Post by kiev4a on Sept 11, 2006 14:12:11 GMT -5
Back in the early 1980s I was an editor for the daily newspaper in Nampa, Idaho. Like most small dailies we always were short staffed. So, we hired some students from the local high school to do proofreading for us in the evening.
One of our teen proofreaders was a skinny youth with an engaging smile named Ron Vauk. I got to know Ron over a period of months. He was exceptionally bright and had a wonderful sense of humor. He also knew a great deal about the early personnel computers. He had even built one from scratch. Talking to Ron sparked my interest in computers which continues to this day.
Ron graduated from high school with honors and we lost a good proofreader when he accepted an appointment to the United States Naval Academy. I never saw Ron again but learned he had served seven years as an officer on submarines before leaving the service to accept a job as a naval projects manager for a civilian company located near Tyson's Corner, Virginia. Ron stayed in the Naval Reserve and spent two weeks each year on active duty. On Sept. 11, 2001 Lieutenant Commander Ron Vauk was in his second day of his annual training, serving as watch commander in the Naval Command Center in the Pentagon.
Each September 11, I think of That skinny high school kid with the engaging smile. I think of his wife, a son, now eight, and a five year-old who was born two months after Ron and 188 other people were killed when a hijacked plane smashed into the Pentagon.
He was a wonderful young man.
One of our teen proofreaders was a skinny youth with an engaging smile named Ron Vauk. I got to know Ron over a period of months. He was exceptionally bright and had a wonderful sense of humor. He also knew a great deal about the early personnel computers. He had even built one from scratch. Talking to Ron sparked my interest in computers which continues to this day.
Ron graduated from high school with honors and we lost a good proofreader when he accepted an appointment to the United States Naval Academy. I never saw Ron again but learned he had served seven years as an officer on submarines before leaving the service to accept a job as a naval projects manager for a civilian company located near Tyson's Corner, Virginia. Ron stayed in the Naval Reserve and spent two weeks each year on active duty. On Sept. 11, 2001 Lieutenant Commander Ron Vauk was in his second day of his annual training, serving as watch commander in the Naval Command Center in the Pentagon.
Each September 11, I think of That skinny high school kid with the engaging smile. I think of his wife, a son, now eight, and a five year-old who was born two months after Ron and 188 other people were killed when a hijacked plane smashed into the Pentagon.
He was a wonderful young man.