Dad was a mechanical engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers. He mostly designed heating and cooling systems for government buildings at Forts Stewart / Hunter, Benning, Gordon, Jackson, and Bragg. He also did other projects like designing the lighting system for the approach to a runway at Hunter Army Airfield that could be seen from White Bluff Road for many years until it was replaced by new technology. That was a big source of pride for me.

Dad hated waste and incompetence. He couldn’t stand new Ga Tech graduates that thought they knew everything but actually didn’t know shit from shinola.

The Corps designed a tidal gate system for the Savannah Back River that was supposed to increase water flow in the main river channel to decrease the need for frequent dredging. Dad looked at the design and said it wouldn’t work. They built the damn thing anyways. Guess what, it didn’t work.

When I was a kid during the 60’s and 70’s, Dad often brought home citations and awards for having a great idea that saved money and/or made things better. The awards were usually for $500 to $1,000 for his idea, big bonus money back in those days. Mom would frame them and hang them on the wall until we ran out of space to hang them all.

My Dad was my image of an ideal federal employee growing up. He never got rich, but made a positive difference at work and put his boys through school with no debt and supported his extended family.

Dad would spin in his grave if he knew the crap being uncovered by DOGE, and he would be all for what Trump is doing to Make America Great Again. And he sure as hell wouldn’t have any trouble coming up with five good things he accomplished last week.

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