Davidson Loehr has been a Renaissance Man—or just a guy who never grew up. Professional musician, graduate of the Army’s best NCO academy and artillery Officer Candidate School. When he arrived in Vietnam, he was made the Vietnam Entertainment Officer, working with all the USO shows. After a few months, he felt cowardly and ashamed because all his OCS classmates were serving in combat units. So, he arranged another interview—he interviewed well—and spent his final seven months as a combat photographer and press officer. His 43 months in the Army were life-changing and character-forming. He pretty much did the Army his way, until Vietnam did him its way.

After returning from Vietnam and being released from active duty, he was a bit lost for over a decade, for reasons that may become clear. He has said that had he not lived these things, he probably wouldn’t believe them. A dozen years after coming home, he entered graduate school and earned an M.A. in “Methods of studying religion”, and a Ph.D. in theology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of science, and Wittgenstein’s “language philosophy” from the University of Chicago, before serving as a Unitarian minister for 23 years. Retiring in 2009, he moved to Weaverville, North Carolina in 2016, where he still lives.