The authors, Ronald C. Beach and Lee W. Pitts, are natives of Bremerton, Washington, and have been friends from childhood. Both are retired veterans of the US Army, and Ron Beach d...view moreThe authors, Ronald C. Beach and Lee W. Pitts, are natives of Bremerton, Washington, and have been friends from childhood. Both are retired veterans of the US Army, and Ron Beach did his twenty-four years in the military in Armored Cavalry and Tank Battalions and eventually rose to the rank of command sergeant major. Ron served a tour of combat duty in Vietnam in the Twenty-Fifth Infantry Division and later as a civilian volunteered as an advisor to the Eleventh Armored Cavalry during the first Gulf War on the M1 and M1A1 tanks. Lee Pitts served as a combat engineer in the US Army and was also in the Vietnam War and rose to the rank of master sergeant and retired after twenty years of service.view less