Hi again, folks. You may have wondered why I stopped my “ Children” story in 1974, just at the end of our tour in Denver, Colorado. I think I just got tired and ran outta steam. Kinda happens at my age.
Lemme sorta fill you in on our lives until they became adults and started to make their own “ Children” story.

Recall they were ranging from 3 to 8 years old when we left Denver and arrived at Scott AFB in southern Illinois, about 19 miles from St Louis. Missouri.
St Louis was the only Real city near us. Scott AFB sat in the middle of a host of lovely mid-America corn fields and close to the large cities ( lol) of Mascoutah, O’Fallon, Shiloh, Belleville, New Baden, Fairview Heights, and Collinsville Illinois. What? You never heard of em. We sure did. Turns out this was our home for the next three years and then, after a short four years, another eight, that’s right, a total of 11 years ( 1974-1977 and 1981-1989) The kids were literally raised in the cornfields of Illinois.
Scott AFB was the headquarters of the Military Airlift Command. That command had oversight responsibility for the airlift mission at 16 airlift wings and bases in the US and throughout the world. Since I kinda made my bones in staff work, I kinda got trapped at the headquarters for a large part of my career. That’s probably why I always jump all the way back to the sixties for war stories. Interesting dilemma for a navigator — more fun and excitement as a crew member —- more promotion potential in staff, with continuing management challenges.
So—- after three years at Scott, it was off to Fayetteville, NC and Pope AFB and Ft Bragg. I was a director at the USAF Airlift Center. We conducted and reported on many tests and evaluations of new airlift equipment and tactics. Interesting work.
At the end of our Fayetteville tour, 1980, the kids are now ranging from 9 to 14. Two of em are teen agers. Moving involves losing friends, changing schools, having to break in to a new community. Not easy for young’uns.

During our three years in Fayetteville our major outings were the many 4-hour trips to Orangeburg and Charleston, SC. For the life of me, I can’t recall what else we did for fun in Fayetteville. I found out later, they didn’t like the schools there.

My work at the Airlift Center was quite rewarding and challenging. I even had an opportunity later in my career to go back at a higher level and the kids unanimously voted no. I didn’t return.

Our next family move was to Carlisle, PA and US Army War College for just one year (80-81). This was a rough year for the kids. Being a transient for just a year in a small town doesn’t make it easy to make friends and establish relationships.
On the other hand, this year was the most enjoyable job year of my 30-year Air Force career for both me and Marjorie. The people, the College, and the surrounding historic community. The kids did enjoy Hershey Park and the town of Hershey. We also enjoyed the Gettysburg experience, under an hour away. Amish country was another enjoyable aspect, along with wonderful Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine.

At the completion of War College the folks in personnel management thought I was destined for the Pentagon. Turns out the Comptroller leaders at the Pentagon were not interested in me, a navigator, with only four years experience in financial management on paper. Fortunately for me, Colonel Metcalf, the Comptroller of the Military Airlift Command, knew me from my prior airlift command assignment and offered me the position as his Director of Accounting and Finance. So back we went to Scott AFB in sunny Illinois. Marjorie was not initially happy, but we both grew to love the people and the schools in southern Illinois. Especially, since we were there for eight, yes eight years – 1981 – 1989.
I served as Director of Accounting and Finance, Assistant Comptroller and my highest level Air Force position as Comptroller of the Military Airlift Command from ‘85-88.
I specifically asked to stay at Scott for another year to allow our youngest son, Jeffrey, to finish high school at Mascoutah, a great school. I served as
a speech writer for General Cassidy, Commander-in-Chief US Transportation Command for that year.
Our two other young’uns, Christine and Jim finished and graduated from Eastern Illinois University and the University of Illinois respectively during our stay at Scott.

We ain’t done yet. For our final two years in the Air Force, 1989-1991, Marjorie and I came back to Charleston AFB. No surprise. We’re still here No surprise there either.
Christine stayed in Illinois until 1994. She then brightened our lives by bringing her baby son, Joshua, back to Charleston. She raised Josh by herself, with our support when needed. She is still here thank Goodness, but Josh has returned to Illinois. He married the lovely Cierra and they live in Robinson, Illinois, near her family. Josh is a proud police officer in Robinson and we are so very proud of them both. They have also been kinda busy. A little over two years ago, they presented us with a great granddaughter, Lucy. Christine is a doting grandma and Marjorie and I are bursting with love and pride.

As I said a bit earlier, our son Jim, graduated from the University of Illinois aeronautical engineering program in 1989. He was almost immediately hired by Boeing Aerospace Company for a position in their Seattle location. He traveled briefly to Seattle to check into his new job. He soon came back to Illinois for a very special reason. He married his fiancee and soulmate, Kiersten and spirited her off to Seattle with him, where he started his first career with Boeing.
He and Kiersten also started and raised a wonderful young family. Their three beautiful little girls, Sydney, Erin and Caroline, were born and spent most of their childhood in the Seattle area.
We visited them a few times in Seattle, but geography prevented is from playing a major role in their lives. Proximity means a lot.
A very happy time for us is about 2008, when they moved to the Savannah, Georgia area, only two hours from us. Jim had taken a position with Gulfstream Aerospace.
He is still a managing engineer with that great company. We have managed to see them more often and I did fulfill a promise to introduce them all to my root city of New York.
Those three little girls have become three gorgeous young ladies. Sydney is a graduate of Luther College in Iowa and is now married to Tristan Rivera. They live in Austin, Texas and work as band directors and educators in the Austin School System
Erin has a degree in environmental anthropology. She is working in that field, residing in Georgia but traveling nationwide to complete tasks in her field of expertise.
Caroline also finished College and is now teaching world history to seventh graders in the Atlanta, Georgia area.

Finishing up this synopsis of the lives of our three children from my perspective, let me reintroduce our “ wonderful” son, Jeffrey. That’s how he identifies himself in his voice mails. He is correct He is a wonderful son, as well as our youngest son.
Jeff graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1993. He, shortly thereafter, followed a young lady to Portland, Oregon to be near her family.
Even though that relationship ended, he has stayed in Portland since then and worked in social services trying to keep juveniles with criminal tendencies straight and productive members of society. An admirable job that pays way too little. He married his lovely wife Angela in 2001. They had one son, Apollo, in 2003. And still reside in lovely Portland. Angela had had a really tough road with a rare form of endometriosis. She was literally bedridden for about 12 years. With God’s good grace, she is now doing much better. She’s up and about and we hope and pray she will stay well for the future. Jeff was thrust into trying to fill the task of caring for his son and his wife at the same time and also struggling financially to make ends meet for several years. We are very thankful that things appear much brighter for them now
Great news that Apollo earned a full scholarship at Oregon State in Electrical Engineering and is now in his sophomore year. We couldn’t be more proud.

Well that concludes my synopsis of the impact of children on the lives of Don and Marjorie Scooler. It’s a little longer than the alleged description of the life of man, “ Man is born; he suffers and he dies”. Who could be that cynical. Certainly not I. Enuf.