I Believe – My Values

At the age of 18 all males were required to register for the draft.  Their was a “selective service officer” in each county who kept track of all of the young males who were eligible for the draft. This was before the lottery so your name was just on a list and when you worked up to #1 then you were the next one to go.  Our selective service officer was a lady by the name of the Marguerite Wallace. She was a shirttail cousin of my dad but that didn’t seem to make any difference. Marguerite’s claim to fame was her son (Eddie) was a starting guard for the Kansas State Wildcats on the 1955 to 1957 basketball teams. We lived on the farm north of Wells at the time and I remember dad getting to go to one of the games. I’m sure that was a huge thrill for him because he just didn’t get opportunities to do things like that. Ray & Fred and I sat around the radio in the kitchen and listened to the game.  When I was in grade school we had and “athletic banquet” and Eddie Wallace was our speaker.  I still have his autograph.

I became number one on the list in the spring of 1968.  It was my 4th year of college so my “college deferment” was expiring.  It was pretty difficult to spend your night studying knowing that as soon as school was out you were headed for the army.  I had already taken my army physical and passed.  Right before school was out we all went to a new club to see a band.  After the bar we went to an after party.  A friend of mine fell down.  As I leaned down to help him up a guy by the name of Bernie Blevins mistook the situation as a fight.  Bernie was an ex football player at FHSU and obviously I was no match.  He threw me out the door and then followed out and proceeded to beat me up.  He broke my jar in three places.

Because of this of course I couldn’t go to the army so my draft was postponed for one year.  I was also scheduled to be best man in Mert & Connie’s wedding on June 8.  I Had my mouth wired shut so Mom and dad took me out so that I could still be in the wedding but we had to leave right after the dinner and first dance.

Since I avoided the draft in 1968 I was able to go back to school.  I graduated from FHSU in May and was drafted into the army June 11, 1969.

I was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division which was headquartered at Pleiku. Pleiku was on the Western side of Vietnam at one end of Number 4 highway near the Central Highlands, sort of a low mountain range. We flew from Cam Ram Bay on a C130 and then were bused out to the base. I remember an enlisted man who was riding the bus with us. We were packed on the bus like sardines and this GI could tell that we were all scared to death. He told us not to worry, if we started taking fire to just hit the floor. That was not very confronting since we could barely move. After we had been “in country” for a while we realized that there was very little risk of any kind of attack in that particular area in broad daylight and that he had just been playing with us.

We spent a couple of days just hanging out waiting for our assignments. I was assigned to Company C, Mechanized Infantry. My squad was headquartered on a Armored Personnel Carrier (PC). Each PC was equipped with a 50 caliber machine gun. We were squad 23. Our squad leader was Sargent William Taylor. And our PC driver was James Walker. They were the only two left in squad 23. They had been in an area near a village called Plei moran (sp) and more than half our company had been wounded or killed in battles. We sat by our PC for a couple of hours listening to “war stories” from Sargent Taylor and James and they told us how lucky we were that we weren’t a part of that. After a couple of hours we got orders to go back to that area. You talk about scared! We set up camp right outside of the village of Plei Moran. During the day we would do recon patrols through the jungle and then at night all of the PC’s would be parked in a circle facing out. Each squad would have one person on guard duty all the time. There was probably 16-18 PC’s in our company and 2 or 3 tanks.

The third night we were there, the Montagnard men came over to our camp with rice wine. I didn’t drink any because I was new in country and had been warned not to accept anything from the Vietnamese. When it started getting dark the village men left our camp and went back to their village. We had guard duty throughout the night and would take turns sitting behind the 50 caliber machine gun. My duty began at 4 AM. Of course we slept in our clothes but I had taken my boots off. When it was time for me to go on guard duty I just slipped my boots on and didn’t bother to lace them up. I can’t recall how long I was on duty when I saw an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) bouncing between the dark and my position.   Then all hell broke loose! I had been “in country” less than a week and I was involved in a full-fledged fire fight.  I began to fire my 50 caliber machine gun into the dark perimeter.  My decision to not lace up my boots came back to haunt me.  As I fire my machine gun the hot casings were kicking out the side of the gun.  A couple of the casings landed inside of my boot resulting in severe burns to my ankles. I never failed to lace my boots again after that night. A couple of days later my squad leader told me that I had been credited with three kills because there were three dead NVA (North Vietnamese Army) found in front of my position. He said he was going to put me in for a medal but I never heard anymore about it. Also the medic told me I was eligible for a Purple Heart because of the burns on my feet but I declined. Many times over the years I have seen my RPG bouncing on the ground in front of my position.  Thank God it was a dud! One of  the guards on the other side of perimiter was not as fortunate.  He took a direct hit killing him instantly. Our driver complemented me after the fire fight for holding my position. Some of the other new guys bailed out of their guard positions when the shooting started forcing a lot of the veterans to take over their position. And important lesson was learned by me  that morning.  I realized that the friendly villagers who were offering us wine and who we were there to protect where trying to get us drunk so he will sleep through our guard duty.  After performing a search and destroy mission through the the village the next morning we were pulled back to Pleiku and I was glad to go.

The information contained here was most likely repeated elsewhere in my history. This is intended to be a quick reference chapter.

EDUCATION (Formal and Informal) SUMMARY

Oakwood Elementary 1975 -1981

Jefferson Middle School 1981-1984

Preston High School 1984 – 1988

Brigham Young University 1988 – 1989 and 1989-1990

Forklift Driver Certification Course

Commercial Driver’s License Multilevel Test (knowledge and skill)

Toastmasters 2016 – Past 50 years of age (Toastmasters is an education club that focuses on public speaking and leadership skills.)

John Maxwell Certification 2018

International Fitness Professionals Association – Certified Strength Band Training Specialist 2019

U.H.K. (University of Hard Knocks…aka life) 1969 to Death…

Formal schooling is but a small portion of what life has to teach. Regardless if a person has chosen a path with a great deal of formal education, or a path of learning by experience, the following truth is constant: True education is achieved when a person takes responsibility for their own learning, and feeds learning by curiosity, study, and application.

WORK EXPERIENCE. What have I been paid to do from age 11 to 50?

Agriculture: Reed McEntire Farm – Farm Laborer. Duties: feed calves, clean barn, move pipe, mow yard, pull weeds, etc.

Custodial: Franklin County School District – Student Custodian. Duties: vacuumed, swept, dusted high school rooms after school

Agriculture: Parker Brothers – General Laborer. Duties: vacuumed, swept, dusted, mopped, cleaned tractors, refurbished and painted farm equipment for resale, parts running, delivered equipment

Agriculture: Navajo Sheep Ranch in Mink Creek, Idaho – Farm Laborer. Duties: moved pipe, built post fences, fixed wire fences, sprayed weeds, cleaned shop, bucked hay (meaning helped load it onto wagons from the field and stack it in the hay shed)

Nonprofit Retail and Employment Assistance for Disabled. Deseret Industries in three locations in Utah and Idaho – Truck Driver, Forklift Driver, Job Coach, Receiving Area Supervisor, Production Supervisor, Branch Assistant Manager. Duties: drove truck, drove forklift, supervised receiving area for donations, remodeled several receiving locations for improved efficiency, was job coach to help those with disabilities improve employability skills, also assisted in supervising

Construction Retail: Anderson Lumber/Stock Building Supply – Driver, Load Builder, Receiving Clerk, Inventory Control Specialist, Operations Manager. Duties: drive truck, build loads, check in products, verify inventory accuracy, oversee scheduling and efficient function of facility and customer service in all aspects except contractor sales team

Energy Retail: Suburban Propane – Driver. I delivered propane to homes and businesses. 

Construction: R&R Landscaping – Office Manager Duties: prepare and submit bids on projects, drive truck with plants and equipment to projects, manage accounts receivables, assist with on-site labor as needed

Construction: Grand Interiors – Office Manager, Appliance Sales and Installation. Duties: manage office calls, bids, accounts payable and receivable, order appliances, deliver and install appliances, assist in cabinet installation

Hospitality Support: HyKo – Delivery Driver, Store Clerk. Duties: deliver orders of cleaning and paper products primarily to restaurants and hotels, stock and tend to the sales floor, customer service and cashiering

Beverage Supply: Coca Cola – Warehouse Manager. Duties: order, receive, build orders for delivery, inventory control, safety, organization and cleanliness of facility, scheduling team

Oil Industry Support: Bar Over Hat – Dispatcher and Logistics Designer. Duties: dispatch trucks to service water needs of several oil exploration and extraction companies, design dispatch system

Administrative Support: White Ops Consulting/VIP Support Services (my own company) – Administrative, Personal Assistant. Duties: Help my clients with their administrative needs, keep them from needing to sit too much in front of the computer, help with state and federal compliance for commercial trucks, help with communication between financial institutions and debtors….whatever needs to be done that is helpful and within my knowledge and ability to accomplish.

 

LIVING LOCATIONS SUMMARY

Birth to age 18 – 1969 to 1988

687 North 8th West, Preston, Idaho 83263

Age 18 to 19 – 1988 to 1989

Provo, Utah. Brigham Young University, on campus Hinckley Dorm

Pleasant Grove, Utah. Lived with my Aunt DeVonna Hansen before serving a full-time religious mission

Age 19 to 21 – 1989 to 1991

South Africa: Pretoria, Witbank (two separate times), Roodeport (9 months), Welkom

Age 21 to 26 – 1991 to 1996

Provo and Orem, Utah

Orem, Utah. Lived with Aunt DeVonna Hansen in Orem until I married Marya Durtschi

Provo, Utah. Lived in a single-wide, two bedroom trailer close to work for about 18 months

Orem, Utah. Lived in a single-wide trailer that an extra room and garage had been built onto. Only lived there for six months. Probably would not have bought it had we known a work transfer was in the near future.

 

 

Age 26 to 29 – 1996 to 1999

Idaho Falls, Idaho. Lived in an apartment for a few months until our home in Rigby was built and ready to occupy

Rigby, Idaho. Lived in a three-bedroom, two bathroom home on an acre of farm ground

4257 East 100 North, Rigby, Idaho 83442

Age 29 to 50+ – 1999 to ?

Driggs, Idaho. Lived in the home Marya was raised in. The total square footage is near 5000. The original structure was built in 1947. A three story cinderblock house with two bathrooms and four bedrooms, and some smaller rooms that changed purposes. The basement is unfinished.

A log addition was built on in the late 1980s  which had a basement wood shop, one extra bathroom, and two large main level and upstairs rooms.

We didn’t move, but our address changed due to county alterations

8 South 275 East  to 2195 South Stateline Road, Driggs, Idaho 83422

ljnlklknln

I realized as I was creating this personal history that I talked quite a bit about work related subjects, and not a lot about family. Why? Well, I think it is because work filled a lot of my time and energy, but also because those work experiences were unique to me. Not even my family knew what I did on a day to day basis.

But, I feel we had a good balance in much of our family activities. We work together, we play together, we learn together, we take vacations together. One tradition we have kept that is easy to overlook in its significance, is that we almost always ate one meal together around the kitchen table each day. Sometimes we talked about nothing in particular. At other times we had some involved conversations. The point being, we valued the time communicating with each other face to face, and meal time gave us that opportunity.

I thought I would just share with you a little about each family member and where they are and what they are doing in 2020.

Marya. She loves to bird watch. This love of birds gave rise to another hobby. She purchased a quality camera to take pictures with, and started taking pictures of tree branches, with birds photobombing most pictures; landscapes, and our children’s events. She was the unofficial photographer for Teton’s cross country and soccer teams for eight years, as well as many drama productions. This secondary hobby has given her opportunity to create books, calendars and slideshows to share places, memories, and events with others. She has even won awards and recognition in various publications for her photos. I tell people, “I am not much of a bird watcher, but I can be a good bird watcher-watcher.” She is currently serving as the Ward Music Coordinator and Funeral Director for her church calling, as well as playing the organ once a month in Sacrament Meeting, and enjoys the increasingly popular sport of pickleball.

 

Taylor. Taylor is very creative. He is good with his hands. When he sets his mind to creating something or doing a particular task, he does it with lots of energy and focus. As of this writing he lives at home and in many respects is trying to make up his mind which direction he will go in life.

Caleb. Caleb graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington with a degree in Studio Arts. He is also living at home. Caleb loves running. He had such a positive experience with running in middle school, high school and college that he has now accepted the position as our high school’s head cross country coach, a position he shares with another Teton High alumni, Mindy Kaufman, who is also a second cousin, or first cousin once removed, something like that. He also works for the school district, right now as a physical education teacher and paraprofessional at the Tetonia Elementary School.

Sapphire. She studied at Brigham Young University – Idaho in  Childhood Development. As of this writing, she is still completing one “wrap-up” class and then will do her internship to receive the degree, but for all intents and purposes, she is done. She is very talented in working with children, and was before she even began her college studies. She has moved to Preston, Idaho and is living with my father to help him, and working in the Logan, Utah area as a nanny. Sapphire moved in with my parents one week before my mother passed away.

Crystal is in her third year at Grinnell College in Iowa. She is studying Biology with the intent of working for places like the National Park Service, National Forest, Fish and Game Management, or some place similar. She has already worked for the National Park Service for three summers. She loves playing soccer and was able to walk-on to the intercollegiate women’s soccer team at college.

Jade. Jade is now in her first year at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. She is taking general credits at the moment, but she is leaning toward a career in creative writing or editing…something along those lines. She operates most of the time using the creative side of her mind with art and writing being her skilled and creative talents.

Crystal (Big Crystal) Hansen. She and her husband live in Teton Valley. She manages the local US Bank branch and loves spending time with her husband Scott and son Cooper, and are expecting their second son in the spring.

My work is going very well. I help take care of the state and federal compliance work for some guys that own trucks in the oil fields of North Dakota, and make sure the pay for the drivers is right. I spend a lot of time working on the computer, texting, emails, and phone calls. My clients are happy if I can keep them from having to sit in front of a computer because they are “hands on” type of men that like to build houses, fix things with an engine, etc. I changed my business name this year from White Ops Consulting to VIP Support Services.

I attend Toastmasters meetings regularly. Toastmasters has helped me to overcome my fear of public speaking. I have even been paid to speak for business and professional organizations. I have won a few speech contests. This organization helped me stop worrying about what was going on in my head…the nervousness, the anxiety….and focus on the message, and eliminate things I might be doing that distract from, rather than compliment a message.

Chris Harris is my best bud. We do things on a regular basis. We worked together at the construction supply store, and now we try to have a meal together regularly, and attend a few events. If I could choose one word that described Chris best it would be congenial.

Marya and I went out of the country for the first time together this last summer, in 2019. After taking Jade to college to start her freshman year we went over to the Vancouver area in British Columbia, Canada. We went to a botanical garden, a bird conservatory, and the Vancouver Temple. We then went to visit a friend, Cherié Scarpino, who lives about midway north in the BC province. We were able to help her insulate the skirting around her home, and we visited an old gold mining town called Barkerville with her and her daughter, Hannah.

How do I feel at fifty? Very good. My health is good. I enjoy my work. We have a loving family. We live in a beautiful area. I enjoy serving in the church. I am striving to live a life that positively contributes to those around me. My personal and business motto comes from a quote by Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”