Bio, 2014: Bob Chada
From good old C. E. Donart I went straight to OSU completing a BS in Agriculture in ’68 and getting married for the first time. Two sons came from that marriage and I will talk more about them later. I stayed in ROTC and also received a commission in the Army as an infantry officer. I spent the next 2 years working for Uncle Sam including a combat tour as a rifle platoon leader and company commander in Viet Nam with the First Infantry Division spending most of my time there enjoying the perks and fun in the “neutral” jungle. I did manage to duck most but not all of the incoming steel and wonder to this day why I am still here and two of my men are not. That is a loss I will always carry as they were my responsibility. I finished active duty in ’70 and got in the reserve officially retiring in ’06 as a full colonel with 38 years 10 months and 23 days total service, but then who is counting. The funny thing is that I would do it over again, I just have not been asked.Now on to the civilian side of my life. I went back to OSU, completed an MS in agriculture in ’72 and went to work for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture. After 26 years there including divorce 1 and marriage 2 (with a daughter), I retired and then went to work driving a school bus for almost 9 years including divorce 2. I thoroughly enjoyed that time as the kids on my bus became what I would call my extended family and I still keep in touch with many of them today. I then had two very significant events take place. I spent a week in lockdown for crossing the “normal” line, and met a very special English lady. She picked up on the fact that what I had was combat related PTSD as I was showing the same symptoms as her deceased husband (also a Viet Nam combat veteran). She got me connected with the VA where I got the help I didn’t even realize that I needed. We are now pretty much inseparable which I think is from a unique military connection. She served in combat with the Israeli armored corps that fought in Lebanon and Iraq during the ’82 Arab-Israeli war; therefore we connect on levels deeper than most people will ever know or can imagine. And for any of you who have never visited the Holy Land, you need to go.
As for my children, my oldest son Robert Jr. is married, lives in Broken Arrow and is an engineer with Valmont Industries. He is the father of twin boys, Robert III, called Trey, and Miller. My youngest son Evan, after some not so good times following high school, got his life together completing a double degree in English and History and teaches at Dover. My daughter J’Koa lives in Purcell with her mother and is a junior in high school. She has Aspergers but is gifted in art, the biological sciences, and anything to do with dragons. I wish she lived with me.
Now back to me. I went back to school and completed an MBA that I hoped would make me marketable, but age and the acronym PTSD do not seem to be compatible with working. So, I am thinking about becoming a certified life coach. Surely my life experiences will allow me to guide others in sorting out their lives and give me new purpose in mine.
For hobbies, I enjoy genealogy, and living here in Guthrie, Oklahoma territorial history. In that vein, I am part way through writing a book covering the letters of one Captain Robert Bell Huston. Huston served in the territorial National Guard, was Guthrie City Attorney, and went on to command D Troop of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, also known as Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders during the Spanish-American war. His letters provide an incredible first person commentary of the times and the war.
©2009 Stillwater High School Class of 1964