Since we mentioned family, I thought I'd throw mine in. My grandfather was a Lighthouse Keeper from ~1900 until WWII. When the Coast Guard took over the lighthouses he retired. My uncle joined the USMC during WWI. When the war was over he became a Lighthouse Keeper also. When the Coast Guard took over the lighthouses, he became a CPO in the Coast Guard. His daughter joined the USMC during WWII and was an aerial photographer. My father was 20 years younger than his brother, the uncle mentioned above. When WWII started my dad was a member of the Oregon National Guard in a coast artillery unit. He was also a couple of months away from graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. Boeing and the Army Air Corp came and visited his class and basically made several members of his class a deal they couldn't refuse. He worked his entire career at Boeing on military projects. They included B-29, B-50, B-47, B-52, Minuteman Missile, Bomarc missile, and ALCM (air launch cruise missile). I'm sure there were others that I can't remember and others he could not tell us about. He also traveled frequently to NATO Member countries.
As for me, I realized a couple years ago that there has not been a month, since 2 months after I graduated from high school, that I have not recieved a paycheck from the US government. First it was NROTC, and then the NAVY. After active duty it was Naval reserves for a while. After I started working for the FAA, I reached a point in my training where I became a key federal employee. When the Navy found out, they said sorry, but if we can't call you up, you can't drill. Since I've retired from the FAA, I draw a retirement check. That has to be a near record for being on the government dole.
I have two sisters. One is retired from county government, the other is retired from state government. My only brother is still working for state government. My two kids, however, broke free and both are self employed.
My wife is also retired from the FAA.
So if you wonder why our government is in debt, ii might be my family's fault
Ken
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