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I am a native of Houston, Texas. After graduating from Rice University with a BA in Chemistry and marrying my high school sweetheart I served a tour of duty in the U.S. Navy, where I advanced to the rank of Mineman, 3rd Class. After separation from the Navy I returned to Texas to begin a career in the chemical industry. In 1964 I joined The Dow Chemical Company in Freeport, Texas, and moved
to verdant, Lake Jackson with my wife to raise three beautiful, accomplished daughters, picking up an MS in Chemistry from Texas A&M University along the way. My years as a Dow research scientist were spent doing a variety of interesting things. I am the holder of 19 U.S. Patents and have authored book chapters and technical papers in fields as diverse as industrial electrochemistry and composite materials science.
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The author and Adolf Galland in the latter's home in Remagen, Germany, October 1991. Galland was the best-known commander of JG 26 and served as the General of the German Fighter Arm for over three years. He ended the war commanding a unit of Me 262 jet fighters.
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My principal avocation since childhood has been the study of military history, World War II aviation history in particular. I am a member of the Air Force Historical Foundation, the Eighth Air Force Historical Society, the American Fighter Aces Association, and the Gemeinschaft der Flieger (Association of German Pilots). My hobby was always passive, but after seeing my youngest daughter off to college, I decided to spend my new found spare time and funds in a more active fashion, researching and writing aviation history. For the past 25 years I have researched archival sources and interviewed surviving veterans, primarily from the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), which has always suffered from a shortage of objective English-language histories. My
first book, JG 26: Top Guns of the
Luftwaffe (Crown Publishers, 1991) has been followed by six others on
Luftwaffe topics; all have won wide critical and popular acclaim for their
accuracy, objectivity, and readability. Now retired from Dow and writing full
time, I have plans for at least two more Luftwaffe books, although publication
plans are not yet firmed up -- once an author has a book published, he never
stops writing. I have also collaborated with Les Butler on a serious historical
website, Jagdgeschwader 26. It's worth a look.
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