When Memories Die

I was born in California to a father who was a career Navy submariner and a mother who was a published writer. Raised in western Massachusetts through my public education years, I was appointed to West Point by my Congressman in 1969. Coming from a family of nine children, I jumped at the chance to attend such a prestigious institution, earn a full scholarship and have the opportunity to play football at the Division 1 level. Though my primary reason for attending was to follow in my father’s footsteps by choosing a military path during the Vietnam War in an attempt to make him proud, I was in fact living out his dream, not mine as I later came to realize.

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I was born in California to a father who was a career Navy submariner and a mother who was a published writer. Raised in western Massachusetts through my public education years, I was appointed to West Point by my Congressman in 1969. Coming from a family of nine children, I jumped at the chance to attend such a prestigious institution, earn a full scholarship and have the opportunity to play football at the Division 1 level. Though my primary reason for attending was to follow in my father’s footsteps by choosing a military path during the Vietnam War in an attempt to make him proud, I was in fact living out his dream, not mine as I later came to realize.

Because I refused to give up my sense of individuality in a totalitarian system that systematically transforms high school jocks and whiz kids into mindless robots, I inevitably clashed with the system. By the end of my third year at the US Military Academy, I was deemed a rabblerousing troublemaker for my outspoken views toward an inhumane, unjust system and through command conspiracy was “railroaded” out of the academy on a series of false charges, exceeding the allowable limit by five demerits for a six month term. Dismissed from West Point, I promptly charged the academy with failure to allow due process and won my case in New York federal district court. The judge released his decision to UPI and I enjoyed my first 15 minutes of Warholian fame as the first and only cadet since West Point’s 1802 inception to ever be kicked out and then brought back by legally beating the West Point system. Newspaper, radio and television media including Time Magazine covered my story that ran a couple weeks throughout the world back in early August 1972. I am proud of my accomplishment in single-handedly bringing justice by way of the Constitutional right of due process into the previously impenetrable massive granite grey stone walls of West Point. My case forced the institution to change its rules and no cadets since have been separated from the academy without the right to present testimony and witnesses on their behalf. The lawyer representing me benefited immediately from my high profile case when invited to join as full partner famed attorney William Kunstler’s law firm. To this day my case is considered significant enough to be taught as standard curriculum in most law schools. Despite making waves, I successfully graduated from the Military Academy in 1973 and am currently writing the screenplay to my historic West Point story.

In the years since I left the military I went back to school to earn a masters degree in clinical psychology and went on to attain a California license as a Marriage Family Therapist. With a career in mental health spanning more than a quarter century, I had become clinical director and manager at several mental health agencies in Southern California. In recent years I have specialized in working with youth and families, and programs to reduce youth and gang violence. My public service and dedication have been honored by several Who’s Who organizations including both Cambridge and Madison.

Last year I made the decision to place my career on hold to assist my brother in fulltime care-giving duties for my aging father suffering from advancing stages of dementia. I also decided to write the story of my father’s wartime experience along with both the challenge he faces as an approaching centenarian and the challenge his sons face in efforts to keep him alive while maintaining a quality of life with dignity. Hence, the genesis of my screenplay “When Memories Die.”

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