“Trifling of Manny”

Late in life, my great grandfather “John Larson” came to the United States on a White Star Line. John Larson did not stay up north with the other Larsons. He moved south to Kansas and married an Indian woman. John would later be transferred to Las Vegas, New Mexico where he worked on the Santa Fe railroad. The Indian woman left my great grandfather, and soon after that John would pass away. My great grandfather was 87 years old when he died. My grandfather and his brother and sister had no one. My grandfather was only seven at the time. A very young Mexican family shows compassion to my grandfather and his brother and sister by giving them a home and raising them as their own children.

As for my mother,a Gonzalez, comes from a very old ranchero Spanish family from Spain. They raised sheep. Their land is 30 miles west from Las Vegas, New Mexico and is on top of a mesa that is called “Trujillo.” The land was given to them by the King of Spain, and they were there 300 years before the first white men would come. (Spanish people are European, and white too) They brought the cattle and sheep to the land which would later killed the Native Americans in great numbers. The Spaniards were notorious record keepers, and not once, can you find anything in their records about the great herds of buffalo. We believe the herds of buffalo grew out of control with the great passing of the Native Americans.

As for me, I do not see myself as a ranchero nor can I ride a horse. My father was in Air Force, and I got to see the world. I lived in Mississippi for three years. (Yes, we got out before Camille hit Biloxi) My father's next duty station was Alaska, and it is a one of the most wonderful places in the world. Even at that young age, I haven't forgotten its beauty. After that, we moved to New Jersey. Next, my father had orders for Korea. I was able to go home to Las Vegas, New Mexico for one year. I found out then I was very different from the people of Las Vegas and my cousins. I did not speak Spanish anymore, and I have a very different view of life. We have some things in common like church, however, we were not the same; (By the way, I am Catholic) when my father came back from Korea, we moved to Minnesota for four years and then the Panama Canal Zone for four years. I was there when Jimmy Carter gave the Panama Canal away. I graduated from Balboa high school in 1979.

In 1981, I enlisted in the U.S. Army. The plan was to do three years and get out. Instead, I married a Vietnamese lady, Chi Kim Larson, who has put up with me for 22 years. She is the better part of me, and I still love her so. I left the army in 1997. I had enough… (I only served less than 15 years) As a civilian, I worked in telephony for next five years. In 2002, I got laid off from Alcatel. (It was a very bad year for all in the “Telephony Field”) We over built the networks for all of the “.com companies” business that did not happen... With very few options left, I chose work in Kuwait then later work in Iraq. I came back to the states in November 2006.