(Author Contributed)

William Neil Martin was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1942. When he was eight months old his family moved to the coastal town of Gulfport. This would be his home for the next seventeen years.

Among his earliest memories of growing up in Gulfport was the hurricane that struck the Gulf Coast in 1947. Though he was only five years old at the time, the sounds of the howling wind is still vivid in his memory. He also recalls riding with his family along the streets the following day and seeing numerous fallen trees and destroyed homes and businesses. To a five-year-old it was an adventure. It would only be after he was older that he would understand the heartbreak and misery that such a catastrophe can bring.

In 1960 he moved with his family to Southern California. Following an enlistment in the Navy and a few years of college he joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He retired in 1997 after 29 years of service, having advanced to the rank of captain.