Dave was born in 1947 in Muskegon Michigan. He came from a family of eight children, five girls and three boys. Vietnam was all over the television and news papers and its gloomy presence loomed in the horizon like an oncoming storm. It wasn't long and the storm was over him, sweeping him up into whirlwind of emotional and physical suffering. Little did he know it would forever change the rest of his life.Dave was drafted into the Army and did his basic training at Fort Knox Kentucky in June of 1966. Six weeks later he was sent too Fort McClellan Alabama for AIT training. In the fall of 1966 Dave came home on a thirty day leave before leaving for Vietnam.Once Dave arrived in Vietnam he became part of "Charlie Company" 3rd
Battalion, 22nd Infantry Division. Out of the many battles he was in, the Tet Offensive of 1968, at Fire Support Base Burt, is one he will never forget. He lost many fellow soldiers in that horrific battle. In a quote from the book "Absolution" written by Charles J. Boyle.."The battle so impressed one young soldier that he later produced PLATOON, one of the firsts in a series of movies about the war." It was in the "Battle of Burt that Dave received a Purple Heart for wounds received in action. Dave came home from Vietnam in 1969. We were married two weeks later and have been happily married ever since. Five years after returning from Vietnam we moved to St. Louis. For the last 26 years, Dave has been employed by McDonnell Douglass, which is now Boeing Aircraft, as an Engineer. He has been proud to be a part of the building some great Military Aircraft that is so vital to our national defense. Some of the great fighter aircraft he's been involved in are F-4, F-15, F18 Hornet. One of his favorites is the "Harrier" that flies like normal jet fighters.. but then.. blows your mind when it hovers like a helicopter. He enjoys having a job that enables him to still offer help in defending our country.