Rick, It is good to hear from you. It has been a long, long time ago since I last talked to you. I hope all is well with you and your family. You did a great job with the BHS web site. Thanks for a job well done. I hope the scanning of the remaining pictures of the 67 yearbook is completed soon. I lost my yearbook several years ago and seeing the pictures of our classmates is just great. I saw a picture of you and your wife on the web site. You haven¿t aged much in 40 years. How do you do it? For me, after graduation I started college at UAH. I soon met my future wife, quit school, got married, and started working at Montgomery Ward until I got drafted into the U.S. Army. I reported to Uncle Sam in April 1970 and spent my whole active duty on Okinawa in support of Vietnam combat operations. I got an ¿early out¿ from the Army to go back to college and received my honorable discharge in 1976. I graduated from Calhoun in 1972 and from Athens College in 1974 with an accounting and business degree. I went to work at the U.S. Army Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal after college, and was later recruited by DOD to be an auditor stationed in Thomasville, Georgia, in the fall of 1974. During my career I have since served as a FEMA classified planner, and as an emergency management response specialist. I have responded in over 75 presidential declared disasters serving in a number of field disaster office positions including Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer. My first disaster deployment was to Miami for the Cuban Freedom Flotilla mass refugee relief effort in 1979, and, of course, other most notable deployments for Hurricane Hugo, Andrew, and 911, Katrina, in support roles, etc. I also worked the tornado disasters in Huntsville in 1989 and in Birmingham in 1998. I am currently an emergency management program manager. I received my master degree at Valdosta State University in 1987. Shelia, my wife of 37 years, is a retired gone back to work 1st grade school teacher. We have two grown children. Mandy is living in Madison, Alabama, and works as a speech therapist at HealthSouth in Huntsville. Blake is working in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is studying for the CPA exam. We have no grand children at this time. I could have retired two years ago but probably won¿t for another two years. I enjoyed testifying this year before congressional committees regarding the Katrina response. Even though the disaster presented some real challenges and yes there were certainly some response failures at all three levels of government, overall, FEMA received a bum rap for its part. Enhancements in response capabilities have been made since. My last BHS reunion was the 20th. So I am really looking forward to our 40th. I have gained a little weight over time, grown a bit taller, and lost a lot of hair. When I graduated at BHS I was around 120 pounds with a full head of hair. I am pushing 215 now and just over 6¿ 2¿ in height. Do you still play golf? Are you as good as Arnold Palmer yet? I remember when! Well, I got to go. Take care.
