This is the first in what will be a series of posts on this exciting topic. Buckle up.

I was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1969. I lived in 11 cities before I turned 16, which may actually be more than the typical Army brat. This translates to three elementary schools, two middle schools and three high schools. My parents were barely 22 years old when I was born after having been conceived out of wedlock while they were in college. Their fathers were both WWII veterans who spent their entire careers as carpenters. My maternal grandfather was a Marine who saw hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese in the South Pacific. He was home in Wisconsin on leave after jumping off the boat in an overcrowded San Francisco harbor when the United States dropped the atomic bombs and the war ended. He proposed to his girlfriend, they got married and he rarely spoke of the war for the next fifty plus years.