Don was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Castlewood, which is a rural community between New Castle and Ellwood City. After graduating from Shenango High School in 1961, he worked in a luggage factory in West Pittsburgh and later drove coal truck for a company in New Castle. In 1964 he joined the United States Army, and after taking basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, he attended tech school at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey where he studied electronic equiipment repair.

Carol was born in Glenmary, Tennessee, which is a few miles from the town of Oneida. She graduated from Robbins High School.

At that time Carol was writing to her highschool sweetheart, who was in the Army and stationed in Fuerth, Germany. Believe it or not, there were three young GI's who palled around together, one was her sweetheart, one was a man named Bob, and the other one was Don. Bob was writing to Carol's sister, and one day Don asked him if the girl he was writing to had a sister. Bob told him about Carol, but did not mention that she had a boyfriend. A few days later Don wrote his first letter to Carol, and much to his surprise, she answered it. They corresponded for about a year, and seemed to enjoy each other's letters. They exchanged pictures, and after a while, the letters became more serious.

Don decided he would like to make the Army a career, and in September, 1966, he re-enlisted for six years. In December of that year he took 30 days leave to go to the states, and made plans to travel from Pennsylvania to Tennessee to meet Carol in person. After arriving in Tennessee, they spent a few days there, and then traveled to Pennsylvania so Carol could meet Don's parents. After a few days there, they returned to Tennessee with Don's parents and younger sister, and 10 days after they first met in person, they were married in Glenmary Baptist Church on December 29th, 1966.

After all the paperwork was completed and Carol's passport was issued, she traveled to Germany to be with Don. This was a new experience for Carol, and she adjusted to it quite well. She was used to living in the country, and when she arrived in Germany, she discovered she would be living on a farm in Grafenwohr, Germany. Don was not able to get into government quarters, and he had rented the second floor of a farm house.

Carol adapted well to being in Germany. Their landlord and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Zankl, quickly took a liking to Don and Carol, and they became like family. They would share BBQ's on weekends, and shared in doing things around the farm. One of the things they enjoyed was sitting in the kitchen and watching the deer eat in the back yard.

In October 1967, Don and Carol's oldest daughter, Patricia was born in the Nuernburg Army Hospital. She was a bundle of joy, and immediately Mr. and Mrs. Zankl treated her like she was their own grand daughter.

In 1968 Don was transferred to Fort Hood, Texas. Don, Carol and Patricia lived in Copperas Cove. While living there, Don and Carol joined Robertson Avenue Baptist Church, and Don was baptized in that church. Don had attended a Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Castlewood while growing up, and Carol attended Glenmary Baptist Church.

About nine months after being transferred to Fort Hood, Texas, Don was transferred to Fort Huachuca (pronounced Wachuka), Arizona. In June of 1970 their second daughter, Cheryl, was born in the Army Hospital at Fort Huachuca.

Just prior to Cheryl's birth, Don was on orders for Viet Nam. Due to the fact that Carol was close to giving birth, the assignment was deferred for 90 days. Don knew that within 90 days after Cheryl's birth, he would have orders again, and expected to go to Viet Nam. His assignment did come in, but it was for Taiwan instead of Viet Nam. He was able to take Carol and the girls with him.(P)
Don was stationed in Taiwan for two years, and during that time, Vicki, their third daughter was born. The assignment in Taiwan was a good one. The cost of living there was quite reasonable, and Carol was able to hire a full-time maid who did all the housework and cooking. She was even a baby sitter for the girls when Don and Carol wanted to go out for an evening. Don and Carol became quite involved in a Baptist church there, and it was there that Don was ordained as a deacon.(P)
When Don and Carol left Taiwan they went to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Since there was a long waiting list to get into government housing, they decided to rent a house downtown. As they looked, they found a house they liked about 8 miles east of the fort. When they called about the house, they found out it was new, and that it was for sale and not for rent. They went and talked to the builder, and within a few days, bought their first house. That was a happy time for them, but a time when tightening the budget became necessary. Of course, Carol had to leave the maid behind in Taiwan, and after two years of taking it easy most of the time, she ended up doing the house cleaning, the laundry, the cooking and so on. It was an adjustment for her.

After being in San Antonio for a year and a half, Don was once again transferred to Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He expected to be there a year or two, but after being there nine months he received orders for Okinawa. Once again he was able to take Carol and the girls with him.