Member Biography/Profile thread

[lesofprimus]

Its real interesting to see what others from around the globe, others that I consider my Friends, have trialled themselves with....

I omitted several parts of my story, including my Mom getting cancer and dying, and my own bout with that prick colon cancer, so I am defiantly relating to what some of u guys are talkin about... I also have 2 younger brothers and 3 nephews and neices...

I will edit my post above to include these omissions...

OK, I edited my original post and included some more personal/indepth stuff....

Big difference in these 2 pics, huh guys???

What happened???

[lesofprimus]

I went and added ur mugshot photos for each Bio.... If u didnt submit a pic, I added one for u, in humiliation....

[parsifal]

Hi Guys

My name is Michael, I was born in 1959, in a place called Orange NSW Australia. i was the son of a farmer, and granndson to one of the original ANZACs, fought at Gallipoli, Palestine, including Beersheba. My grandad left me his war medals when he died, which I still have and cherish.

I was not real close to my Dad, but he brought me up, and taught me how to think, and question the world around me, and i am thankful for that. My dad was a difficult man, a needy man i guess. All of my brothers and sisters are bright....I have two sisters and a brother. My brother is an electronics engineer, has worked on everthing from the Harrier engine management systems to how to make Pokies suck more money out of the punters. My sisters are each a singer, and my other sister is a psychologist.

I had an intersting upbringing. Mum left my Dad when I was 7, and my brother and I spent most weekends on the farm, helping out. I learnt to ride, to gentle horses, i was driving trucks and tractors, and owned half a dozen guns by the time i was twelve. I learnt to shoot pretty well, but later, in my late twenties, I turned right away from hunting, and guns and all that stuff. I also learned how to fish with explosives, which was kinda cool i thought. At the other end of the scale, I was reading three books per week by the time I was ten. I grew to love knowledge, any knowledge, mostly to take on my Dad in the endless debates that we used to get into . Very young learning and knowledge became my escape for me

I graduated in in 1977, senior high, having achieved tertiary entrance scores in the top 2% of the country. I cannot tell you if my dad would have helped me through Uni, but I was getting tired of the the control he wanted to excercise over me, i was always a restless soul, and loved two things, boats and planes. I decided to join the navy

All this sounds like a dirge, but it wasnt. I had a blast as a young fella. I used to live about 45 miles from school, and was the only kid in the valley with a car. I used to keep the petrol up to it by running a school taxi service. It cost two bucks, flat fee, to flag me down and get in the car. if you were a cute girl, you got in for free, so long as you sat next to me, and i was allowed to put my arm around you. On weekends I used to sink wells for the local farmers, and use explosives to cut through any rocks I would find

I joined the navy in 1978, having spent some time in the Naval reserves before that. By the time I left for the navy my sport was boxing. I was young and fit, and strong, and dangerous.

I graduated from the naval College in 1981, and spent a couple more yearswith the fleet having qualified for my second stripe (Lt). Whilst i was in college, I was introduced to what beacame my lifelong passion, wargaming. I have been doing that ever since, not as a full time living, but as serious hobby neverthe less.

I served on a number of ships, including the carrier melbourne. Whilst on the melbourne I realized that I really wanted to fly. But that was never to be. The nearest I got to a shooting war was in 1981, following the Russian invasion of afghanistan. We all thought there was going to be shooting back then. I was training to be a PWO by then (Principal Warfare officer) and got to see a lot of action in the ops room as a result. Later i went to staff college for about six month (or thereabouts) It was a bit scary (and exciting, to watch the live ammunition being loaded onto the carrier Before we sailed. It was a small but effective TG that sailed into the Arabian sea that year. Shooting would have started if Pakistan was attacked

The last trip i did with the navy was 1984. I volunteered to crew on the Antarctic supply ship, the Nella Dan. I wanted to see the Polar ice. already I had deployed to a lot of interesting places. New Guinea, Fiji, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Malaysia, just to name a few

I remember one of the best times was meeting in Singas with some New Zealanders, one or two Americans, and I think two Russinas. We had the best times teaching each other how to swear in various languages, and other stuff. It was about that time that i realized that politics keeps us apart, andthe stuff that I was being indoctrinated with in the navy was a bit off the mark in some respects. We all bleed and have the same worries and cares in many resapects.

I never made it to Antarctica, I was wondering why I was losing so much weight. I ate like a horse and was constantly thirsty. halfway down to antardtica, I collapsed, in a coma. My old ship the melbourne apparently winched me to safety. All i know is i woke up in a hospital. A few days later i received the bad news, I would be discharged from the navy as medically unfit. It was pretty bad. My girlfriend, who became my first wife was pregnant, and I had no job. It got worse. A couple of months later I had a bad motocycle accident, and my wife decided it was all too much after the baby came along. So here I am, no job, a baby (by that stage about 8 months), and with injuries that might well make me permanently disabled (I had nearly torn my shoulder off, and had split my liver). I remember the medical staff saying on the night of my accident "we might lose this one" Kinda makes you really stop and think when that happens.

But I did survive. My second love was design, urban design, geography and things like that. I worked by day, my mom helped with the baby (for about two years), and I studied by night. I completed my second degree in two years (I could use a lot of the subjects from the first degree I had received in 1980). In 1987 I got my first job as a town planner. It had been a long dark time. I now also have a further degree in Environmental land management, which sort of explains why i no longer own a gun, and wont even touch one

I am still a town planner today. In 2002 my son graduated, and all of a sudden I was single and unnattached again. I met a lady plying chess on the Internet, shes Russian, and beautiful, and she actually likes me. We got married in 04, have built a house. i am thinking of having another child. Tanya, my wife, is thirteen years my junior, so she really wants to have a child. I wouldnt mind one either, to be honest

Because i read so much, i have a lot of books. I mentioned my hobby, wargaming. Actually I am a wargame designer, working with a small group of friends, Our Group have helped to design a number of games, the most famous of which is World In Flames. These are the table based counter games, some of you may be familair with. they are not computer games. They require a lot of research, because they must be reasonably accurate if they are to have my name on it. they are better described as simulations rahter than games actually. My current project is a simulation of the entire war, covering the air, land, sea, political and industrial aspect of the war. The air system is based around "air points", ten plane units, which are not on the map as such. The points are grouped into air Gropups, which for kland based units is about 20 air point (200 a/c) Everyone who has seen it says it is easily the most accurate air combat system they have ever seen. But it still needs some work. It takes about 300 hours to play the whole thing from strart to finish, which is just too long


Anyway, here is my ugly scone, and my wife on the day we ewere married.

BTW I call myself Parsifal, because that was to be my callsign if i had ever received my wings. i was always liked to see myself as the one of pure heart...yeah right.

[Matt308]

Les, I loved my pic. A too close to home.

Oh and I liked Adler's too.

[Heinz]

Im fascinated by other people and these are some very moving and humbling biographies.

[Hunter368]

I have to say I did not fully intend this thread to totally turn into what is has turned into, but I am more then happy that it has.

I think we all see another side of each other and know more about each other then ever before. Thats a great thing.

Matt,

I totally agree with you. When I joined this site about 3 years ago it was just to take WW2 knowledge away from it. I was not here to give this site anything, just use it for my gain.

While I still take a great deal of knowledge from it almost everyday, I have gained much much more from it then I ever expected.

I now have a group of friends all across the world also, which is much more valuable to me then anything. Much of what I have said in my bio post I have never even told my closest friends in person, b/c I did not feel I could share that with them. Only my wife, and all of you now, know the whole truth about my life, childhood, trials & tribulations.

I thank all of you for your posts and opening up.

Special thanks to Dan, for posting pics of members and your bio post.

[Njaco]

the difference is the hat, Les.





Hunter, this was a Great idea!

[Hunter368]

Thanks but the idea was just that, just an idea.

What makes it good is the content of the thread and everyone deserves credit for that, not just me.

[lesofprimus]

Matt, I merged ur two posts together, but it put it up at the top....

****Please re-read Matt's Bio****

[Matt308]

Thanks, Les.

[lesofprimus]

Very enlightening Matt, thanks for diggin back in that past man.... I already hate ur Aunt and Uncle.... What a couple of cun*s...

[Matt308]

Yeah...

I really understand the Stockholm Syndrome. If you have never experienced it, it is emotionally a dichotomy.

[freebird]

Wow this is some intense thread you started Hunter...

I was wondering where the "Devil of Rabaul" came from?
P.S. I'm from out west in "Lotus Land" but working out of Portage-la-Prairie right now.

Anyways, I am about the same vintage as Les, but I'm afraid that's where the similarity ends... Compared to a Blackhawk crewchief & Iraq vet, a Navy SEAL with 30 medals, An Aussie carrier PWO, I'm kinda embarassed to post my wimpy bio...

I grew up in Vancouver B.C., Dad is Canadian, Mum is British but born in India where grandfather was posted. {He was posted to Egypt & Palestine during the war} That's Mums uncle on my siggy, I always felt both proud & sad at his story, he didn't get a chance to get married before the war, he had no kids, no family to remember him when he was killed.

I can relate to your story Hunter & Njaco, alcohol has been a drain on Dad for probably his whole life. I guess I can be thankful that he is a more or less a "happy drunk", he doen't usually yell and he never raised a hand against me or Mum because of drinking, just becomes disagreeable sometimes. But I think of how much he was capable of, he's very smart, could have been an engineer but ended up as a dentist because thats what Grandad wanted him too. {which he didn't really like}. He was a really skilled builder, he remodelled our house and built a 45' boat from the bare hull, including wiring, rigging, woodwork and did all the electronic installation. Too bad I didn't inherit his technical brain or skill with my hands....

I was in scouts as a kid, & I was hoping to go into the military when I got older {probably Navy} but a bad accident at school killed that option when I was 16. We were doing gymnastics, because the school was overcrowded we had to use the cafeteria, with the tables pushed away and a few mats put down. We were supposed to be building a pyramid, I was on the third level, the last guy was supposed to vault up and we would hold him in place as the 4th level {the "capstone" of the pyramid} but he took it too fast and crashed in knocking us all flying. I flew off and took a glancing hit on a cafeteria bench on my back. {the "one-piece" kind which is attached to the table} I then landed on my back on the hard floor and lay there.

I came to, I was completely freaked out, I couldn't feel anything below my neck, and couldn't move. It happened right before lunch, the bell rang and here were dozens of kids bursting in to see the gimp lying on the floor. The vice-pricipal came in, and came over and reached down "let me give you a hand up" {a real bright light there } I told him "don't f**king touch me, call an ambulance" {I don't remember swearing, but they told me later I did } I was in the hospital for 2 days, the feeling came back, they did some tests and they told me everything was OK. After a couple of weeks at home I went back to school but I was getting intense pain in my lower back. They did more tests, x-rays, radiography etc etc.

Finally they told my mother {in private} that "it's all in his head", so I had too go see a shrink. {yes Graeme we have brilliant doctors in Canada too }
They asked me to "tell me what is bothering you"? The f**king pain in my back you dip-s**t!!! The shrink reported I had an imaginary pain AND A BAD ATTITUDE. Anyways after a year of this nonsense I finally insisted that they re-do the tests, they found a severed ligament in between the vertabrae. {soft tissue, doesn't show up on x-rays} I had a spinal fusion done at 18, thankfully it worked and I'm 100% ok, but screwed up my GPA in my senior year. {and killed any chance of getting into the military}

I went to college for a few years, spent a couple of years sailing around the South Pacific on Dad's boat {Auckland, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Hawaii, Fiji} and then came back to Canada, started working. I drive long distance, I'm thinking to go back to finish my degree and stay put somewhere, but I love travelling too much... I've been to every state except Alaska & Maine.

I was also in Gulfport MS, 9 months after the hurricane, it freaked me out to see the damage there, I have some pics too. 2 story beachfront houses with the lower floor washed out, blocks & blocks with no houses - only the front steps had the house number painted on it to show that a house had been there. The hurricane surge had "grooved" the beach and left 3 foot high "waves" in the sand, very weird...

OK so sorry if this wandering down memory lane is going on WAAAAAY too long... Alex. {Canadian Hoser}

I'll post my Hoser pic to save Les the trouble... {the one in the touque}

[chook]

Originally Posted by lesofprimus

I went and added ur mugshot photos for each Bio.... If u didnt submit a pic, I added one for u, in humiliation....

Oh well that explains why my face seemed to be caved in all of a sudden and not look like me at all! I'm happy to share photos but can't get them from my iphoto library to this site yet. Recently upgraded from PC to macbook and lot to learn. I can only email photos so far

[lesofprimus]

Chook, u can email me the pic and I can post it in both places if u would like me to...

lesofprimus@hotmail.com...

Interesting story Freebird/Alex.... U dont need medals or be a Vet to have an interesting background man... The fact that u went to 48 out of 50 States is quite an accomplishment.....

But doesnt/didnt all that driving bother ur back???