A Buddhist Monk was once asked by curious visitor, “What is your philosophy and ideology?”. After a brief pause, the Monk looked at the visitor and said, “We don’t have a philosophy or ideology, We Dance”.
What a succinct summation of our lives, “We Dance”.
I once heard an entertainer trying to coax his audience into singing along, "Just remember, whether you sing good or bad, someday you'll be knocking on Heaven's door and Old St. Peter's going to ask you if you sang while you were on earth, and this is your chance to say YES!"
Wow! I've been dancing and singing as fast as I can! And it must be working. Recently I overheard 2 Mexican construction workers talking and one of them looked at me and said, "Viejo Loco Gringo", which means Old Crazy American. I was encouraged that my dancing and singing were paying off.
Everyone has a past.
Call it a history or a biography, if you've lived, you've got a history that follows you; and if you've worked for Corporate America, you've got a resume.
I don't do resume's anymore, but I do have a past, and here's a brief synopsis of 65 years of living on this earth.
Not much happens of significance between the time you're born until you graduate from High School, except, if you are fortunate: 1. you meet a few friends whom will be with you through out your life. 2. you observe the lives of others, including their ethics, work habits, morality, and compassion, each of which might provide you insight into how to live your life in the future. 3. your parents will teach you the things you need to learn as you move through the formative part of your life. 4. you'll get to work and learn the value of money, how to manage it, and develop a work ethic that you can take into your future. 5. you'll have teachers and mentors who will teach you reading, writing, and arithmatic, and possibly introduce you to music and/or sports, but primarily fill your head with enough knowledge to make you competitive in an extremely competitive world. 6. you'll learn the importance of how to communicate and interact with others.
So, not much happens, between birth and High School Graduation, except learning how to live your life in the future.
As a matter of fact, maybe it is a very important time afterall and maybe, as you move forward in life, it will be the foundation of making your dreams come true and excelling in this world.
This time for me was important: - I grew up dreaming of being a cowboy. - Went to work for $.10 an hour sweeping floors when I was 6. - Belonged to the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Explorer Scouts. - Mowed lawns with a push mower for $.35 when I was 11. - Got my first bank loan when I was 12, paid it off when I was 13. - Managed a movie theatre when I was 15 to 18, for $.35 an hour and worked 72 hours a week. - Played Trombone in a High School Band. - Upon graduation, joined the Marine Corps, and headed to college.
It doesn't get any better than that, and I wouldn't trade for the wonderful experiences and lessons.
The Marine Corps Years 1962 - 1972 (Active 1966-1969)
"Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself.
The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for?"
- William J. Bennett In a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997
I was raised in the Marine Corps. The first thing I remember, was being 3 years old and World War II ending.
My father was a Marine Officer (a pioneer in the Marine Corps Radar Squadron History) and when he returned to teach college after WWII, he recruited other Marines to get their college education, and my first memory was a house full of Marines getting their physicals and psychological exams, in order to achieve admittance into the college my father taught.
At 3 years of age, I made up my mind to be a Marine, and upon graduation from high school, I immediately signed up with their OfficerCandidateSchool, and my father swore me in.
I chose to become a Marine Officer and in order to do so, I had to get my college degree, which I did in 1966, and 3 months later, in December 1966, I had gold bars on my shoulders.
7 months later, I landed in DaNang, Republic Of Vietnam, and soon was stationed in PhuBai where I stayed for the duration of my tour of duty and was able to participate in the Tet Offensive of 1968 and the Battle For Hue.
All Marines need a little war to participate in, and my dream had come true. I had become a Marine Combat Veteran, had come within inches of loosing my life, and experienced emotions I simply couldn't have realized had I not taken the opportunity to volunteer to serve in Vietnam, where I received an education that has benefited me from that time on.
In Vietnam, for the first time in my life, I became very familiar with death, fear, atrocities, glory, defeat, and survival.
An education you can't get in college, and it's value to me became more important than any education money could buy.
Surviving situations that put people in harms way , may possibly lead to one's own death, reduces fear of death and failure, and with diminished fear of death and failure, and the ability to act without emotion, you can become free to emerse yourself in life's experiences, and you become in charge of your own destiny.
I was blessed with those lessons and many others I learned in Vietnam.
Some good, some bad, but all worthwhile lessons in reality.
Sadly, many of my friends were not as fortunate as I was, and lost their lives.
Their memories remain with me and have for over 40 years.
It has been said that "The Good Die Young". These friends definitely qualified as the "Good".
Those of us who survived, have a debt to them; to insure that their lives were not given in vain, and felt an obligation to give back to our world, in their honor.
Looking back now at my Vietnam experience, it occurs to me that our enemy, like us, were simply doing their job, each side trying to win a war, and to kill us, before we killed them. So our obvious goal, was to become better educated, better equipped, and better trained, than the enemy we were up against.
It's been said, "Once A Marine, Always A Marine" and I have to agree with that. While this is not a paid recruiting ad, The Marine Corps gives young men and women the training and Esprit d'Corps that will last all their life. I would recommend it to all young men and women, who might benefit from the adventure.
If you are interested in belonging to The Few, The Proud, The Bold- The United States Marine Corps - CLICK HERE NOW!
I do believe the Marine Corps Motto, Semper Fidelis, "Always Faithful", and if you choose to serve your country as a Marine, your life will be be changed forever, and once you've experienced The Marine Corps, if you're still alive after the experience, you do have an advantage over the majority of people you will ever compete against, for the rest of your life.
The Wild Music Years Starring Elvis, Lamar Fike, Tom McDonald, and Literally A Cast Of 1000's Of Entertainers, With Me Along For The Exciting Ride!
I’ve always loved music. I took my first guitar lesson when I was about 6 years old. My youth failed me. I was too young.
Then as I grew older I learned to play the trombone, and although even today, I cannot read music, I managed to become a member of the High School Marching Band for a few years, really neat uniform, but marching at football game half times, quit appealing to me.
In college, after meeting a cowboy studying to become a veterinarian and who played guitar, he offered to teach me the basics of guitar, in exchange for a case of beer, and I immediately accepted his offer, drank at least a six pack of the beer I gave him in exchange for the lesson, and went to the local music instrument store, traded my trombone in on a guitar, and for the next few years practiced the 4 chords in the key of C, over and over again, hour after hour, and learned more and more songs, usually Johnny Cash songs, although I began to move into other artists that were becoming so prominent in the early and mid 60’s, Eric Burton and the Animals, The Rolling Stones, and started enjoying the blues presented by Jimmy Reed and Lightning Hopkins. I met Lightning at a concert in Denver and he signed one of my guitars which I still have today.
In 1966, after receiving my commission as a 2nd Lt. in the Marine Corps, I was off to Vietnam, and one of the first things I did upon arrival, was to buy a guitar. This time I had a regular audience playing Johnny Cash songs in the Officer’s Club (a Quonset Hut) in PhuBai, when I wasn’t out in the field.
To make a long story a little shorter, after returning from Vietnam, and upon discharge from the Marine Corps, I took my guitar, car, and brand new suit to Los Angeles and the Corporate World. And Hollywood. And then it got very exciting as I began hanging out in bars with entertainers, sports stars, and actors, many of whom most people reading this, would recognize.
And then leaving California on New Years Day 1973, to continue my Corporate America experience, I arrived and settled, in Denver, then a cow town, and found myself once again playing my music, on the side, to audiences that were into Outlaw Country music and Rock and Roll and the combination Country Rock. Just perfect.
Then in 1975 I was asked by close friends, associates of Elvis Presley, Lamar Fike, who spent 25 years with Elvis and started Elvis's "The Memphis Mafia"; and Tommy Stewart McDonald, Lamar's cousin, and one of only a small number of my life time best friends and mentors; if I would like to go to Vail for Elvis Presley's 40th birthday.
Which I did, and the next thing I knew I was writing songs, playing songs at gigs, and with their help and support, did a recording of my songs in Dolly Parton and Porter Waggoner's Fireside Studio in Nashville. I went on to continue to write songs and did more recording sessions in Denver.
Colonel Parker, Elvis, and Lamar Fike
It would be hard for anyone to fathom walking into a "man-made" Tsunami, but that is exactly what Lamar Fike did, and for the next 25 plus years, he rode the Tsunami, a.k.a Elvis Presley, day and night. Not only a close and trusted confidant, but the many who introduced Elvis to Mrs. Elvis Presley, Pricilla.
I'm told by Tommy McDonald, Lamar's cousin, that Elvis told a story about this fat kid who climbed over the wall at Graceland, and stayed for the next 25 years. That was Lamar Fike, and any of you who are Elvis Fans know the name and have read his books.
This is a photo of Elvis's manager Colonel Parker, Lamar, and Elvis.
Tommy & Lamar Today
By chance you've not been to Mart, Texas, you may have missed one of the secret wonders of the world.
While I haven't checked lately, I don't think there is a Fike or McDonald Ave., Drive, or Street in Mart; but I may be incorrect. But when they were children, without the exception of high school football and discjockey stardom (Tommy and Lamar), little happened in Mart. Remember this was the era of Bob Wills, Buddy Holly, Richey Valens, The Big Bopper, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the one that got both Lamar's and Tommy's attention, Elvis Presley.
And that's when the world changed for Lamar and Tommy.
Lamar & Elvis
During the last two years of Elvis's life, it was my extreme pleasure to be invited by Lamar and Tommy to spend time with the Presley Entourage. What an exception time in my life.
I flew into Dallas for one of the last Elvis Concerts and when it became time to board the buses, I jumped on as quickly as possible. I can't imagine what it would have been like to miss what was about to happen - I had a Back Stage Pass and I wasn't prepared for what I was about to experience. AN ELECTRICAL ENERGY FIELD WHICH I HAD NEVER KNOWN BEFORE NOR WILL EVER AGAIN.
ELVIS PRESLEY WAS UNCHAINED ENERGY, AND THAT EVENING, I FELT HIS IMMENCE POWER!
And Lamar Fike had lived this Energy Field with Elvis for 25 years. Unbelievable!
Lamar Fike introduced Elvis to Priscilla, and the famous courtship began, leading to their marriage.
"We Were The Wild Ones", one of the last songs Waylon Jennings recorded, and remember, this is not official, had to have been written about those in this picture, Tommy McDonald, "Little" David Wilkens, Lamar Fike, and Bill Sparkman.
They were wild times, and if you weren't a participant, you were enjoying the antics of The Wild One's, and those in this photo were chewing up life and spitting it out.
It was in Denver, 1978 and those in this photo are Little David Wilkens, Tommy McDonald, Me, Capt. Jerry Kennedy - Denver PD, Ron Petrofeso - Denver PD, Little Donna Darling, Bob Cantwell - Denver PD, Lamar Fike.
It was after Elvis's death when there was a very quiet, very innoucuous gathering in Denver, Colorado. The people in this photo, minus Ms. Donna Darling, prominant disc jockey in Denver, had one thing in common, they each proudly, Elvis's TCB (Taking Care Of Business with a lightning bolt was Elvis's logo) necklaces around their necks.
Lamar and Tommy provided me the opportunity to realize and participate in a dream that few people can ever realize; one of the most exciting times in my life, and allowed me to meet and "hang out with" some very accomplished and in many instances, famous people in the entertainment industry.
I will always be thankful for the association I continue to have with both Lamar and Tommy, who introduced me to a wonderful and very fulfilling time of my life, and I will never be able to repay them the exciting life they selflessly shared with me, the best and most exciting time of my life.
After a long deliberation process, Lamar and Tommy presented me with an Honorary Membership in the organization that became known World Wide during Elvis's Life, The Memphis Mafia, which Lamar had named the entourage of close friends and confidants that were with Elvis during the exciting years of his life.
The Corporate America Years 1970 - 2003 Medical Sales &Marketing 1972 - 2003
While I spent the first 3 years after leaving the Marine Corps in Consumer Product Sales, the exciting part of my career began in 1972, when I began employment in sales and marketing for a medical manufacturer who specialized in Cardiovascular Medicine.
It was a relatively new field then. Dr. Michael DeBakey had done the first heart bypass in 1969 and working out of Denver, I was assigned to sell diagnostic and therapeudic cardiovascular products to C.V. Surgeons, Cardiologists, and Radiologists in Hospitals in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas.
Because the field was so new then, I was able to be trained by a select group of Pioneer C.V. Surgeons, Cardiologists, and Radiologists, in the world. The times were so exciting then, that in a brief time in the industry I decided to learn all I could about the field and procedures I sold products to and for. I had found my home and the medical professionals I worked with daily were all dedicated to their chosen careers. We were all literally growing up together in an industry that required total dedication.
In 1978, I heard about a Radiologist in Zurich, Switzerland. Andreas Gruentzig had invented a technique that, rather than bypass occluded coronary arteries, he would manipulate a balloon through the coronary and into the lesion, and inflate a balloon and compress the lesion to the wall.
At the time, I thought it sounded like science fiction at the time, but eventually I met Gruentzig and became totally emersed in his insight and product development. My company came to an agreement with him for the rights to sale and later manufacturer his balloon products and introduce and sell his products in the United States.
In the early 80's, almost without warning, the FDA approved his products for sale and use in the United States. It was a total and unexpected surprise, because there were no training centers existing for the cardiologists to learn to do the procedure, which was now known as Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty or what became known as PTCA.
Interventional Cardiology had come to the United States!
And because there were no training facilities available, a small group of sales representatives, including me, were summoned to the University Of Massachusetts Medical Center Cath Lab, where we received intensive training on the procedure and actually got to do an angioplasty on pigs.
That's me in the picture in the upper right of this segment of the webpage, and I'm doing one of the first angioplasties ever done in America. Other sales representatives that day, also did one of the first angioplasties in the United States. The poor pig succumbed to the procedures, but we were armed with as much information as was available at the time, and a week after our training, we were in the field training Cardiologists and the nurses and technicians in their cath labs across America.
Another year would pass and Dr. Gruentzig moved from Zurich to Atlanta's EmoryUniversity and including Emory, 4 training centers were set up in America. But the technology was constantly evolviing and that kept the sales reps (turned trainers) busy traveling, participating in the procedures, and training and updating staffs for many years to come.
Those were my glory years, because everyday, was a new adventure, and at the end of the day, I knew that I had accomplished something worthwhile with my life and the medical community.
