I am originally from Houston, Texas. Born and raised there, never leaving that area until the day I went to basic training for the U.S. Army at Fort Knox, Kentucky. The Army really opened my eyes to the world, and how lucky I was to be raised in a strong family that earned just enough money to keep food on the table and a roof over the heads of my two other brothers and I. While in the Army, I was stationed in Germany for eight years. Being able to experience a new culture helped me to broaden my thoughts on my life and how I lived it.
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While in Germany, myself and many of my comrades were sent to Iraq in 2003 for the initial invasion of the country. We eventually spent 12 months in that country, living day to day, always unsure what the next day would bring us. I am thankful for every moment that I had to spend there, although, I would never want to do it again. I never knew what poor, or oppressed, or forgotten looked like until I saw the men, women, and children of that country. Returning back to Germany was a real shock to me. We changed from living in squalor to lavish accommodations over night. I'll never get over that first feeling of being able to walk to a bathroom with running water and not have to gamble if it would be hot when I turned it on. Unfortunately, there would be two more of those trips to the Middle East.
In the nine years I was in the Army, I spent 40 months between Iraq and Afghanistan with various breaks mixed in there. As fortune would have it, I found the person that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with while in Germany, and we were married in 2006. Miriam Egger and I would finally depart Germany (and the Army) in January of 2009. We started our new life in Houston, Texas where I was hired at the local police department to be a 911 Telecommunications Officer. In 2010 our first child, Lukas Zygmund, was born. Shortly after, in 2011, a daughter was bestowed on us. Since then, we have been one big, happy family, and I would not change it for anything.
Aviation was always my passion since I was a young boy hanging on the fence at Hobby Airport in Houston, my grandfather standing close by, watching the jets takeoff and land. I tried to pay my way through helicopter pilot training, but life wouldn't have any of that. Luckily, someone smiled down upon me and I was accepted into the Southern Utah University Aviation Program in 2014.
Now you are reading about a man that is living out his dream of becoming a helicopter pilot. I hope one day I can be an Aero Medical helicopter pilot and provide people the life saving transport that is needed. I hope my chances are made better by obtaining my Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certification as well. Throughout these pages you will be able to see the training I went through to obtain the EMT certification. I know there are people out there that are hurting, and I hope to be a vessel for their relief. All of those things I have seen in my days in the Army have brought me to this point in my life: A calling to continue to help people while helping myself to be a better person.