Carl Mills was born March 25th, 1927 in Winfield, KS. He grew up on a ranch northwest of Cedar Vale, KS and went to high school there until he enlisted in the Navy in April of 1945. Carl remembers his first day of service as staying in a hotel in Kansas City before traveling to the Great Lakes for training. His highest rank was Motor Machinist 3rd Class for the USS Pledge AM277. He served in the Pacific Theatre late in the war and endured what he later discovered was a tsunami on the coast of Hawaii in April of 1946. After the service, Carl attended K-State, where it was crowded with Veterans. He then returned to the ranch where he worked on his family's land until the mid 1980's ranch economy crashed. He then transitioned into working for the county as an appraiser for the tax department until his retirement at the age of 74 years in 2001. He then worked part-time for the Kansas State Department of Revenue for 8 years.