Born August 7,1949 in Jersey Shore, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania to Hiram Whitman (Jr) and Mary Patricia Selts Whitman. I grew up in the Portsmouth/Chesapeake Virginia area. Began playing cornet in band in the 6th grade, and played cornet in the Deep Creek High School concert and marching bands all through high school, studying privately under the late Ted Bogsrud. After graduating from Deep Creek High School in Chesapeake, VA, I attended Longwood College in Farmville, VA for 2 years. Then worked as a key punch machine operator civil servant at the Naval Supply Center, Norfolk, VA until receiving a "Reduction in Force" notice. Enlisted in the US Army on 2 January 1970 , and served on active duty during the Viet Nam War and Desert Storm. After Basic Training I served for 7 years as a trumpet player, Company Clerk and Admin NCO in the final, longest serving, active duty all women's military band, the historic 14th Army Band WAC, (Women's Army Corps) at Fort McClellan, Alabama. I also trained and performed on snare drum and percussion instruments. When the US military moved to integrate the women into the Regular Army in the mid-1970s, and inactivated the Women's Army Corps (official inactivation was in 1978), I volunteered for assignment to South Korea and was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division Band, Camp Casey, South Korea, serving there at the end of 1976, and most of 1977 (14 months) as Squad Leader and Section Leader, and as trumpet and French Horn player, percussionist, and also as Operations NCO and Admin NCO. In December 1977 I was assigned to the 2nd Armored Division Band at Fort Hood, Texas, and served as a Platoon Sgt/Group Leader on trumpet, French Horn and percussion, and as Operations NCO, Supply Sgt, and Admin NCO, and as EEO NCO for 502nd AG Company at Fort Hood, TX. I completed some college courses, and music courses under the teaching of Adel Galanfy, at Central Texas College in Killeen, TX. In 1984 I was selected and assigned as the Enlisted Personnel Manager for CMF 97, Army Bands, at the US Army Personnel Command, at Headquarters, Department of the Army in Alexandria, VA, where I provided information and gave briefings to other Department of the Army Personnel Commands about the issues, soundness, and strength projections for the Army's bands. I was in charge of managing the accessions of band recruits, and was responsible for assigning enlisted musician/soldiers to projected vacancies in Army Bands world-wide, and filling classes for professional development schooling of enlisted Army band soldiers. I completed a few college courses at Northern Virginia Community College. During this assignment I played trumpet and French horn in a civilian woodwind quintet, a civilian brass quintet, and a 6 piece civilian combo, in order to maintain my musical skills. These 3 groups performed throughout the greater Washington DC area. I served in the Enlisted Personnel Manager position for 7 years. My awards included the Meritorious Service Medal-2nd award, the Army Commendation Medal , the Army Achievement Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon, and the Korean Defense Ribbon. After having served from the Viet Nam War era through Desert Storm, I retired in August 1991 with 21 years, 7 months of active duty service as a MSG/E8. In the early 1990s I took private trumpet lessons under Blakely Rosengaft, trumpeter in the US Air Force Band. I was a member of the WAC Veteran's Association Heritage Chapter 62, and now the Musician's Chapter #121 WACVA-AWU; and worked as a veterinary assistant for 17.5 years at 3 animal hospitals in Alexandria and Woodbridge, VA. In addition, I worked for 2.5 years as a grocery store cashier at Safeway. I tried truck driving and graduated from CDS Tractor Trailer Driving School in Thornburg, VA with a Class A and B license. I worked for a short time for Werner Trucking Company of Allentown, PA, and drove a tractor trailer all over the eastern half of the United States. Truck driving was not a good fit for me so I resigned and pursued other jobs. For my third and last career, I was employed with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) for 14 years and 8 months as a custodian at Fort Belvoir, VA. Various duties included unloading the trucks in the stock room as a laborer, assisting the store stockers, and performed various duties as custodian for the large retail Exchange store. In August 2013, I participated with other WAC Band alumni in a brass quintet. We provided music for both the Women's Army Corps Convention in Norfolk, VA, and played a concert at the Women in Military Service For America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, playing the historic songs of the Women's Army Corps. These two performances by WAC Band members who all served in the WAC Band together, carried the history and legacy of the 14th Army Band WAC, and the Women's Army Corps, forward into the 21st Century, a full 35 years after the inactivation of the Women's Army Corps. And in 2022 I played with the WAC brass quintet again for a concert at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. I live in Alexandria, VA. I am a member of the Association of Military Musicians, Inc., and the Women's Army Corps Veterans Association-Army Women United, Chapter 121 - Musicians Chapter. My father, Hiram, served with honor during World War Two in the US Navy. I have a brother, James Whitman, who is also an Army veteran, and is a retired helicopter pilot who worked as a pilot for medical air evacuation organizations in several states. He and his wife Sharon Wright Whitman, a retired nurse anesthetist, now live in Kentucky. Their daughter, Laura, my niece, is a registered nurse. Jim's stepson Christopher Wright is my step-nephew. My sister, Kathleen Woolard, who is a retired Army Corps of Engineers secretary, and a wife and mother, is married to Tim Woolard, a retired Army Corps of Engineer Surveyor. Their daughter, my niece Heather, lives in Chesapeake, VA. As a musician, I had enjoyed singing alto in church choir, and for several years took private lessons from a distinguished professional trumpet player in the US Air Force Band, Blakely Rosengaft. For ten years I was a member and trumpet player in the Mount Vernon Community Band. I am a trumpet and French Horn player with a brass ensemble, the MV Brass. I am a student of The Word, the Holy Bible, I'm a believer and worshipper of the Living Almighty GOD, the Creator, the Everlasting Father; and follower, servant and soldier for my Lord and Savior, The Redeemer, the Messiah, The Anointed One, Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross, shed His blood for the sins of the whole world, was buried, and rose to heaven on the third day. Christ will come again in glory and majesty as King of Kings and LORD of Lords.