Biographical note on military Service:

I received my BA cum laude from Syracuse University in 1958 and was designated a Distinguished Military Graduate which qualified me for an appointment in the Regular Army which I declined. My active duty was deferred while I completed law school. I entered active duty on September 18, 1960 and trained as a tank platoon leader at Fort Knox Kentucky and was assigned to the Second Armored Division in Fort Hood Texas. I transferred to the Judge Advocate service in March 1961 and was assigned as assistant JAG to the Fifth Region ARADCOM at Fort Sheridan Illinois. ARADCOM was the Army's Air Defense Command. The Fifth Region was charged with control of nuclear tipped Nike-Zeus missile air defenses of major cities in the Midwest from Cleveland in the east to Minneapolis-St. Paul in the west and St. Louis in the south.

As a staff-officer, I was assigned a "combat" role as assistant personnel officer in case of actual combat.

In October 1962, my fellow officers and I gathered in the day room of our quarters (BOQ) and watched on TV as JFK delivered his announcement of the presence of missiles in Cuba and the immediate steps to be taken to quarantine Cuba. Within seconds (perhaps only one) of the conclusion of his statement on TV, the BOQ telephone rang. The alert level had been raised to DefCon 2. We were on combat status. Defcon1, the highest level was reserved for "we are under attack."

I am not the only member of family with military service. I am the youngest (and sole surviving) of five boys born to Minnie and Frank Klotz in Syracuse, New York. My only sister Marie is also surviving. For information for additional biographical information see http://johnklotzbio.blogspot.com/2015/05/john-klotz-author-scholar-attorney.html