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My name is Todd, and this is the story of my life...
I was born on May 29, 1962 in Granite City, Illinois. My parents are both from the Midwest, as well as most of my relatives. As a young child, we traveled quite a bit and moved around due to my father’s military career in the US Coast Guard. My earliest memories are of a young child following my father around in moves to various air bases as he underwent flight training. Some fond memories include growing up in Florida, and in Elizabeth City NC, near the Coast Guard base. As you can probably tell, these influences led directly to my aviation career and my desire to fly from a very young age. During these formative years, another influence began to affect me in other ways: my parents became members of the Worldwide Church of God in 1967, when I was only 5 years old. Just as I clearly remember my family's service in the military, and also remember those early days in the WCG.
Fast forward many years, and we come to my present life in Richmond, Virginia, where we have lived ever since my father resigned from the service and our family left the WCG. Growing up in central VA has been one of the best experiences of my life, and I always remind myself how thankful I am that my parents made the move from NC to Richmond. We were by no means “well off” when I was young, but I never had to go without, and thoroughly enjoyed my childhood in this area.
I attended local school from the 5th grade, all the way through to High School graduation, and then had the privilege to attend Virginia Tech in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains just a few hours west of Richmond. Growing up, I continued with my flying interests, and soloed by 16, and received my Pilot’s license at 17. After graduating from VA Tech, I was able to attend flight school and graduate from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach with a degree in flight. It was also during my years in flight school that I became interested in religion, and began re-attending the WCG in Orlando. I was baptized on April 19, 1986.
After flight school, I traveled around to various states to work as a flight instructor, but when I got out of flight school, the economy was in rough shape, and not very many people were that interested in learning to fly. That lead me to return to Richmond and work here as a pilot. By 1992, I was flying full time as an instructor and charter pilot. This experience led to bigger and better positions in the local area which allowed me to fly much more complex propeller and jet aircraft. By 1996, I had a local position flying Lear Jets, as well as flying as Captain on “King Airs”, which are mid-size corporate turbo-props. After accumulating the required experience and flight hours, I was hired by Atlantic Coast Airlines, in Washington-Dulles as a First Officer, flying turbo-props and Regional jets all over the country.
I remember one morning in particular while working at ACA. I was sound asleep in Springfield, Missouri after a grueling first day of my four day trip, when the phone rang way too early to be my wake up call. Matter of fact it was 9:00 AM sharp, as I answered the phone in a not too happy tone. I was sure it was a prank call from my crewmates, as this was standard fare in the airlines as a practical joke. Unfortunately, this call was no joke – the Captain was calling me to let me know that planes had crashed into the World Trade Centers and that we were under attack. That day was September 11, 2001.
We were stuck there for three days, and unable to get back home due to the airlines being grounded, and only allowed to fly a very limited number of flights. I finally had to drive myself home Springfield back to Richmond. My life has never been the same. Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way about “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”, which lasted for several years. Still to this day it is difficult to think about or discuss, but now that I understand what really happened that day, I am much better able to deal with those emotions. I was actively involved with a certain religious group at this time, and I cover this information in the article “Why True Bread” in detail, and will not revisit that topic here.
As the cumulative effects of 911 slowly worked their way through the economy, and my airline, it was clear to me that my airline career was coming to an end, so in June 2004 I resigned from my one and only airline position. It was a bittersweet day. Being based on the east coast as an airline pilot means multiple operations into and out of the NYC area airports, and having flown over and by the WTC buildings when they were standing, and also after they were brought down, I was relieved to not have to fly up there anymore. Needless to say, flying over Ground Zero was not a comfortable experience. Six months after I resigned, Independence Air was dissolved and ceased to exist.
That event has led me right back to where it all began for my flying career, and I still work as a flight instructor at the very airport where I first soloed back on May 29th 1978. Most recently, I worked as the Chief Pilot of a large flight school here in Richmond, and have recently left that position. This has allowed me much greater flexibility to focus on “True Bread”, as well as to pursue other options in flying. Currently, I am hoping to eventually have the capability to focus on True Bread 100%, but do not have the financial ability to do so at this time.
I now live near Richmond VA, in the home I have owned for almost a decade. Family members are very close by (mom, dad, three sisters and one brother) and some attend weekly Sabbath services here in my home.
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