 "I consider myself an autodidact (a self-taught individual). One reason I took on this massive project is that no one ever taught me or managed to convince me that I couldn't." The Korean History Project was not what I had in mind when I graduated from California State Polytechnic College, Pomona, California, in 1968, with a freshly minted Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering. My dream was to design and build airplanes. The closest I got was working at Lockheed Propulsion Company during my last two years in college evaluating rocket nozzle performance for the Poseidon and Polaris missiles. With the Vietnam War in full swing at the time, Uncle Sam had demands on my time, so I enlisted in the United States Naval Air Reserve in 1967 and, after graduation, spent my tour of active duty with Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 5, NAF China Lake, California ... joined the Navy and went to the Mojave Desert! Making the most of my time with this unique outfit, I taught myself Fortran programming and learned the skills of a scientific applications programmer. I've been using computers ever since. Part of my job at China Lake involved riding aboard combat naval aircraft as a data recorder. Some of that flight time was aboard Marine helicopters. It was love at first flight. After leaving the Navy, I trained as a helicopter pilot under the GI Bill and spent the next twenty-one years as a professional helicopter pilot, logging over 6200 hours as an instructor, bush pilot, fire fighter, and charter pilot. I've flown in virtually every western state, including Alaska and most of the southeastern United States. I spent fourteen years as a senior captain flying aeromedical helicopters. Throughout my aviation career, I developed my writing and computer skills, producing numerous technical manuals, newsletters and articles for in-house publications as well as customized software packages to enhance flight safety, navigation and aircraft maintenance. In 1975, I wrote Chopped Chopper, Never Again!, a 1,200 word article based on a personal flying experience in Alaska which was published in The AOPA Pilot, January, 1976. I also wrote a history of the helicopter, a training manual used by EMS helicopter flight crews, fire, police, and rescue personnel, and wrote and co-produced two award-winning public service videotapes for a major medical center. My interest in writing and computers provided me with an"escape route" in the event I could no longer fly or suddenly decided to take another path in life. That came in 1989, when I developed a keen interest in the Korean War. My father, Lt. Col. Joseph W. Caraway, USAF ret., served on General Douglas MacArthur's staff in Tokyo, Japan, and was the first Air Force officer ordered into Korea on June 27, 1950, just two days after the North Korean invasion. Raised as an Air Force dependent, I had the great fortune of living in Tokyo, Japan (1949-1951), and Wiesbaden and Ramstein, Germany (1959-1962), all before graduating from an American high school in Kaiserslautern, Germany. That kind of travel at an early age, particularly in Japan and Europe, produced a strong interest in world history and gave me a broad view and appreciation of different cultures. I finally stepped out of the cockpit in October 1991 to research Korean history full time and publish a comprehensive book that covered Korean history from 3,000 BC through the Korean War. I discovered the Internet during the summer of 1996 and, like everything else I've ever accomplished in life, decided to publish the book myself. It took over a year to get the computer system together, learn HTML and JavaScript programming and begin converting Korea in the Eye of the Tiger into an interactive format for the Internet. What you now see online is just the beginning.
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