Pick your mate carefully. You will have to live with them a long time.
From a young age, Richard was drawn to service. At 15, he and his friends lied about their age to join the Marine Corps Reserve. They thought it would be fun to spend a summer at Camp Pendleton. When the Korean War broke out and he was called up, he had to bring in his birth certificate and explain himself. He was honorably discharged. In his 20’s joined the service again, this time with the Air Force. During the beginning of the Vietnam War he served as a propeller mechanic in Saigon, Bangkok, Australia and the Philippines. At the end of his tour he came home and applied for a job as a firefighter with the LA Fire Department, where he served for almost 30 years. For much of that time he was a Fire Inspector, working behind the scenes of many Hollywood movies and television shows you’ve probably seen. Richard is tenacious. His motto is: hang in there. He’ll spend hours on his computer trying to solve problems for himself before asking for help. When he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, that outlook served him well. He thinks life’s bumps can turn out to be good things. He started with nothing and now says he can do or buy anything he wants — although there’s nothing he wants. He says as long as he has security and his wife by his side, he has enough.
