William Russell Raiford

Agonies of Enjoyment William Russell Raiford

Writing an autobiography can be difficult, especially when a portion of one's life has been spent in the quiet, discreet and unheralded service to one's country. In order to protect the identity of certain individuals and their descendants, I have had to change names, dates and, in some instances, even places. Nevertheless, the life experiences I am about to relate are true. The people are real. Some of the situations are known to several people; some are known only to a few. I have omitted several instances that happened because of their delicate nature as it relates to the security of both individuals and countries. The first part of my life's story, up until about age thirty, is straightforward, the normal recollections of "a gentleman of the Old South." But the majority of my life, thus far, is still cloaked in, what I prefer to call, "service to others." My father had an expression which I liked. It was not original with him, but hearing him say it impressed me greatly. "It's amazing what you can get done, if you don't care who gets the credit."