Hello my name is Mike.

I was born in Southwest Indiana but I got to Texas just as fast as I could. I came to Texas in 1963 with my parents after spending about a year and a half in Europe and 9 years in southern Indiana. My father passed away in M.D. Anderson hospital just eight days after President Kennedy was assassinated and this has been home ever since. I spent six years, 5 years, 11 months, 21 days, and a few odd hours, but who kept track, in the US Navy during the Viet-Nam war ear from 1970-1976. And in 1989 I took a job in Indiana that lasted until 1994 when we returned "home"

The most important decision in my life was to trust Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and I have been a Christian since 1982. I had grown up in the Roman Catholic Church but I had never trusted in Jesus. Neither myself or any other Christian always acts as Jesus would want us to and that old bumper sticker that says "Christians aren't perfect … just … forgiven" is more true than you can imagine. Regardless of what anyone else tells you Christianity is not a religion but is truly a … relationship with Jesus, and none of us are perfect and we all make plenty of mistakes.

I am a Christian first, a veteran, a husband, and a father. I am a constitutional conservative with some libertarian leanings ... and politically active. I strongly believe that the gospel demands that we be involved in our politics whether federal, state, county or local levels. I believe in the strong rugged individualism that made this country great and am deeply saddened by the number of people who think they are owed something.

I also believe that scripture also requires us to have personal involvement in our community. Whether that is volunteering at the library, homeowners association, or taking countless trips chaperoning high school students all over the country with your kids. It could be serving on the school board, city council and so on. It could be volunteering with your city or county government. But it should be using the gifts God has given you to share with others.

My main hobby is amateur radio, (my call sign is KA5CVH). I am most active on the VHF & UHF bands. I also enjoy monitoring the public service bands like FD, EMS & PD. I enjoy severe weather spotting with the NWS Skywarn program. I am also a member of ARES & RACES which are the two organizations that provide emergency communications to assist public service agencies in the event of a disaster. I am also a CERT member and a part of Rusk County (TX) CERT This is my area of service of giving back to my community. At Christmas 2024 we moved from LaPorte to Tatum TX in N/E TX.

My wife Sara and I have two children. Our son Chase, also a ham, KC5MPK is 43 and lives in Longview TX. Our daugher Erica is 38. Erica is married to a wonderful guy named Josh and they are living in Colorado Springs.

After my time in the Navy as a propulsion engineer (snipe) I got my commision for the jurisdictional inspection of boilers and have worked in the commercial insurnace industry as a safety profesional specialing in "Boiler & Machinery" for most of my career.

If you are a ham and get in the northeast Texas near Longview / Henderson area drop by and say hi. I monitor the 146.780 (-)(131.8) repeater mostly throughout the day and you may You may find me on 145.520 simplex as well.

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May God richly bless you as he has me!