JON B. SMITH SERGEANT MAJOR, US ARMY RETIRED

   Jon Smith was born in 1943 in DuBois Pennsylvania, a small town about 100 miles north of Pittsburgh. He graduated high school in 1961 and immediately joined the US Army. He had found his career so there he stayed for the next 27 years.
He was stationed in or visited 15 foreign countries and has lived in or visited all but 5 of the 50 states.

He and his wife Marilyn have been married since 1962 and have 2 sons and 3 grandchildren.
Their oldest son spent 14 years active duty with the US Marines, US Army and is currently employed by Chrysler Corporation and remains active in the US Army Reserve.
Their youngest son retired from the US Air Force after 22 years of service and he is currently employed as a Department of the Air Force civilian employee. Both sons are veterns of the Gulf wars.

Jon retired from the Army in 1988 and pursued a second career with Oshmans Sporting Goods. He started in the Receiving Department and moved up to an Assistant Manager position and finally to a Store Manager. He remained with the company until his store was closed, after being acquired by a rival company.

In 1995, Jon survived a heart attack, then in 1998 he was diagnosed with cancer. It was determined to be Squawmous Cell Carcinoma located in the left tonsil. He had surgery in March 1999, with radiation therapy treatment afterwards. Jon survived three additional restorative surgeries, which necessitated fifty-seven treatments in a Hyper-Baric Oxygenation Chamber. Supported by his wife, he survived with only minimal restrictions to an active life style.

In 2002, diagnosed with Macular Degeneration, a new battle was begun and once again with the strong support of a loving wife, this battle shall also be won.
When Jon completed his course of instruction at the Blind Rehab Center at the Waco Texas V.A. Medical Center, he was provided a computer and a myriad of other gadgets to make life a little more tolerable.
That computer allows for email contacts which provide much of the humor that you will find under the Vet2vets web site SMILES section.   ARTICLES from JON.

Enjoy the humor, pass it along to friends and relatives.
Who knows! Someone out there in cyber space may know Jon from his early life and wish to contact him.