Stu Eaton (Continued)

After nearly 2 years in Japan I rotated back to Ft Eustis for a Water Terminal Operations school prior to going to Viet Nam. In attendance were two other 515H classmates, Tom Gladin and Paul Fox (was very sad to hear of Paul's passing). While there, we were all promoted to Captain. It was interesting and mostly fun, and I hoped useful. Upon arrival in VN, I was assigned to Cam Ranh Bay. Arriving later in the day, I spent the night in the BOQ's and met a couple of pier officers who worked in the deep draft port. We had a good discussion and I learned that of about a dozen pier officers on both shifts (24-hr operation), only one had attended WTO school, so naturally I expected to see them the next day. Not so! I was assigned as unit commander of a headquarters company for a marine maintenance outfit which repaired Army watercraft. The good news was that it was phasing out the CRB location - after about 3 months, I was finally down at the port as a pier officer supervising discharge and back-loading of cargo. We used primarily contract labor, Vietnamese stevedores with Philipino foremen. We had 3 general cargo piers and an ammunition pier (about 3 miles up-stream). The one experienced officer who was in charge of operations rotated back to the States in about 30 days, then I was in charge. We had up to 8 pier officers on a shift and worked up to 10 vessels at a time, some to barges from ships at anchor. I really enjoyed that job! While at Ft Eustis for WTO, Tom and Paul had many stories of their 2 years in Europe, and all the great travel. My wife and I decided to see if we could both get transfers to Germany at the conclusion of my stint in Viet Nam. She transferred first to Ansbach, Germany to begin the school year, and I followed that November, and miraculously, was able to get to the same town. However, I would not work in Transportation - I was Military Family Housing Officer for 5 installations. It was an interesting time, made more so by the move of the 1st Armored Division HQ to Ansbach. As part of the move we constructed 364 new apartments and houses. I was also responsible for the off-post housing program and BOQ's. About 2 years into my stay there I was one of the many Reserve Officers to get a Reduction in Force letter, thus ending my military career - my sin was not taking any leadership or other courses, and a lack of troop command time. OER's were great. No problem as I wasn't intending to make the military a career, and the $10,000 severance was a nice bonus. Also, my CO asked me to stay on as a civilian in the same position! I got a raise and grew my hair a bit. We stayed for one more year then returned to the States after a final 2+ month trip through some of Europe we had not had a chance to visit during our 3 years there.

Following active duty, I did serve in the Reserves for a couple of years at Westover Air Force Base, along with Jon Clifford. My civilian career consisted primarily of two jobs. The first of which was in regional offices management of several administrative departments for Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, working in Connecticut, Long Island and outside Chicago. That was followed by a career in commercial real estate finance and property acquisition for Babson Capital Management, working out of Springfield, Massachusetts. I did acquisitions for only a few years until the equity side of the organization spun off to a newly formed subsidiary. Some of you may have stayed at my favorite acquisition, the Newport Marriott Hotel in Newport, Rhode Island. On the debt side, I had responsibility for doing commercial real estate loans, single assets and portfolios, $15-million to about $100-million, in New Jersey, New York, New England and Eastern Canada. That entailed sourcing, structuring, closing and portfolio management. These loans were primarily for our own accounts, with some syndications with us in the lead, maintaining significant interests and servicing. I retired as Managing Director at the end of 2004 and moved to Mooresville, North Carolina (25 miles north of Charlotte) for retirement. I am kept busy serving on several boards and other unpaid pursuits within the community. Back in the late 1980's my first marriage ended, after two children. I have been with my current wife, 9 years my junior, for more than 20 years. She has three children and is still employed, working in Charlotte for PriceWaterhouse Coopers. We have enjoyed some good travel experiences, both stateside and in Europe, and enjoy boating on Lake Norman.