In 1951, when I was 14, a neighbor told me that the U.S. planes that would go to fight in Korea would fly over our town on their way west. I remember that day like it was yesterday, when the first F-86 Sabre Jets flew over my head. They were low, maybe 500 feet, four of them in a perfect diamond formation, and I thought, “Oh my God. Some day, that’s going to be me.” I was hooked. I never looked back after that moment. I knew I was going to fly in the military.

My life never slowed down after that moment. I was the Distinguished Military Graduate for my Flight School class. I flew the Convair F-106 “Delta Dart” interceptor during the Cuban Missle Crisis. I supported ground troops and Green Berets flying the A-1E Skyraider in Vietnam. Selected for an exchange program to the UK, I flew numerous British planes. After retiring from the Air Force, I won the Reno Air Races while founding and managing a multi-million dollar business with my brothers.

And I don’t plan on slowing down.

I made mistakes, sure, but I lived most of my life by my own code, emphasizing honesty and integrity above all else. You can only compromise your integrity one time in your life; then it is gone forever.

I followed my dreams and became the pilot I always wanted to be, and that is the best advice I can pass down to anyone. Follow your dreams. Make them come true. That is the secret to happiness.