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My name is Doug Lucas, well in reality it's Raymond D. Lucas. Like most people I sometimes forget I have a first name. Mine was borrowed from my father and I tend to confuse myself when I tell others my first name is Raymond.
My Dad had dreams of sending one of his sons to West Point; I had dreams of escaping any form of academic endeavor. Neither one of us was a total success in making those dreams come true. He did manage to force my nonacademic, rebellious mind and body through high school. I managed to join the Marine Corps right after high school before he could inflict the pain of higher learning on my soul.
I began a twenty-five year odyssey which in the beginning worked very well towards the completion of my life ambition of not being forced to endure any more formal education. The Marine Corp started my "reeducation" by training me to become a machine gunner...this worked well for me because no college was required for this position. After my first tour in the exotic Far East the Marines waited for me to reenlist and changed my status to Combat Photographer, a reward for some misdeed which I may or may not have been guilty of.
I once again found myself in academic situations, but with a twist that added zest to my desire to learn. Fail a military school and for the most part your career is over at all levels. You might say that I became a very enthusiastic student, with a new found motivation to excel at academics.
As a reward for completing the "schools" I was selected for, I was returned to the Far East to apply my new found knowledge of Combat Photography in a practical environment. I learned very quickly that in a combat situation, taking a shot with a camera was far less rewarding than taking one with a machine gun.
In the time I served in the Marines I manage to become a Drill Instructor at MCRD Parris Island, South Carolina and serve a tour as a recruiter at RSS Long Island, New York. I have no idea what crimes I committed which forced the Marines inflict those punishments on me.
During this period of travel and education I did managed to entice a lovely young woman to share her life with me...on the condition she controlled the purse strings. This condition has worked very well for us over the last forty some odd years, at least it has managed to ensure my bills were paid on time. She presented me with two sons and a daughter.
Both of my sons had the same attitudes toward higher education I had. I would often tell them they may roll across the stage in a wheel chair on graduation day, but they would graduate from high school. I take all of the credit for raising our daughter, who now has her Master's Degree in Literature.
Having read some of what I've produced, she has requested that if I ever publish a book, I not mention her name.
After retiring from the Marines I went to work for the Pennsylvania State police as a Forensic Photographer. I liked my new job a lot because it was for the most part very quiet and peaceful---you might say dead end. After working at that for a few years I became interested in Forensic Video analysis. I believe my main reason for interest in this field was as a way of proving to my father that you can make a living watching television.
I am now totally retired from all forms of work, with the exception of those small requirements my wife now inflicts on me. Tasks that I might add are preformed for little or no pay.
My lovely and gentle wife added to the blend of joy and frustration brought about by retirement by acquiring an attack dog for home security. Very few people have the slightest conception of the sense of failure a former Marine achieves as he walks behind a six pound miniature Yorkshire terrier, appropriately named Trouble.
With the profits from my book sales, I hope to be able to afford a "pooper scooper."
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