The powerful story of a young man's near death experience in Vietnam.
Throughout my life I have been a very spiritual person, not religious, but spiritual in a way that made me very much aware of my connection to the universe. This spirituality has guided through many difficult times and made me believe that there is far more to life than what is on my resumé. The following is a brief overview of my professional life and how I got from beginning to present.
I was born on November 24, 1949 in Pasadena, California. Growing up in Southern California was nice, but, I never felt at home there. In early 1968, eight months after high school graduation, I joined the military and went to war in Vietnam. In many ways, the war was good for me; it made me grow up quickly and taught me some serious lessons about life and the nature of being human. It also taught me some very harsh lessons about mortality and the fragility of the human body.
In April 1969, while trying to rescue the crew of a downed helicopter, I was blown up by a bomb, taking the brunt of the blast in the face and down the right side of my body. It was at that time that I had an incredible near-death experience that greatly enhanced my spiritual awareness and my understanding of universal connectedness. A few minutes later, I was shot in the arm, chest, and neck by a sniper. The war had left me severely broken, my teenage body riddled with bullets and shrapnel, my mind pondering the value of the lessons learned against the price paid. After nearly two years in the hospital I was still unable to speak and I was having some difficulty adjusting to civilian life, but, guided by my spirit, I was determined to overcome the debilitating injuries and lead a functional and productive life.
Upon graduation from high School I had little interest in pursuing a college degree, but after my military experience I had the thirst for knowledge and, as soon as I was able, I struck out to find my place in the world of academia. I completed an AA degree in Automotive Technology at Santa Ana College, but I wanted more. During my years at Santa Ana College, I taught myself to speak again and thought I wanted to be a teacher. I transferred my education to the California State University at Long Beach, but I lost interest after a couple of years and dropped out, only a handful of credits short of the finish line. In mid 1976 I decided to open my own business, an auto shop, repairing foreign cars.
My business was successful, but my spiritual self was not happy there. In late 1979 my marriage of nearly ten years fell apart and divorce forced me to sell the business and find a regular job. I landed at the Environmental Engineering Division of Systems Control, Inc. The work was interesting; testing automobile parts, equipment, and fuels for such noted organizations as Exxon, Ford Motor Company, and the U.S. Government.
In early 1980 Systems Control transferred me from Anaheim, California to Seattle, Washington to manage a new project on vehicle emission control. I was familiar with Seattle; when I was in the Army I was stationed at nearby Fort Lewis and had made several trips into Seattle while on weekend pass. I liked Seattle, and it felt more like home than Southern California had.
In March of 1981 Systems Control, Inc was having some financial problems and I was laid off. They offered me another job in Southern California, but I refused their offer, not wanting to leave my new found home. I was comfortable in the Seattle area. I felt spiritually connected and sure I could find a new job and a new life here.
After nearly a year of searching for a new career, I landed a job as a vocational counselor for the State of Washington. Yes, this was a big surprise to me too. Who would have thought that I would get a job as a vocational counselor? The person that hired me said I stood out from the other applicants because I was very active in volunteer work while I was unemployed. I have always believed that investing my time in the community in which I live is a good thing for all parties involved, and that investment paid a nice dividend. During my period of unemployment I had done some volunteer work for the Special Olympics, the Seattle Folk Life Festival, and the Veterans Outreach program.
I liked my job, but after only a year on the job I was again laid off and unemployed. It was spring of '84 and I took my new counseling skills to the local Veterans Outreach Center where I had previously gone for some help in leaving the Vietnam War behind, and had also been a volunteer for several years. The Seattle Vet Center hired me as a peer counselor. The position was only temporary, but I felt that I could parlay this job into a career in the mental health field.
When my job ended at the Vet Center I was almost immediately hired as a counselor at the VA Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. Oddly enough, the VA Hospital in Tacoma is located on the northwest corner of Fort Lewis, where I went through advanced infantry training while in the Army.
I loved my new job and they encouraged me to go back to school and advance my skills and training in the mental health field. After much research I decided to enroll at The Evergreen State College to finish my undergraduate studies and then apply to the MSW program at the University of Washington.
I completed my MSW in 1990 and worked as the Director of the Dual Disorders program for the newly formed US Department of Veterans Affairs until March 2000. I also maintained a part-time private counseling practice from 1996 to 2003.
My life has been filled with interesting twists and turns. While I was in graduate school I started thinking about my near-death experience when I was badly wounded in Vietnam. About three months before graduation, one of my professors asked the class to split into small groups and discuss our most profound experience with death. I really didn't want to talk about this, but it seemed I had no choice, so I told my story. My classmates were quite moved by the story and the professor, who had been listening over my shoulder, immediately told me I had had a near-death experience. The following day he gave me the phone number for a local discussion group for people who had experienced such things.
At the time, I wasn't much interested joining a group and I promptly forgot about it. One year later, I saw an ad for a near-death studies group on a library bulletin board, and it reminded me about what the professor had said, so I went to their meeting. The leader of the meeting asked me to tell my story, within a few months I was appearing on nationwide TV and speaking at international conferences about my experience. My TV credits include Sightings, Arthur C. Clark's Mysterious Universe, several BBC specials on Near-Death Experience, Hour Northwest, and Town Meeting with Ken Schram. I was also a guest on numerous radio shows throughout the country.
In 2003, I took early retirement from the counseling profession so that I could focus on writing and speaking, as well as exploring other interests. During my career as a counselor, I was frequently asked to speak publicly at high schools, colleges, and universities on the subjects of mental health and veteran's issues. In addition, since 1991, I have spoken to over one hundred different groups on the subject of near-death experience. I enjoy public speaking and always look forward to the opportunity.
Currently, I am living in Ocean Shores, Washington, very happily married, and my wife and I are managers and executive officers of a local cable access TV station. Over the last five years we have directed, edited, and produced over three hundred television shows and are very active in our community. I continue to write and plan to have another book out in the near future.
