Ray Smith:  

Ft. Lewis, WA, went to Infantry School and learned how to operate a 4.2mm mortar and be a "tunnel rat" in Viet Nam. I developed plantar's warts; the orders for Nam were cancelled. I stayed at the Infantry School and worked in the Mess Hall until a Personnel Specialist Course became available for me to attend. As that school was finishing the last 2 weeks, the Pueblo was captured off the coast of Korea. Orders for Nam were cancelled again and I was sent to South Korea. The Army now had too many Personnel Specialists, so all of us were sitting in the Replacement Detachments trying to figure out what they were going to do with us. In reviewing my records, it was discovered that I was a music major. The 7th Infantry Division Commanding General apparently had this male chorus that was his "pride and joy". They entertained the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines who were stationed all over Korea, along with Korean churches, universities, and convention centers, etc. all over Korea. I was selected for the 7th Infantry Division Bayonet Chorus and spent the next 11 months entertaining in Korea. It was a blast, except for the fact that I now had a wife and daughter back in Fresno and couldn't afford to see them. The minute my time in Korea was over, I got out of the Army and came back to Fresno to be with my new family. I went back to work at White Front in March 1969 until January of 1970. I met a husband and wife while I was there who became friends with my wife and me. He had cerebral palsey and polio and had their own private home therapy equipment sales business. I went to work for them full time selling the equipment and servicing the customers to whom I sold the equipment. I began to see the differences between the customers who were using the equipment and those who weren't as I made my follow-up visits. Those who weren't using the equipment faithfully and regularly, I would re-educate them on what they needed to do. Those who were using it and seeing results usually had other people for me to go see who had tried their equipment and wanted to purchase it, too. With being on the road all the time like I was, marital problems started happening. These problems eventually led me back into the Army in March 1974, and I made a career of it until I retired on 1 Aug 92 in Germany. We were living in Frankfurt, Germany at that time. I decided to seek Government Service employment in the area and found a job in Frankfurt. It was about 150 yards from where I worked on active duty. The person that hired me told me something that has stayed with me ever since. He said that he would give me a job to get me started, but that he didn't think I would be there longer than 6-9 months. I asked him why he felt that way and he said it was a job that people took just to get their foot in the door; then they would get a more "promising job" with career development potential and promotion possibilities. When he said that, I decided I would become an expert in that field so that I could get a job wherever we went. This worked just great for over twelve years, but when my wife and I returned to the U.S. in Nov 04, the people doing this line of work are now contracted by the Armed Forces through civilian corporations. I thought about going to work for one of those contracting agencies, but with ony 8 years left to retire from Government Service, it is not the best option. However, I will keep that option open. I'm going to close this portion now and pick up in my "life" section. See you there! Ray