Greg, it sounds like your family is in stark contrast to Pat Conroy's growing up under the wing of the Great Santini. Conroy and his siblings were interviewed by SC historian Walter Edgar on SCETV radio Friday. It will re-air tonight at 7 pm. According to Pat ( I read this in a local newspaper), who made peace with his father and delivered his Dad's eulogy, said every day when he'd leave duty and return home in the afternoon, his wife would line the kids up in the home along the foyer wall and their father would walk in proclaiming: "Make way for a Marine fighter pilot". Conroy thought that every household in Beaufort experienced the same: "Make way for a chiropractor, lawyer, teacher, etc."at day's end when others' dads came home. A brother said: "I thought everyone in the world moved every two years and got beaten by their father once a day." Gil