RAMBLIN' MAN

About the Book

A Ramblin’ Man describes the life of one man growing up in the depression years in West Texas. The experiences of school in one building and even a one room school house are indicative of that time. The need to work as a very young boy to aid in supporting the family leaves a mark on a man. The importance of football to West Texas people is something special and the author played on an exceptional team. The author was fortunate in meeting the love of his life while in high school during their senior years. In 1942 he was a senior at Rochester High and five miles down the road, Velma Grace Cornett was a senior at O’Brien high school. They married in O’Brien, Texas after the war in 1946. Horses became an important part of his life and he learned to ride and work with cattle at the early age of ten years. His first ranch job away from home was at the age of fourteen. The cowboy life was always a dream and later he realized that dream when working on the vast ranges of New Mexico with a chuckwagon. Sleeping in a bedroll on the ground, roping horses from a rope corral and working cattle on the open range builds character. The urge to rope something culminated in the roping of a ten point buck deer. The story is true. The author overcome several adversities that could have ended his life. There were shells flying around him in several actions in the South Pacific during his Navy days, but he was not hit. He was badly burned in a gasoline explosion, but lived an active life afterward. A car fell upon him, and almost snuffed out his life, but he survived, even without a doctor. The author believes that God had saved him for greater things. Maybe writing this book is one of them. After the cowboy days of his younger life, the author furthered his education and began working for the United States Air Force engineering department. His job became important enough to require frequent trips to headquarters and other bases, give him and his partner, Snooks, the opportunity to travel through out the United States. She accompanied him often. Employment with the Department of Defense opened an opportunity to move to Alaska and continue the same work. The building and maintenance of facilities to support the various armed forces was a satisfying job. His interest in square dancing and talent as a caller opened the door to many new friends for him and his partner as they went from place to place. The largest group he called for was at the national square dance convention in Oklahoma City in 1978. Their interest in square dancing allowed them to satisfy the rambling urge as they travel to different caller’s meetings through out the United States. The government position and the square dancing activity allowed the author and his partner to explore the early seat of the United States in old Williamsburg, Virginia, Washington D. C., and other historic places. The opportunity came to take a position with the United States Coast Guard and live on Kodiak, Island in the gulf of Alaska. The fishing and island living was an unforgettable experience and he tells it. The author learned to fly and they traveled in a light Cessna airplane to the Alaskan bush country on fishing trips. They flew across the ocean from Kodiak to the mainland several times. They have seen whales, walrus and other sea creatures up close in their native habitat. The author, with his wife and copilot, has traveled the long road called the Alcan Highway from the United States, through Canada, to Alaska more than twenty times. From the first trip when it was mostly crooked, muddy, unpaved and mountainous, to the modern highway it is today; they have seen the highway improved, and the many towns along the way become familiar large cities. They bought an airplane in New Mexico and flew it back to Fairbanks, Alaska in 1976. Flying across the vast land of western United States and Canada in a small airplane is a fantastic experience, but routine for a coup

About the Author

The author grew up in the depression and dust bowl days in West Texas before World War Two. Then served in the U. S. Navy in the amphibious forces from the Philippines to Iwo Jima. Later, He rode the vast ranges as a cowboy, riding broncs, and working from a chuck wagon. He even roped a deer. Later experiences span the west as he worked as an engineer in Alaska and flew his light airplane across western North America. He and his longtime love and wife of many years have seen many things and it's all true.