My folks decided to retire from the farm in the spring of 1955. After graduation in May, we moved to Goshen, Indiana. Dad worked as a carpenter and with an office supply business. Mom worked as a practical nurse at the Goshen General Hospital. They retired to Sarasota, Florida, in 1970 to avoid the cold winters of the Midwest. Dad's health began to fail in 1985. My oldest two brothers (Carl & Ray) both live in Dallas and we decided it would be best to move the folks there also. Mom died of a stroke in July 1991 and Dad is 92 and is in a nursing home. Each summer we take a trip to Dallas to check in on the family. My youngest brother, Kay lives in Kidron, Ohio.

In the fall of 1955, I entered Goshen College and stayed there for three years. Their accounting program was very weak at the time, so I spent my last year of undergraduate college at Indiana University (IU) which has a very good business school and accounting program. After graduating from IU in 1959, the draft was after me. I did not want to go into the Army, so I joined the United States Air Force as a Second Lieutenant in 1960. I had planned to serve only two years in the Air Force, but plans do change and 26 years later I retired as a colonel.

After receiving my initial training at two air force bases in Texas (Lackland and Amarillo) my next assignment was to Shaw AFB, S.C. in August 1960. While there I saw this interesting person walking across a parking lot and thought I should meet her. To make a long story short, we got married in December 1961.

In July 1962, Frankie and I headed for Yokota Air Base, Japan, for a very enjoyable three years in Japan. During this time we had our first addition to the family. Eric Charles Troyer was born on January 17, 1963. Since Eric was born in Japan, he automatically became a Japanese citizen. We had him naturalized right away and he had dual citizenship. At the age of 21 Eric had to declare which country he desired and he chose the USA. Eric, now 31 is a doctor in the USAF (Major), stationed at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, and with Vickie are the parents of our two grandchildren (Lindley and Charles).

In April 1965, we were on the move again and I became a graduate student at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. We just got back from Japan and it was time for son number two to be born on June 30, 1965. Brian James Troyer obtained a degree in management and engineering and is now a maintenance engineer with the Allied Signal Corporation. He and Paula hve been married for four years with no children yet. They live on the outskirts of Columbia, S.C., so we see them quite often.

By September 1966 I had completed my MBA requirements and we moved on to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. I spent 15 months on the Inspector General Team and spent quite a bit of time away from home (TDY).

Our next two years (December 1967-1969) were spent in merry old England. We were selected for the USAF-Royal Air Force Exchange Officer Program and were the only Americans on station. Royal Air Force Stafford introduced us to the British way of life and we are still in contact with some of our British friends.

I next had what we call a consecutive overseas tour. Off to Vietnam from England. The family stayed in the States and I continued to Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon. From January 1970-1971, my job was that of being an advisor to the Vietnamese Air Force in Saigon and Bien Hoa. Quite a year.

Back to the States again and to Shaw AFB, S.C. for a second tour. This tour lasted from January 1971 to April 1974. In May of 1974 I headed for England AFB, Louisiana, where I spent over four years with the Cajuns. They serve excellent Cajun food in that part of the country.

In August 1978 the Pentagon was calling. For the first year I worked with the Office of the Secretary of Defense in a special job working with the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defense Logistics Agency. Then I moved back to Headquarters, Air Force where I worked in the security assistance programs for Africa and the Mid-East from August 1979-July 1981. This job included some very interesting travel, i.e., Morocco, Kenya, Somalia, and Jordon. Also, I would go over the Potomac and visit Noel at National Geographic or go to his log cabin in Middleburg, Virginia.

In August 1981 it was back to Europe and three years with the Headquarters, United States Air Forces in Europe at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany. Being in a Headquarters, I again traveled all over Europe from England to Saudi Arabia. This is volksmarching country and I walked in over 50 while there. The German skiing and beer, wine, and wursts are enjoyable also.

All good things must come to an end and my last tour was back to the States in September 1984. I became the Commander, Defense Depot, Memphis, Tennessee, and retired in March 1986.

Retirement meant coming back to South Carolina. We bought a house near Frankie's parents home in 1976 and this is now our permanent home. After 26 years in the Air Force, I decided to take it easy for a while and did not look for a second career for about six-eight months. After a couple months of looking around I finally decided to work with the South Carolina Deparatment of Mental Retardation in a financial and budgeting position in April 1987. I paid my dues and got adjusted to the civilian world again (a difficult transition after 26 years of military life).

In October of 1990 I accepted the position as Executive Director of the Sumter County Mental Retardation Board which was renamed the Disabilities and Special Needs Board in July 1993 (we added autism and head and spinal cord injuries to the individuals we serve). We serve about 150 children and adults with disabilities on a daily basis. I have a staff of 110 and work with a $2.9 million budget as a private, non-profit eleemosyary organization. We provide a wide range of services form social work to 365 days a year residential services. At times I feel like I am working harder than I did in the Air Force, but the rewards ar much different.

Frankie retired as a civilian from the Air Force last year and spends her time doing whatever she wants, i.e., shopping and or lunch with her mother, cooking, gardening, spending time at our little lake house on Lake Marion, visiting or entertaining grandchildren, or nothing.

I enjoy my work and the organizations associated with work and the community. My golf handicap (17) is too high, but I will bring it down and enjoy playing at Shaw AFB with seven other retired guys. We had quite an experience with Hurricane Hugo (three trees in our house) in September 1989. During all the repair work, I had a nice sized shop built and I can change oil in my car or do all kinds of wood-working or just plain tinker around.

Many times I think about the influence that the Kinross way of life (school and teachers, church, rural living) and values present at that time, has had on me. At the time, there were many aspects of this way of life I did not like, but now I consider myself lucky to have been there.

After 39 years I am looking forward to seeing all of you and renewing old friendships.

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