John Walton Myers

1965-66

910-995-3975

U.S. Navy 1967-71, Vietnam War service 1969; 1975 graduate of University of Missouri-Columbia bachelor of photojournalism; photojournalist and editor of various newspapers in North Carolina 1975-2004; 2000 graduate of Sandhills Community College, Southern Pines NC, internet technology certificate; web designer since 1998, technical writer/photographer 2004-2009; since Jan. 2009 working as gun store salesman and web designer for Village Pawn & Gun Shop of Wadesboro, NC, http://www.villagepawnandgunshop.com/

The most important event of my life occurred on Feb. 28, 1977, which this former dope-head, boozer and hell raiser gave up those bad habits and became a born-again Christian. It took a while to give up the doping, boozing and hell-raising, but that's the day my spiritual journey began and I'm still learning today what it really means to be disciple of Jesus Christ. Since about 1978, I've been a Sunday School teacher and am currently teacher of the Disciples Sunday School Class at Sweet Haven Church of Rockingham, NC, where I also currently serve on the governing board of directors.

Enrolled midway in my senior year 1965 and graduated, then stayed for one post-graduate year in 1966. The only cadet I knew on arrival was Edwin Dunn, trumpet player in CMA Band Company, and Ed wangled me into the band even though I can't play any musical instrument. The band leader handed me a pair of cymbals and I could march and clang on the cymbals with each pace, so I became a marching band member. I also joined the CMA Rifle Team and competed in .22LR matches, the first formal training I ever had with shooting. Those lessons are still with me today as I recently became an NRA-certified firearms instructor, teaching Basic Pistol and N.C. Concealed Carry Handgun classes at the gun shop where I have worked since January 2009.

I also worked as the school photographer at CMA for the newspaper and annual, valuable experiences that I continued later as a photojournalist in my newspaper career and still use today as a web designer and Internet Photojournalist, a phrase I coined to describe what I have done since 1998, a writer/photographer who also builds web sites.

Since July 2008, I have also blogged about my chief interests in God, Guns & Grits, the name of my blog at http://godgunsandgrits.blogspot.com/

No

From A Fellow Cadet

Edwin Dunn is the only former classmate I've seen since leaving CMA in 1966.

Flunked out of high school midway through my senior year and my parents enrolled me in CMA in the hope I could graduate on time. I didn't care for the discipline and hard work educationally expected of cadets at first, but quickly found I enjoyed the military life, even rising at 6 a.m., a habit that has remained with me for life. The discipline of study and military life that I learned at CMA made a tremendous difference in the rest of my life. I benefited from that experience during my service in the Navy during the Vietnam War and am today a product of a good education at CMA.

No