Citizen By Choice

This is the autobiography of my journey as an orphaned boy from Yauya, a small town in the Andes mountains of Peru, to the U.S.A. I spoke Italian, Quechua and Spanish by the age of three. Before my mother passed away when I was seven, once a year we traveled eight days on horseback from the top of the Andes to a small town in the jungle area of Peru, to trade various products grown in the mountains for various products grown in the jungle. I spent my adolescence in different places with different, loving, family members, and was responsible for my own studies. I survived a devastating avalanche, going over the side of a mountain in a car and nearly drowning three times. I explored many parts of Peru, including the Amazon River Jungle, where I hunted wild boars and alligators, and fished for piranhas, while working for an American Mining Company. I left Peru for the United States, with a resident visa, where I attended dental school for the second time, married my wife Betty and joined the U.S. Air Force. I am the father of four children and have 14 grandchildren.