Carl Pridemore has replied and related his life story.
I am a military brat. I was born on an Air Force base in Amarillo, Texas. I do not consider myself to be a southerner. No disrespect, but I have a love for Texas. My father spent 20 years in the Air Force. He joined at age 16 by lying to the recruiter. He was born to a family of what I call hillbillies in the southeastern mountains of Kentucky. My mother is a second generation Italian. My maternal great grandparents came from Italy as children and settled in the delta area of Mississippi. I have lived in Texas, Alaska, Langley, Virginia, Woodbridge, Virginia and now, the suburbs of Atlanta. Much of my early life was centered around other military families. I went to on base schools. I went to on base hospitals and was seen by military doctors until my early teens.
It was while living in Woodbridge, Virginia, I became interested in politics. If you do not know, Woodbridge is a sleeper community of Washington, D.C. My father had a sister that was very active in the national republican party. She hosted many events at her home which was 5-6 houses down the street from where we lived. My mother more or less catered many of the dinners. She did more of the cooking and work and received less of the credit for doing so. The entire side of my father's family was unabashedly republican. My first big step into being what I call active in politics was during Jimmy Carter's administration. We were living in Georgia at the time and every aspect of his term was daily fodder for the local news. I remember the energy crisis and long gas lines. My parents mortgage was 21%. I remember being told to turn down the heat and wear sweaters. The single most impact that affected me was the Iran hostage situation.
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