Tasman Lees Graham was born to Ronal D. Graham and Georgina "Bonnie" Lees on September 8th, 1931. When he was about three years old, his mother moved Tas and his brother Ian back to her home in Tasmania. It was there that Tas spent his youth. He and his family lived in Burnie, Launceston and Oatlands among others.
He completed an apprenticeship as a Cabinet Maker and Joiner while working at Kirkpatrick Brothers in Burnie. The woodworking skills he learned here would stay with him for the rest of his life. Tas loved tools; using them and collecting them. You can never have enough clamps.
He grew up loving to ride motorcycles. He raced on Bakers Beach and in trials set up by the Tasmanian Motorcycle Club. He owned several bikes, the one he spoke of the most was a Norton Model 40 that he sold in order to pay his passage back to the US on the SS Sierra. He arrived in San Francisco on October 8th 1952.
After a visit to Idaho Falls to see his Dad and brothers, Tas enlisted in the US Army in January 1953. He did his Basic Training at Ft Ord, California and with the Korean War still ongoing anticipated getting sent there. Instead, it was off to Engineer Officer Candidate School at Ft Belvoir, Virginia.
His first duty station was Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri where he ran the Carpentry Course. From there the Army sent him to Germany where he served in HACOM. Through mutual friends, he met Helga and they were married in March of 1958. To this marriage would be born four children, two daughters and two sons.
Together they spent the next two plus decades traveling the world with the Army. Tas was stationed in Ft. Lewis, Ft Benning, Vietnam twice, Germany twice, and Virginia twice. He served as a Company Commander, Engineer Advisor to I Corps in RVN, Instructor at the Infantry School, Battalion S3 and XO in the 12th Engineers, with the Engineer Advisory Group in RVN, Battalion Commander of the 54th Engineers, Brigade S3 of the 130th Engineers, and finally as Chief, Military Engineering Division in the Pentagon.
After retirement, Tas and Helga moved to Upper Tract, WV. They built a home, put down roots and lived here longer than anywhere else during their marriage. Tas was very active in the Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad. He finally had time for his life long interest in the shooting sports and enjoyed hunting, target shooting, reloading ammunition and gunsmithing. He and his friends rode four wheelers and spent many hours in conversation at Kile's Grocery.
When health concerns became an issue, Tas and Helga moved first to Orting, Washington and then to nearby Bonney Lake.
He completed an apprenticeship as a Cabinet Maker and Joiner while working at Kirkpatrick Brothers in Burnie. The woodworking skills he learned here would stay with him for the rest of his life. Tas loved tools; using them and collecting them. You can never have enough clamps.
He grew up loving to ride motorcycles. He raced on Bakers Beach and in trials set up by the Tasmanian Motorcycle Club. He owned several bikes, the one he spoke of the most was a Norton Model 40 that he sold in order to pay his passage back to the US on the SS Sierra. He arrived in San Francisco on October 8th 1952.
After a visit to Idaho Falls to see his Dad and brothers, Tas enlisted in the US Army in January 1953. He did his Basic Training at Ft Ord, California and with the Korean War still ongoing anticipated getting sent there. Instead, it was off to Engineer Officer Candidate School at Ft Belvoir, Virginia.
His first duty station was Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri where he ran the Carpentry Course. From there the Army sent him to Germany where he served in HACOM. Through mutual friends, he met Helga and they were married in March of 1958. To this marriage would be born four children, two daughters and two sons.
Together they spent the next two plus decades traveling the world with the Army. Tas was stationed in Ft. Lewis, Ft Benning, Vietnam twice, Germany twice, and Virginia twice. He served as a Company Commander, Engineer Advisor to I Corps in RVN, Instructor at the Infantry School, Battalion S3 and XO in the 12th Engineers, with the Engineer Advisory Group in RVN, Battalion Commander of the 54th Engineers, Brigade S3 of the 130th Engineers, and finally as Chief, Military Engineering Division in the Pentagon.
After retirement, Tas and Helga moved to Upper Tract, WV. They built a home, put down roots and lived here longer than anywhere else during their marriage. Tas was very active in the Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad. He finally had time for his life long interest in the shooting sports and enjoyed hunting, target shooting, reloading ammunition and gunsmithing. He and his friends rode four wheelers and spent many hours in conversation at Kile's Grocery.
When health concerns became an issue, Tas and Helga moved first to Orting, Washington and then to nearby Bonney Lake.
Tasman Lees Graham was born to Ronal D. Graham and Georgina "Bonnie" Lees on September 8th, 1931. When he was about three years old, his mother moved Tas and his brother Ian back to her home in Tasmania. It was there that Tas spent his youth. He and his family lived in Burnie, Launceston and Oatlands among others.
He completed an apprenticeship as a Cabinet Maker and Joiner while working at Kirkpatrick Brothers in Burnie. The woodworking skills he learned here would stay with him for the rest of his life. Tas loved tools; using them and collecting them. You can never have enough clamps.
He grew up loving to ride motorcycles. He raced on Bakers Beach and in trials set up by the Tasmanian Motorcycle Club. He owned several bikes, the one he spoke of the most was a Norton Model 40 that he sold in order to pay his passage back to the US on the SS Sierra. He arrived in San Francisco on October 8th 1952.
After a visit to Idaho Falls to see his Dad and brothers, Tas enlisted in the US Army in January 1953. He did his Basic Training at Ft Ord, California and with the Korean War still ongoing anticipated getting sent there. Instead, it was off to Engineer Officer Candidate School at Ft Belvoir, Virginia.
His first duty station was Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri where he ran the Carpentry Course. From there the Army sent him to Germany where he served in HACOM. Through mutual friends, he met Helga and they were married in March of 1958. To this marriage would be born four children, two daughters and two sons.
Together they spent the next two plus decades traveling the world with the Army. Tas was stationed in Ft. Lewis, Ft Benning, Vietnam twice, Germany twice, and Virginia twice. He served as a Company Commander, Engineer Advisor to I Corps in RVN, Instructor at the Infantry School, Battalion S3 and XO in the 12th Engineers, with the Engineer Advisory Group in RVN, Battalion Commander of the 54th Engineers, Brigade S3 of the 130th Engineers, and finally as Chief, Military Engineering Division in the Pentagon.
After retirement, Tas and Helga moved to Upper Tract, WV. They built a home, put down roots and lived here longer than anywhere else during their marriage. Tas was very active in the Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad. He finally had time for his life long interest in the shooting sports and enjoyed hunting, target shooting, reloading ammunition and gunsmithing. He and his friends rode four wheelers and spent many hours in conversation at Kile's Grocery.
When health concerns became an issue, Tas and Helga moved first to Orting, Washington and then to nearby Bonney Lake.
He completed an apprenticeship as a Cabinet Maker and Joiner while working at Kirkpatrick Brothers in Burnie. The woodworking skills he learned here would stay with him for the rest of his life. Tas loved tools; using them and collecting them. You can never have enough clamps.
He grew up loving to ride motorcycles. He raced on Bakers Beach and in trials set up by the Tasmanian Motorcycle Club. He owned several bikes, the one he spoke of the most was a Norton Model 40 that he sold in order to pay his passage back to the US on the SS Sierra. He arrived in San Francisco on October 8th 1952.
After a visit to Idaho Falls to see his Dad and brothers, Tas enlisted in the US Army in January 1953. He did his Basic Training at Ft Ord, California and with the Korean War still ongoing anticipated getting sent there. Instead, it was off to Engineer Officer Candidate School at Ft Belvoir, Virginia.
His first duty station was Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri where he ran the Carpentry Course. From there the Army sent him to Germany where he served in HACOM. Through mutual friends, he met Helga and they were married in March of 1958. To this marriage would be born four children, two daughters and two sons.
Together they spent the next two plus decades traveling the world with the Army. Tas was stationed in Ft. Lewis, Ft Benning, Vietnam twice, Germany twice, and Virginia twice. He served as a Company Commander, Engineer Advisor to I Corps in RVN, Instructor at the Infantry School, Battalion S3 and XO in the 12th Engineers, with the Engineer Advisory Group in RVN, Battalion Commander of the 54th Engineers, Brigade S3 of the 130th Engineers, and finally as Chief, Military Engineering Division in the Pentagon.
After retirement, Tas and Helga moved to Upper Tract, WV. They built a home, put down roots and lived here longer than anywhere else during their marriage. Tas was very active in the Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad. He finally had time for his life long interest in the shooting sports and enjoyed hunting, target shooting, reloading ammunition and gunsmithing. He and his friends rode four wheelers and spent many hours in conversation at Kile's Grocery.
When health concerns became an issue, Tas and Helga moved first to Orting, Washington and then to nearby Bonney Lake.
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