European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 29, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Chuck Pease grins As he holds a copy of his first lottery Check Worth $706,332.86.Pease and his lottery winning Price $24 million by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau at first Chuck Pease says winning $24 million in the Ohio state lottery did no to seem real. Then the mail brought the first of what will be 26 annual checks. For $706,332 and change. That made it real in a hurry. A i did no to fully accept the whole thing until i got that first Check a says Pease 50, who spent 13 years in Europe and was the longtime producer of the stars and stripes Volks marching Page before returning to the states in 1989. A but i have to say i still done to feel much different than i did before i won a he says a although he has quit his Job As a civil Engineer at Andrews fab my. Pease a life changed forever in october when he gave $100 to his sister to buy tickets during a trip to get medical attention for her dog at the Ohio state University school of veterinary Medicine. Head been playing the Ohio lottery since a business trip to Wright Patterson fab about a year before buying tickets through relatives in Ohio and on subsequent official trips. The Way he picked his winning numbers was amazingly simple. He played 3 and 4 for his birthday March 4 9 and 19 for his wife a birthday sept. 19 and 41 and 46, the years they were born. These Days Pease a life is consumed with planning his move to Japan in Early january to join his wife an air Force major whom he has known since 1974 but married just last february. To safeguard their privacy he declines to identify her or pinpoint where she is located. Signs of the move Are All around his Home As he begins the Job of packing everything including the abundant evidence of his two passions a More than 1,300 Volks marching medals and dozens of weighty tomes on spelunking or Cave exploring. Pease says his wife was sceptical when he showed up in Japan with news of his big win. A i had planned to go Over for a couple of weeks around thanksgiving anyway so she thought 1 had just decided to come a few weeks Early a he says. A she believe me until i showed her the notarized claim form from the lottery commission. Then she believed As for their plans for the Money Pease says he has already begun dispensing gifts to family and friends including setting up education Trust is Chuck Vlinch funds for his Niece and Nephew. He estimates hell hand out about $150,000 Over the next year. In the longer term the easy life commences when his wife leaves the military in 1994. A we want to come Back to the states buy a Large re and a Small car to Tow behind it and drive around the country maybe even take it to Europe for a few years while we try to decide where we want to buy land and build a House a he says. Besides allowing him to quit his Job so he can join his wife Pease says the Best thing about his wealth is the Freedom it brings a especially the Freedom to travel which they both love. A we can afford to Fly anywhere first class now whenever we want a he says with just a touch of wonder in his voice. A we have enough Money now to Fly to Germany just to do a couple of Volks marches if we feel like continued from Page 4 wounded veterans and All were told to sit in the Hospital waiting room for five or six hours. 1 3 Crighton said he told the staff a a a we re desert storm troops a and they were like a so what a the doctor said a there Are patients in front of you on regular i Wasny to really after 17 years of Active duty the sergeant first class was medically retired on nov. 23. With something the bureaucrats Call 70 percent disability he gets $1,372 a month tax free. He was awarded a purple heart and an army commendation medal for valor. He a lining up a Job in the prosthetics office of the department of veterans affairs in Atlanta where hell train to be a caseworker for people with artificial limbs. A the whole Section is All vets who re handicapped in one Way or another a Crighton said. A it s hard to talk to somebody about prosthetics when he a got both arms both originally from Nana Kuli Hawaii he Hopes one Day to run a a clinic on the islands. He wants to do his part to Speed up the a system. For now though Crighton his wife and their 16-year-old son Terry Joe Are preparing to move to Atlanta. He finally picked up his new artificial Arm during the second week of december and put it on to go fishing the next saturday. A it took a Little bit of ingenuity and some velcro a Crighton said but the fishing trip had been his last unfulfilled goal since returning Home. A i waited a Long Long time to dip a he loves cooking but still has t mastered the Art of a Bolding onto still the new Arm a kind of helps. I can hold things Down where before id Chase it All Over the cutting shrapnel is still imbedded in his body. A it All keeps coming out a he said. A they say ill keep doing that for the rest of my one of his a rays showed �?o50 or 60 Small pieces. One big one and the rest were like he sighed. A it All keeps memories keep surfacing too. A i done to think a Day goes by that it does no to come Back a he said of the War a How Long it la last i done to know. Its something that does no to leave you real he was watching a War movie on to during a Telephone interview this month. Japanese were getting killed in the background. He likes War movies he said. A some scenes i Sec then it comes but he added a the More you can watch it and talk about it the More comfortable you la be with the Crighton had just received a Christmas card from James Mccoy a wife and their three children who moved Back to Delaware after her husband died. This was Mccoy a second Christmas without her husband. Said Crighton a we spent last Christmas away from our families when we were Down there in saudi. I think ill give her a Call sometime today or tomorrow. She a probably feeling pretty 29, 1991 sunday a Page 5
