as a sole practioner, and then joined a law firm. During the time at the Law firm I served as a Family Law Judge(pro-tem) for a couple of years. I then went back to being a sole practioner in 2000.
I worked as a sole practioner for several years (2006) when I started to get sever pains down my right leg. I check with the Veterans Administration (VA) and found out that my back problems related back to my service connected injury and was eligible for medical services through the VA. The VA also determined that I had/have been suffering from Post Trama Stress Dissorder (PTSD) for over 30 years. I had surgery to "fix" my back. The surgery failed and made the pain much worse. I was given pain pill to relieve the pain (Oxycodin, Hydrocodine, Morphine and Methadone) which took over my life. As a result of the PTSD, back problems, and drug problems I was rated as 100% disabled and was forced to retire from my Law practice. It took me over a year to get off the pain killers and rejoin the living, thinking world.
With the help of our Lord, I have now learned to live with the pain without help from my little friends (see above).
I am enjoying being retired and spending more time with my daughters and my wife, but I do feel I should be doing something productive at times.
I have been getting involved with Veterans organizations and am currently serving on the official Honor Guard for the Sacramento Valley VA National Cemetery.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!
Photos
