Moses Lake becomes base camp after Army service

This is the last of a two-part series about my life.

Spending 18 months in Korea was a pleasure after facing the possibility of spending another 12 months in Vietnam. My tour was extended by six months, so my sister, Denise, lived with me on the sixth floor of an apartment in downtown Seoul.

I bought a small Honda car and we traveled the countryside during my off-duty time. This was a welcome atmosphere after Vietnam, where no civilian could be trusted.

One day I opened the Army newspaper and found a photograph of Major General Emerson, who had just taken command of the 2nd Infantry Division near the Korean DMZ.

Looking through my Vietnam photos, I found a photo of then Colonel Emerson interrogating a Viet Cong in a rice paddy. The photo was duplicated and sent to now General Emerson. He called me in a couple of days and invited me to dinner at his headquarters.

This man was a brigade commander with the 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta and I was assigned as his pilot from time to time. His call sign was Gunfighter Six and he did not shy away from a fight.

He developed the seal-and-pile-on technique, meaning when his men made contact with the enemy, the enemy's escape routes were sealed, but our men backed off a hundred yards or so. Next our firepower was used to pound the enemy positions.

I've seen Air Force jets drop bombs and fire rockets into an area, followed by Army artillery pounding the same area and, finally, the 9th Aviation Battalion gunships would do their job with rockets and machine guns. Our ground troops would then head into the area and clean up. This technique not only destroyed large enemy forces, but also saved a bunch of our soldiers' lives.

We visited over cocktails and at the dinner table, a long table with the General to my right. One chair was left open between us, reserved for one of the division officers.

It wasn't long before a Lieutenant Colonel sat down and the General introduced me as his pilot in Vietnam. The Colonel had a bite to eat, made a report to the General and asked to be excused.

"That man is going far," the general told me after the colonel left. The colonel was Colin Powell.

I left the Army as a captain with nine years service, after being told my next assignment would be in my basic branch, Artillery. If I couldn't fly, I didn't want to be in the Army.

My first year as a civilian found me as the assistant manager of a hotel and casino in Reno, but I yearned to return to Moses Lake.

Luck was on my side as a job was secured at the Washington State Employment Security Department. This became a 30-year career of assisting people looking for work with the most satisfying part being helping disabled veterans find jobs.

In February of 1991 my Columbia Basin Herald column-writing career began. A few weeks later the manager of radio station KBSN-AM 1470 called and said, "You are writing a weekly outdoors column, so you might as well host a weekly radio show."

My radio career began with a taped show on Thursday and Friday mornings. This developed into a one-hour live show on Saturdays and then to the current two-hour show.

The Herald asked me to expand my writing to include a history column titled "Bits & Pieces," a Fishing and Hunting Report and a gardening column appearing from March through June.

About this time I chased Garnet Wilson until she caught me. Life was perfect, with both of us retired and the two of us participating in whatever activities we desired, most with an outdoor angle.

Family history has been an ambition of mine for a long time. Ancestry.com dues were paid and other paid and free websites were explored. There was success on my mother's side, finding ancestor George Bledsoe arrived in Virginia in 1652.

My biological father, Willis C. Wollard was a tougher road to explore. A message was left on the Wollard Family Genealogy Forum, a free website, in 2000. On Jan. 15 of this year Julie Wollard Trout sent me an e-mail asking about my interest in this man. My answer included my knowledge of Bill and a bit of my history. I also asked if I had any half-sisters or brothers.

"Yes, you have three half-sisters, Joanne, Charlene and Marlene. Marlene has passed away," Julie said.

Joanne lives in Oregon and Charlene lives in California. I found Charlene's telephone number on the internet and called her, and then I called Joanne. This has been six months of fun as we share photos and stories. Seems Bill Wollard treated the girls and their mother the same way he treated us, with their mother leaving him when there was no money for rent or food.

"We always wanted a brother," Charlene said.

"I always wanted a sister," my sister, Denise, said.

We will all meet soon at a family reunion.

These days life is as exciting as ever, with several volunteer activities taking a chunk of my weekly time. Garnet and I continue to participate in as many activities as we want and the outdoors continues to be the main theme.

I am fortunate to have grown up in Moses Lake, with all of the outdoor activities available. Moses Lake continues to be our base camp for the same reason.

I am also blessed with two new sisters. We will be spending time becoming acquainted, forming a relationship and loving each other.

Next week: The epilogue.