From Maine To The Pentagon - Prologue. Prologue

It was an amicable breakup. Loretta Myers thought she would have a future with Anthony Griess. But after he told her he was joining the army, she understood that future would not happen.

Anthony wasn’t exactly truthful when he told Loretta he was joining the army. While that was true, he left out the fact that he had received an appointment to West Point. He simply didn’t want a girlfriend taking time away from his studies.

Three weeks after Anthony left, Loretta found out she was pregnant. The baby was Anthony’s, but she had no way of finding him. Her family wasn’t exactly poor, but they’d never be confused with the Rockefellers. A search just wasn’t in the cards.

Loretta met Bernie West a week later, slept with him on their first date and led him to believe the baby was his. Bernie’s family couldn’t be confused with the Rockefellers either, but his father did have a six-figure annual salary. Bernie thought he was in love, so they married after a two-month courtship.

Kurtis was born about two weeks late, from the obstetrician’s estimate. Bernie always thought he was two weeks early. Bernie treated Kurtis as if he was indeed his own son.

That lasted fourteen and a half years.