Friends . . .

Do you ever think about your friends. I do. There are several sets or kinds of friends, those you grew up with, those you went to school with, those you served in the military with and those currently next door. That's how I segregate them.

Recently we attended my 50th high school graduation reunion. It was fun and great to see all those people again. To be reminded of things I had forgotten and those that I had not forgotten. We had such a small class we aggregated those before us and after us into the mix. We were the predominant bunch, Class of 1958, but the others were there too.

The next bunch of friends were college friends. In my case mostly fraternity brothers of Sigma Pi Fraternity. It is now extinct at LSU, recharter a couple of times but just never stuck. Not enough support from the alumni I guess. I still have the year books, "The Gumbo. I do not go back and look but I am tempted to do so. We have spread all over the world though most of us remained in Louisiana - I did not.

And lastly, military friends. There were those I went through Officer Training School (OTS) with and one sticks out the most, Bob Cooke. We continue to correspond. He retired as a Major - had a serious run in with a Major General who was later cashier. But other than sweet revenge, it did Bob little good. I finished OTS along with Bob as an "OT 2nd Lt" scheduled to serve and be set aside. Little did I know that I would thrive on the military and my career field, Aircraft Maintenance. I think out of all of us in that squad only I made it to full Colonel, and then with a lot of help from a Lt Gen who sponsored me along in the latter stages of my career. I like to say I went into the USAF for four years and came out 26 years later.

And even in the military there are friends met and greeted here and there. There is the Air Force Inspection and Safety Center group of friends. I served there twice, as a Major and later as a Full Colonel. There is still a select group of former AFISC military folks residing in and around Redlands, CA.

Another bunch of them from the Spangdahlem era where I was the Deputy Commander for Maintenance - I had reached to the pinnacle of my career field, a full bull in charge of 76 F-4 aircraft and the 1,800 some odd troops necessary to take care of them. I lasted a couple of years and got cross wise with my Wing Commander. It was good while it lasted. But even today there are Lts and enlisted men and women who approach me in the Base Exchange to banter a bit about serving together. Makes me proud.

And there are those friends from post military times while working in the Aerospace Industry. Worked for Rockwell, Lockheed, Texas Instruments, Raytheon and Lockheed-Martin. They all helped me aggregate a nice retirement pot for our retirement days. And in spite of Mr. Obama, I still have most of it in tact though he works mightily to destroy our economy.

Anyway, our friends are always welcome to drop in at 1106 Willow Wood Drive, Weatherford, Texas. Come by, spend the night and enjoy a meal out somewhere.