My childhood was relatively uneventful. At three I put my left thumb into the cogs of a mangle that my mother was turning, that caused a p[ermanently deformed nail. At twelve a pipe on the back of a parked truck cut a biscuit of flesh from my left nostril and upper lip when I ran into it while racing on my bicycle. At fourteen I was in a hospital for three weeks for a burst appendix followed by six months in a surgical corset to permit the unsutured incision to heal properly. In high school Junior ROTC I was chosen by Captain Sherwood, the instructor, to be cadet Lieutenant. I was never very athletic, but enjoyed swimming. My mother insisted on academic excellence above all.