Chapter 1: The Story of Jocko

I believe there are two kinds of people in the world; those that pick up strays and those that go on by. You know what I mean, you're driving down the road and you see someone looking stranded alongside the road. Do you stop? Do you keep going with a small twinge of guilt? Do you even notice them? How about animals? You see a dog looking bedraggled and worn alongside the road. Do you stop and see if you can help? Maybe check a tag, find an owner?

OK, sometimes the prudent thing to do is to keep trucking and mind your own business. But you always wonder, "what if?" This is a story about picking up strays and the consequences we sometimes face, both if we do or if we pass on by.

I pick up strays. It isn't a conscious decision; I just do it by reflex. I've tried to be objective about it, but by the time I think about it I'm usually in too deep. Take for example, Jocko. Jocko, I am sure, wasn't his name before we met him, but that's who he became.

A little background would perhaps help at this point. My name is Sean North. I am married with children. I'm older than dirt and the kids are well into adulthood now.

A brief description of my life would have to include, as a significant period, my time as a young man in the Air Force for four years. The reason I didn't serve in the Army was that I just wasn't crazy about dirt.

When I made my decision to go in the Air Force, I went about it logically. First, the draft was coming and my number was very close to being drawn. As I said, the Army was always going out and playing in the dirt. The Navy was always going bobbing around on the ocean for months at a time, without female companionship. The Marines were out of the question.

I figured the Air Force would be fairly clean, teach me a marketable skill, (electronics) and with all those airplanes I should be able to get to my female of choice easily. Well, electronics was sort of taught to me but I ended up in Intelligence. Very high clearance style Intelligence.

That's when I got an idea of how the world really worked. When you have access to all source intelligence of every type, and you are young and idealistic, it tends to remove any optimistic images you may have had. It's the on ramp to the highway to cynicism. That's when I learned that NOTHING I read in the paper, or saw on the news, was the truth. It is all washed through the sieve of politics and the self interest of the folks in power.

Next, after being discharged from the Air Force and having acquired a wife and two children, I went into the corporate world hoping to "make a difference" and provide a good living for my family. The Air Force should have cured my naiveté. After six years of being exposed to the incompetence and politics of big business in the computer industry, I couldn't take it anymore and thought I would find my values and ideals appreciated as a police officer.

That glorious career lasted eight years after I discovered that being a police officer was similar to trying to dig a large hole in a very sandy beach, with loose sand coming in faster than you can throw it out. If it wasn't the citizens making the same stupid mistakes over and over, it was the politicians within the city and police department. That could make a story in itself.

I know I sound cynical with this chronology, but thing got better. Next I decided to go back on active duty only this time I tried the Army. Somewhere along the way, I got the idea that there would be more close teamwork and brotherhood in the Army than I had in my past careers. So, they took me in as prior service and I ended up in the Infantry.

OK, dirt. But, the scenery was beautiful sometimes, and I had to admit the training and opportunity to work with people who you had to count on to stay alive, brought a lot of satisfaction. I won't bore you with the details of my Army experience but lets just say that I got more training in the interpersonal interaction arts than most people, and over the next twenty plus years worked with, and survived with, brothers in arms who I respected and cared for.

I also lost some brothers, who I will never forget. If you ignored the turkeys in command and learned how to keep folks alive, while making the turkeys believe they were in charge, it was a great and rewarding experience. I retired as a Sergeant Major, and with my wife, Heather, from that point on, worked at forgetting everything but the present. No one cares about your past; the future isn't here yet, so live for today.