I was born in El Paso, Texas to Mexican immigrants but my family moved to the Los Angeles area before I was a year old so I know very little of Texas. I was raised in South Central Los Angeles during tumultuous times which included the 1965 Watts riots. I left Los Angeles when I joined the United States Marine Corps in 1971. While in the Corps I served on both U.S. coasts then closed out my career spending a year and a half in Sasebo, Japan, a Naval base about 50 miles from Nagasaki.  I attained the rank of Sergeant and was awarded the Navy Marine Corps Medal, the highest award for heroism one can receive in the Naval service without being in combat. It was an honor receiving such a prestigious award, though to this day I only remember snippets of the events I was credited with performing, but it was more of an honor to be a Sergeant of Marines.  Upon completing my service I returned to the family home in Los Angeles. I got a job as a public transit bus operator and quickly moved out of L.A. and spent the next few years in the South East Cities area of Los Angeles County, suburbs of L.A. After 7 years of driving a bus I attained a desire I’d had since leaving the Corps, I became a Police Officer. I spent two years as a Transit Police officer then transferred to the wonderful City of Pasadena, moving to the San Gabriel Valley area northeast of Los Angeles. 20 years later I retired due to injuries sustained on the job, something not unusual for a working policeman.  After retiring I started spending a lot of time with an obscure hobby I had, writing. For years I had written a column for our police newsletter. I’d also written several short stories which I never published. I finally stretched a short story into a novelette, “In This Is Love”, a modern day depiction of the sacrifice of the Good Friday story, which I published in 2005. In 2015 I released my second book, “No Turning Back: The Road to Salvation”, an inspirational evangelical book designed to bring people to know who God really is. I am currently working on a third book.  I also spend a lot of time serving at my church as an Usher using the skills I learned as a Marine and Police Officer to enhance and provide security at the church.  Being an avid firearms enthusiast I founded the Christian FirearmsFellowship, a loosely organized group of Christians who love to shoot. We meet three times a year, March, June and September to enjoy fellowship and the shooting sports. we also put on a class for those who have never shot before teaching safety and the skill necessary to be a safe, accurate shooter.

USMC Sergeant, Navy Marine Corps Medal, black belt martial artist