Son of The Heartland

The author traces his "checkered past" from his Iowa roots to West Point graduation and military service in Vietnam, then for almost ten years reporting on Asia from locations such as the China-Vietnam border; the Killing Fields inside Cambodia; the assassination of Indira Gandhi; to the last years of the Marcos regime in Manila, and many others. His major life change occurred during a midlife crisis in 1988 when confronted like the prophet Isaiah of "living among a people of unclean lips" and being challenged to answer the questions: "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" Like Isaiah, Dave also responded, "Here am I. Send me." His memoir combines international work and diplomatic assignments with his faith witness as a lay preacher and taking part in related ministries. Readers will discover his formula for great relationships that mesh with personal growth from many dramatic encounters in his unique Christian walk. On the way to the Promised Land. Dave began sharpening his writing craft with required essays at West Point; his military assignment in Thailand on communist insurgencies in Asia; his staff work years later supporting principals in the Department of Defense - bookends to nearly a decade as a foreign reporter for CBS News, Newsweek magazine, and the British Broadcasting Corporation. He likes the late James Michener for his historical novels and the late Og Mandino for The Greatest Miracle in the World, containing the priceless "God Memorandum". Dave lives in northern Virginia with his lovely wife Vasana and their two grown children and charming granddaughters "(The Next) Queen Elizabeth" and "Princess Charlotte" living nearby.