Who are my Guest Bloggers?

Recently, someone with nothing better to do, who reads my blogs just to find something to argue about accused me of merely pretending to have blog commenters and thus insinuating that my guest bloggers are also fakes. Funny how those who claim to hate you and what you stand for follow your work the most.

So…just who makes up the ranks of my Guest Blogger Brigade?

I get a lot of my ideas from two guys who aren’t so much Guest Bloggers as they are my right & left sidekicks. I’ve known Chris for almost 26 years & John for almost 25 years. The three of us went to high school together in the small town of Kittery when I moved to Maine. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Chris lives in upstate South Carolina now where he works as a pool & spa repair tech. John, an Army veteran, runs an Internet Service Provider based in Orlando. I still get to see Chris pretty regularly, and in fact he came down for my 40th birthday party last weekend. The three of us were last able to get together as a trio for the Erasure concert in Orlando almost 2 years ago.

Guest Blogger Rick was one of my inseparable buddies while we were stationed in Germany with the Army. He was a German-language counter-intelligence agent and assisted with the interrogation of a captured Iraqi spy during Desert Storm. It was kind of him to hang out with an MP. A far cry from the guy I drank myself stupid with as a kid, Rick now works for the State of Florida’s Department of Human Services. We grew up only about 20 miles from each other in Maryland, and we looked enough alike that we passed for brothers when we went out.

And Guest Blogger Jim, who leaves me comments as JSUMM, was my wingman and partner in many shenanigans and high-jinks while we were stationed together as MP’s at Fort Riley. Jim’s married to the girl I introduced him to almost 20 years ago, and doesn’t blog publicly himself to protect the privacy of his family. He’s a 17-year veteran of a major metropolitan police department and an avid fan of the Detroit Red Wings. We lost touch for about 15 years, and got back in contact about 7 months ago. We talk 2 to 3 times a week, and it’s like we never lost contact.

These guys are all bright, articulate, devoted family guys who served their nation, and for some reason or other still claim me as their friend. I’m honored to know them and to have served with them, and grateful to have them as brothers in my blogosphere.