I was raised in Oshkosh, Wis and attended the University there with a degree in Anthropology. I was drafted into the Army in 1969 and spent one year in Vietnam with the 1^st Cavalry Division as a Personnel Specialist in the Division Artillery Headquarters. I was then reassigned to a Nike Hercules missile site near Venice, Italy, where I served for 7.5 years.  I married my Italian wife, Patrizia, there. I returned to the USA in 1978 with my family and worked for several years in the insurance industry in Sevens Point, Wis, while at the same time serving in the Army Reserve as a Sergeant. In 1987, my family moved to Fitchburg where I worked full time with the Army Reserve as both a full-time federal civilian technician and also as an Army Reservist. In December 2005, I was mobilized and sent to Iraq to serve with the Army Field Service Battalion, whose mission was to up-armor and provide other maintenance services for military vehicles. Upon return to the USA in January 2006, I retired from both my federal civilian job and the Army reserve as a Master sergeant. Two months later, I took a job with Berbee Information Networks in Fitchburg, working as a Contract Specialist in the legal department. Berbee was subsequently purchased by CDW, and I worked there until I took my final retirement in 2016. We belong to Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic parish in Madison and have three adult children and three grandchildren.

I am interested in the archaeology and glacial geology of the area.  Judging from all the large rounded rocks I found while digging post holes for my deck, I suspect that our house is on some sort of moraine.