A lot of stuff has happened...

A lot of stuff has happened in the past ten years. My wife, Marie, and I will be married 37 years this August. We have two sons (Stephen age 30 and Sean age 24). We also have two beautiful grandchildren (a boy, Kamren, age 4 and a girl, Nadiya, age 21 months). They provide us with a lot of joy in our declining years.

As I told you before I served in the U.S. Navy from 1965 - 1970 as an Electrician's Mate 1st Class. I was a nuclear power plant electrical operator on the USS Truxtun, DLGN 35 and a degaussing technician on the USS Catskill, MCS1.

I retired from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in 1997 when I lost my eyesight. I went to the Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind in the fall of 1997, the best experience of my life and the best group of people I have ever known. They saved my life and through their training I regained my independence.

At the same time, my kidneys failed, and I was on dialysis for three years. In October 2000, I received a kidney transplant. It was a perfect match. It has been working just fine since then. This past year I had to have all five toes on my left foot amputated. This also destroyed some of the tendons in my left ankle, and I, now, am in a wheelchair. I hope its temporary.

Since I graduated from the Guild, I went back to school to study psychology. I also rejoined the Episcopal Church. I serve on the vestry, sing in the choir, and am a diocesan delegate at Advent Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh. I also do a lot of public speaking. I have given over 40 speeches for the Guild, United Way, in church, and at school.

Finally, Don, I want to tell you a story just in case we can't make it to the reunion for some unforeseen circumstances. When I was at the last reunion at the picnic I was wearing a VietNam baseball cap, you came up to me stuck out your hand and said, "Welcome home." Other than my wife, you were the first person to tell me that. I was so choked up I couldn't reply. In fact, I didn't tell anybody about it until two years later when I was at the Guild for the Blind where I told the counselor. Since then, I have had dozens of people come up to me in restaurants, fast food joints, stores, malls, doctors' offices, and even on the street. When I tell them, I am a Vietnam veteram, they do two things. They shake my hand and say "thank you for your service," and "we are sorry for the way you were treated, back then." This has brought me a lot of gratification, and I hope it brings you some satisfaction, too.

Sincerely yours,
David St. John Bowman