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Best
of Both Worlds J. D. Wetterling is a modern era Renaissance man, a well-rounded multi-skilled individual. At age 59, the Brevard-area resident is an elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, a prolific business columnist and op-ed writer, a popular speaker to varied audiences and a guest on talk radio and television shows. He orates about politics, business, history, ethics, patriotic themes and eternal truths. During the Vietnam War, Wetterling received two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 14 Air Medals and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry as a Top Gun fighter pilot with 268 missions in an F-100 airplane. Later, he became a governor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and worked as chief financial offier and chief executive officer of several companies he owned. "This is my second semi-retirement," Wetterling said with a grin. "The first one was in Florida in Siesta Key, near Sarasota. But then I heard about this job here at Ridge Haven, moved here in August 2001, and now I have the best of both worlds. My job as resident manager here is part-time, leaving me hours in which to write or keep speaking engagements. I would rather do either than eat!" Fourteen miles southwest of Brevard's courthouse, Ridge Haven is on 900 hushed wooded acres "out in the boondocks" just north of the state line. It is used as a retreat and conference center by its owner, the Presbyterian Church in America. Members of that or other denominations use the facility on winter weekends and all summer long. "Ridge Haven can sleep 400 people in motel-type rooms, dormitories and lodges as well as at 20 tent-camp sites and six RV hook-ups," Wetterling said. "We have two pools, two tennis courts, rope courses, playing fields and a carefully-maintained mud-hole, the summer campers' highlight. "We have meeting rooms for between two and 400. Any denomination may use Ridge Haven. Our cafeteria is staffed when needed. It is quiet here during the winter. I am on call but my phone seldom rings." This
productive man came from unpretentious beginnings as a farm boy in western
Illinois. "I was the only kid in my class. For six years we had a man teacher, then for two years it was a woman There were between three and five classes going on at once. I really did not like it at all," he said. His high-school education in a small town of 800 was a little more stimulating -- 29 other students were in his class. But that 12 years of concentrated education must have aided Wetterling when he studied business, aeronautical engineering and ROTC at the University of Illinois and later when he received his master's in business administration summa cum laude from the University of Utah. "I was fortunate that the Air Force sent professors from that school over to England when I was stationed there after Vietnam. I went to school nights for my MBA. My wife, Karen, was with me then and our son was born in England." During his years in the financial world Wetterling wrote several pieces about his Vietnam fighter pilot experiences, but he never did anything with them. "I would write a bit, then put them away for a day or two. When I looked again, I was so embarrassed, because they were so bad. "After a while, you get up your courage and try a few out on your wife or friends. But then you never know whether they are just being nice to you, "Wetterling said. Finally, he wrote a novel based on his fighting experience there and called it Son of Thunder. He tried dictating his words into a machine but it did not work for him. Instead, he wrote the whole book in longhand, and Karen typed it for him. After a while, Karen bought a typing tutorial book for her husband. He taught himself to type, and now, of course, has two computers. "It took me about eight years of writing and rewriting and sending it off to 20 different publishers, often stopping for a while when I became discouraged. It is a love story as well as a war story. Some of the flying scenes are exactly true, while others are embellished a little or entirely made up." The book was published in 1998 and is still selling well. Whenever Wetterling speaks to an audience, such as flyers' associations, church groups, business conventions or civic groups, his book is cited when he is introduced. In every article or op-ed piece he submits to high-circulation publications like the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek.com and World magazine, his footer mentions the book. In addition, many freelance pieces and segments of Son of Thunder are available free on his Web site: www.jdwetterling.com. He may be contacted at (828) 883-2240. Ridge Haven may be reached through www.ridgehaven.org or by phone at (828) 862-3916. Wetterling's style features his storytelling skill and his fancy for adjectives. He knows how to choose the exact word, the strong word to deliver his meaning. A good example is the opening paragraph of Son of Thunder: "It was a perfect Sunday morning for a baptism by fire. A magnificent clear blue sky covered the azure and emerald stained glass of the South China Sea, and a meandering tan ribbon of sand separated the sea from the lush, ragged green of the tropical jungle. Fire and brimstone were not a part of the spectacular scenery over the eastern shore of South Vietnam, but both were there, loaded and locked in the barrels of ten big anti-aircraft guns just over the horizon to the northwest." Wetterling's long-term goal is to write more books. When the tragedy of 9-11 struck, he was, ironically, working on a story about the first nuclear attack on this country. In that fiction work, the World Trade Center was destroyed. While his own words trembled on his computer monitor, they were translated into reality on his portable television on the other end of the same desk. Of course, I have had to put that book project aside. I have also written a very short book about religion which I want to have published soon. Right now, I am trying to find people with credentials to give me good quotes (for the back of the book jacket.) Wetterling
is justifiably proud of several plugs on the back of Son of Thunder. Perhaps his
favorite is from Gen. Ron Fogleman, former Chief of Staff, USAF, stating that
Wetterling's story "captures the (Vietnam) experience better than anyone
I've read or heard."
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