I was born in Detroit and lived in Southwestern Michigan.  I was editor of my high school newspaper and won the draft lottery after graduation.  After basic training, I received advanced infantry training at Fort Polk, LA.  I then attended the Combat Tracker Dog school at Ft. Gordon, GA.  I reported to the 101st Airborne Division as a grunt and was assigned to the 47th Infantry Platoon (Scout Dog).  In May, 1970, my dog, Duke, 96M0 was injured by a mortar round and he and I were Medivac’d via jungle penetrator.  Duke was attended to by the MASH unit in Phu Bai and we were both transported via Air Force C-130 to Cam Ranh Bay for Duke’s surgery.  It took several hours to pull the shrapnel from his body.  While Duke was in rehab, I was assigned Lobo X958.  Shortly thereafter, the 101st Airborne Division stood down and I was transferred to the 48th IPSD (Scout Dog) supporting first the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal) and later the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, both at Da Nang.  Duke was also reassigned to the 48th IPSD after his rehab and continued to go on missions with me. After the Army, I worked in various jobs and later went to a junior college where I became editor of the newspaper there.  Years later, I became editor of the San Diego Chronicle, a weekly newspaper in San Diego.  I also worked for the publisher of the Chronicle aiding several local colleges and law schools with their publications. I then attended National University School of Law in San Diego and became a practicing attorney doing predominantly civil rights and other plaintiffs’ cases.  In 1989, I was appointed to the Criminal Justice Act Panel of the federal district court in San Diego and have generally been reappointed to such panels ever since.  Approximately 95 percent of my practice is devoted to representing indigent defendants accused of committing federal crimes.  I also have argued several cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and briefed cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. I live on a small ranch in the mountains outside of San Diego with my loving wife.  We have four children and five grandchildren we adore.