Jim Banta

I enlisted in the Air Force in 1972 since my draft # was 52 and I didn't want to wait around to receive, Greetings from Uncle Sam. It was the best thing for me since I was newly married only 5 months earlier. After Basic, I rushed home, spent one night and left that next day with only what Valerie (my new bride) and I could fit into our car and off to Biloxi, MS. We had one day to find a place to live once we got down there. The places we looked at were either to expensive or dumps. We were very discouraged but heading back to the base we came across a mobile home park with a, "For Rent" sign and that was our home for a year. The climate was hard to adjust to but we spent many memorable times walking the beaches along the Gulf Coast. It breaks our hearts to have watched the city we grew to love be devasted by Hurricane Katrina and this latest oil spill. We pray that the people there will soon have their lives back.

Not much to say about school other than finding my lifelong companion, the love of my life. Valerie has been my rock. I almost died in '08 from a bowel rupture and a major car accident and it was my sweetheart who took care of me and got me well. Valerie was a nurse, something she had dreamed of becoming since she was 14. It took her til she was 35 to realize her dream but she did it with flying colors, graduating with a 3.5 GPA. I was so proud of her and the kind and caring nurse she was to all her patients. I owe her so much and for putting up with me during High School when I'd see her in the hall and yell, "there goes the dumb stick!" Why she married me is beyond me but I am the lucky one. Thank you my dearest as this coming Sept. 1st it will be 39 years that we said, "I do."