~Val E. Howard, Air Force Fighter Pilot Vietnam, Private Pilot to Ronald Reagan, R.E. Magnate, Patriot~ HOK: Had lunch with Val and his lovely daughter, Kelly Shaw, at Plantation Nursing Center. What a guy! Val: Like so many of the young men in my time, my life really began in Vietnam. This is why Im a little bitter even though I smile all the time and am friendly. Fat men, in soft fat chairs ran that war, out of harms way, and without any idea of what they were doing. Wars are always run that way, fat men, soft chairs far from the battlefield. No matter what, though, Im proud of what we accomplished in Vietnam. We helped those people, their infrastructure, their lives. Sadly, when we left, all the evil came back. I learned my craft in Vietnam on the high performance air craft. The punch line is I made it out with my butt intact. 5,500 of my comrades, didnt. It was brutal beyond imagination over there. After the war, I landed in New Port Beach, California. I started a real estate company. We sold over 300 homes a month in our heyday, average price $125,000. We had 11 real estate offices in California. I worked 6 days a week, but, never on Sunday. My parents were really strict and they expected a lot from us kids. I got my butt tanned plenty of times. They insisted on us working hard as children and it stuck. They are the reason I got a Masters in engineering and a PHD in Physics. My Dad was an engineer. My mom taught piano. I wish I had learned. I could be playing that piano over there right now. Kelly Shaw, daughter: I have to add here, My Dad always took my calls at work, no matter how busy he was. He was very attentive to all of us. I went to work for him when I was 13. My son, daughter and I are realtors down here now. Because of him. Val: I bought a Lear Jet and a Rolls Royce. I had the extreme privilege of meeting Ronald Reagan and ultimately getting to fly him around on the campaign trail whistle stop to whistle stop, in my jet. I was a hard core Republican, then, and now. Ronald Reagan was the greatest president of my life time. No one else is close. When I was in the Air Force I used to buzz the beach at Santa Monica. I just remembered that. It was more fun than you could imagine. I got in a little trouble with my boss in the Air Force. It was worth it. I met my wife because of this. The mother of my children. She was a hard sell. I had to work hard to get her. My connections in this arena sure helped me grow my business and enhanced my life. They understood business, I understood business. In the post Vietnam area, the Republicans had control of business and transactions and they brought me in. I was divorced in 1980. It was my biggest mistake. This woman gave me 4 incredible children and I lost her. We are finally friends again now. Im so thankful for that. After real estate, I moved to New Mexico and went on the lecture circuit discussing the failure of the VA and the government in supporting our Veterans. Treating Vets badly goes way back. Later I moved to Las Vegas and ahhhhh, my best memory is there. Every morning I would go to Starbucks and the showgirls would come in. They had legs that went on forever. They were all so beautiful. I got to see them and talk to them every day. I had a great pick up line: Hey chickie poo, would you like to fly to Palm Springs with me this weekend in my private jet? It always worked. Im pretty fired up about all the stuff things going on in the world today. We need to shut those terrorists down. This little drone action is worthless. It takes a president with guts to gun these guys down. We ended a war in 24 hours with 2 nukes. It was a tough call. We had a president with balls. Thats how you shut down evil. Hard and fast. These guys up there in Washington now are all soft, worried about keeping their cushy jobs, not about the safety and sovereignty of our nation. Shame on them. They disrespect all who fought and died to keep America free. I ended up here after seizures that left me paralyzed from the waist down. Maybe from Agent Orange, who knows. My medical bills cost me my wealth. The VA medical care was inferior and I opted for better private medical care. Now, Im the head of the Residents Club here. Most of the time they are out of control, but, I try to reign them in. Its harder than running all the real estate offices. Come see us, we love to tell our stories.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:30:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015