William Riddle

Nikki, Tyler, Allie, Andie, Brandon, Kira, Kyle, Levi, Zach

Ray and Don that graduated from Crawford; Phil (Helix), Larry (Box Elder high in Utah) and cousin Mary Ellen Tracy who grew up with us as a sister (St Joseph high in Utah).

Hanging basketball coach Jackson in effigy.

USA

No

No

Rolando Park

Lorca

Tom Grader, Jim Dubbs, Ted Suggs, Diane Dehaven

Yes, send me an email when something comes up

My mom and older brother Phil (Helix grad) were living at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. (Dad was on a temporary deployment. Phil was 3 at the time.) Mom had Phil laying on his bed dressing him when she discovered that she only had one sock. She turned to the drawer and got the missing sock. She then turned back to the bed and found that in that short interval a .50 caliber machine gun bullet had come through the roof and ceiling, hitting Phil in the left shin, bounced off and struck his right little toe.

The miracle is that she was 8 months pregnant with me at the time. If she had both socks (and she ALWAYS rolled them up in pairs) the bullet would have gone through her back, and probably me.

Absolutely true, I have posted the letter that mom wrote grandma telling her about it.

I graduated from Mesa Jr Hi, freshman year at Helix. Then went to Chicago for sophomore and junior years (Amundsen High). Then back to San Diego, and all the friends I had gone to elementry and junior high with, to graduate from Crawford in its first graduation.

My dad, having retired from the Navy, got a job in Utah and I went to Weber College in Ogden. I graduated in 1961 in the last JC class to graduate before the school converted to four years. It is now Weber State University. While on active duty I took college classes all over (including macro economics in Vietnam), finally got my BA from Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.

I had joined the Marine Reserve while at Weber, but enlisted in the Navy after graduation. I was enlisted in the Navy for six years, rising to petty officer first class. With three years to go on my enlistment, I was discharged to accept an appointment as a warrant officer in the Army. In the two and 1/2 years that I was a warrant officer, I worked my MOS for a total of three months. The rest of the time I was doing commissioned officer duties. So I applied for a direct appointment as a first lieutenant. That came through in 1969 and I was commissioned in the Infantry. In 1971 I was transferred to the Signal Corps, in which my warrant duties had been performed.

The only thing I ever did in the Infantry was go to school, first for Infantry Officer Basic, then to Army Flight School.

I served for 20 years, retiring as a major in 1981. I then worked in industry for six years as a computer programmer/analyst. Then for 11 years as a defense contractor, and since 2001 as a civil servant for the Marine Corps.

Although 72 now, I have no plans to retire. I love my job, so I guess it is not a job. And being around young Marines all day sure seems to be keeping me young. You have no doubt driven right by where I work: The radar domes on Camp Pendleton between I-5 and the beach.