Hello fellow alumni! I am updating this profile on February 16, 2004. At this point in my life, I am enrolled in college @ University of Scranton with Pre-Med as my intended major. I am married and have to children, Isabelle Ruth-2 years old, and John Daniel IV-11 months old. I am planning on transferring in the fall to Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, PA, with the intended major of Physician Assistant. I have been living in PA for almost 9 months, after a short stint in Gowanda last year>I stayed with my parents for about 4 months. Before then, I was a member of the U.S. Army stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. for the 5 and 1/2 years following graduation from GCS. My accomplishments while in the Army include being a paratrooper, and doing training missions with the Special Forces Units stationed at Bragg. I almost tried out for Delta Force, which reqruited me upon graduation of Primary Leadership Developmental Course. (This school was required for promotion to Sergeant.!)      The reason I turned down Delta was because of the numerous injuries I was dealt with from jumping out of airplanes, running hundreds of miles, and countless other extremely physical events in my career. One of these events was a competition I engaged in a that was team race similar to the Eco-Challenge on a bit smaller scale. The 'Perimeter Challenge' was a foot race,(Participants were 100 teams, each team consiting of 5 men.)that spanned over 60 miles of terrain in and around Fort Bragg. This contest included rucking (with 20 pound ruck sack) for 20 miles, an obstacle course which was created by U.S. Army Rangers for their own torturous purposes-not fun;), followed by canoeing about 1 1/2 miles around a lake. After getting out of the boat, it was back on the trail for 11 more miles of rucking, which preceded 7 miles of land navigation (consisting reading a map, plotting the course, and finally the acting on the terrain plan). This leg of the race was followed by a 2-mile litter carry (A stretcher we had to carry which had a 250-pound mortar shell attached on top of it.), followed by a 20 mile run that finished off the race. (or finished off the competitors!!) The team I was affiliated with finished in a respectable 17th place out of 65 finishing teams,(35 teams never made it past mile 50.) with a time of 16 hours, and 57 minutes. That race took place in November of 2000, and I spent the next 2 and 1/4 years nursing my injuries until my inevitable discharge in February of 2003. Although the main cause of exiting the Army was my debilitating injuries, I was still released from the service with an Honorable Discharge with awards including a Good Conduct Medal, 2 Army Achievement Medals, and numurous Certificates of Achievement. My disibilities also gave me good ground to help me pay for college for the next 5 years thru the Veterans Administration. I hope to graduate with a Masters Degree, and get out into the workforce by September of 2009.!      Wow do I have a lot of homework ahead of me.. That reminds me, I have a Sociology Paper to write, and I've been putting it off for 2 weeks!! Take care and God Bless All of you!!!. Oh and one more thing, Gowanda RULES!

This page was last updated Monday, February 16, 2004.