Little did I know, when I left Kentucky to join the Marine Corps, that I was gathering the stories and experiences that would one day become the foundation for books I would write. Somewhere along the way, it became important to me to preserve my story—a story my children had lived but knew little about—so that someday they could share it with their own children. I wanted them to know how their dad moved his family around the world, the work he did, and the life we built along the way.