School & Community News

Jim's update

James Wetherill Shaffner, is the son of Albert Sidney Johnson, Marion Wetherill Johnson and the grandson of Richard Wetherill and Marietta Palmer Wetherill. James (Jim) was raised by Everett E. Shaffner after the death his father in 1952.

After attending public schools in Tucumcari, New Mexico and graduating in 1965, I attended Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) in Portales, New Mexico. After attending the university for a year and a half I was drafted into the US Army. While in the army I served a one year tour of duty in Co C 15th TC Battalion of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in the Republic of Vietnam. I was stationed at such places as An Khe, Chu Lai, and Hue-Phu Bai. I spent about half my tour on Greenline duty with a machine gun. The Greenline was the perimeter of a military camp that had sand bagged, wooden bunkers spaced about one and two hundred yards apart. The bunkers were manned from dusk to dawn. Each bunker had two soldiers in it with a light machine gun and other weapons. The area my camp was in Hue-Phu Bai Vietnam 1968was heavily contaminated with Agent Orange. The contamination is obvious by1st Air Calvary,Camp Evans, near Hue, Vietnam looking at the tents and bunkers in the attached photo. Not one single green plant ever grew in the area, even during the rainy season. After a year in Vietnam I spent a number of months at Fort Riley, Kansas before being transferred to Europe. I spent a short time in Germany before being permanently assigned to NATO Headquarters in Mons, Belgium.

After being honorably discharged from the U.S. Army I attended Eastern New Mexico University, working part time for the facilities management department four years. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1974. My first two jobs were as a horticulturist for two hydroponic greenhouse operations from 1974-1978. I was employed at a wholesale flower production greenhouse operation from 1978 to 1981 in Tome, New Mexico.

In 1981 I was employed by New Mexico Tech (NMT), a small science and engineering university in Socorro, New Mexico. I retired after 25 years as Director of Facilities Management. I occasionally go back to the university to give technical advice for various operations at facilities management. The most recent was a consultation for fertilizer chemistry related to the university greenhouse operation. I was also an adjunct faculty member for Eastern New Mexico University, teaching turf grass management and taught horticulture for theFarm community college at NMT. My wife, Marie and I currently live on the family farm in Tome', New Mexico.