I was born in 1959 and grew up in Glen Ellyn, IL, the second of three brothers. I graduated from Glenbard West high school. I received my bachelor’s degree in business management from Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois. I received my law degree from St. Louis University. My career has been in personal injury litigation, but I’ve always had a love of writing, photography, and family history. I have two wonderful children, two grandchildren, and I’m married for the second time, very happily, and living in southern Illinois near St. Louis, Missouri. My wife, Jo Ellen, has been tremendously helpful with the technical aspects of getting this blog up and running. 
Most of the credit for this blog must go to my Great Aunt Marty, who preserved the hundreds of letters that Buddy sent her over the years while he was away; and to my father, Charles F. Sharrard Jr., who inherited the letters and passed them on to me for safe-keeping. When I realized the depth of the story contained in these letters, I knew it was something to be shared with the world.
–Richard F. Sharrard, Sr.