Al Thompson has extensive experience as a technical writer and training course developer for various computer companies. He has authored more than eighty books on computer applications. He has also functioned as department head for the Publications and Marketing departments.
Al was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Upon graduation from high school, he joined the Marine Corps. Upon discharge, he completed a trade school course at Control Data Institute in Computer Science. He then worked as a manufacturing technician and customer service engineer on large mainframe computers. He lived and worked in the Santa Clara Valley in the 1970s and 80s when computers were being developed.
He completed an undergraduate BSCS degree at San Jose State in Technology Management, an MBA from The University of Phoenix, and a Doctoral work at San Jose State in Mass Communications.
He has taught business and computer science at the University of Phoenix. Portland Community College and Pioneer Pacific University.
This is the story of two men and two women born almost a hundred years apart who shared a dream. Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace created the vision in the 19th Century; Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper made it come true in the 20th Century.
It is the tale of a series of inventors and their inventions that made the dream possible. People who dedicated their lives to inventions that led to the first modern computer.
So too, we mastered their wisdom and moved beyond it. Due to their knowledge, we grew wise and could achieve all that we achieved, not because we were greater than them but because we were dwarfs astride the shoulders of giants.
The 1st Battalion, 9th Marines (1/9) was born on the Marine Corps 142nd birthday in 1917. Over the next 97 years they earned a place in Marine Corps history for bravery and courage that was highlighted by four years of combat in Vietnam.
During those four years the battalion suffered more casualties than any unit in Marine Corps history, and earned its enduring nickname, “The Walking Dead.”
This story is dedicated to the memory of the heroes who gave their lives for freedom. A story of sacrifice and honor. These heroes gave the last full measure of devotion; and they left their future on the ground in the jungle so that others could have a future of freedom.