An interview with Michelle Theer: 'Marty was really a nice guy'
Q. I assume the fact that he went to the Air Force Academy influenced you to join the Air Force Reserves?
A. No. Actually, me joining the Air Force Reserves was really almost a whim. . . . I really didn't have any way to pay for college. You know, my parents really had never made enough money to have a college fund. You know, I didn't come from a family that had trust funds and college funds. . . there [was] no such thing as retirement funds, everything is–you make money and you pay your bills. . . .
Q. Did you go to college?
A. I ended up going to the University of Northern Colorado, which is in Greeley, Colo. I went there because I wanted to major in special education. . . I went there for two years, and then in January 1991, my Reserve unit was activated for Desert Storm, so I had to drop out. . . . We went down to [a]. . . base in Texas. . . . I actually worked in the command post. I was a command and control technician. . . .
Q. Did you go back to Greeley?
A. No, by then, Marty and I had gotten married. When Desert Storm ended, Marty and I got married, he graduated, and we moved to Enid, Okla., the armpit of Oklahoma. Of course, Oklahoma is sort of the armpit of the United States. We were in the armpit of the armpit. And we lived there for a year. I did the whole housewife thing, which, let me tell you, was very boring. . . . He was in flight school. . . . I didn't go to school that year. I was basically Mrs. Homemaker, at home making cakes.
Q. What was the date of your marriage?
A. June 1, 1991.
Q. Where were you married?
A. At the Air Force Academy chapel.
Q. Where did you go from Enid?
A. We went back to Denver, and Marty went to school there at Lowry Air Force Base to train for space operations. . . . He was training to be an orbital analyst. When he went back to flying, he left that job. . . .
Q. When you leave Denver, where do you go from there?
A. Colorado Springs. . . Falcon Air Force Station.
Q. Did you go back to school then?
A. That's when I went back to school. I went to the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Q. You finish your degree there?
A. That is when I decided to change my major to psychology. . . . I graduated in December 1994. . . . We ended up leaving Colorado Springs in May 1995, and we spent the summer in Texas. Marty went through a refresher flight course, and then we moved to Florida, to Patrick Air Force Base, right next to Melbourne, Fla., just south of Cocoa Beach.
Q. How long were you down there?
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