In his own words from a memoir compiled before his death in 2008, this book reveals the Virginia and West Virginia youth, WWII Marine Officer experiences in the Pacific Theater (including the Battle of Okinawa), and early legal career in Virginia and California (1948-1953) of Thomas Keister Greer (1921-2008). With an Introduction, Notes, maps, and photos, supplied by his widow Elizabeth "Ibby" Greer, this memoir is the first in a series. The future volumes will contain his legal career (1948-1999), as he wrote about it. A nationally-known litigator, member of both the Virginia and California Bars, T. K. Greer was involved in cases of fraud, water rights, murder, and property, including a case won before the US Supreme Court whose results continue to help all US serviceman to this day. A Southern Gentleman of Scottish descent whose family was among the first to settle Virginia and to serve in the courts and legislature, Greer was a proud Virginian and also the author of "Genesis of a Virginia Frontier: The Origins of Franklin County, Virginia, 1740-1785" (1946; 2005, History House Press) and "The Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial of 1935" (History House Press, 2003), the definitive legal history of the moonshining activities and trials in southwest Virginia. Material from that book was used and fictitionalized by Matt Bondurant for his novel, "The Wettest County" and subsequent film, "Lawless." The current volume of Greer's memoirs focuses on his childhood in McDowell County, West Virginia, his education at the University of Virginia, his Marine Corps training before the war, his actions in WWII, his legal training and earliest cases. Married for 46 years to his late first wife and 18 to his second, Greer lived half a century at his 19th century Virginia estate, The Grove, in Rocky Mount. Classically-educated and a collector of first editions and rare history books, he was known for his vast knowledge of Southern, Virginia, Civil War, and British history. A much loved husband, father, and step-father, Greer lived a full life. He made a difference.