The couple chose the 22nd wedding anniversary of Whitman’s parents as the date for their wedding. On August 17, 1962, Whitman and Leissner were married in a Catholic ceremony held in Leissner’s hometown of Needville, Texas. They courted for five months before announcing their engagement on July 19. Leissner was Whitman’s first serious girlfriend he briefly dated actress Deanna Dunagan just prior to beginning his relationship with her. In February 1962, 20-year-old Whitman met Kathleen Frances Leissner, an education major two years his junior. In 1962 he remarked to a fellow student, “A person could stand off an army from atop of before they got him.” Whitman earned a reputation as a practical joker in his years as an engineering student, but his friends also noted he made some morbid and chilling statements. Whitman was fined $100 ($900 in 2020) for the offense. The trio were butchering the deer in the shower at Whitman’s dormitory when they were arrested. Shortly after his enrolment at the university, Whitman and two friends were observed poaching a deer, with a passer by noting his license plate number and reporting them to the police. His hobbies included karate, scuba diving, gambling, and hunting. Perhaps because he was free of the discipline and routine he had experienced while stationed at Guantanamo Bay, plus his courtship of a fellow student, Whitman was initially a poor student whose grades were largely unimpressive. On September 15, 1961, Whitman entered the mechanical engineering program at UT Austin. He continued to receive his regular active-duty military pay while a student. Whitman earned high scores on the required examination, and the selection committee approved his enrolment at a preparatory school in Maryland, where he completed courses in mathematics and physics before being approved to transfer to the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) to study mechanical engineering later switching his focus to architectural engineering. After completing his assignment, Whitman applied to a United States Navy and Marine Corps scholarship program, intending to complete college and become a commissioned officer. He achieved 215 of 250 possible points on marksmanship tests, doing well when shooting rapidly over long distances as well as at moving targets. As Whitman travelled toward Parris Island, his father, who still had not known of Whitman’s enlistment, learned of his action and telephoned a branch of the federal government trying to have his son’s enlistment cancelled.ĭuring Whitman’s initial eighteen-month service in 19, he earned a sharpshooter’s badge and the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal. Whitman left home on July 6, having been assigned an eighteen-month tour of duty with the Marines at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Whitman told a family friend that the catalyst for his enlistment was an incident a month earlier, in which his father had beaten him and thrown him into the family swimming pool, almost drowning him, after he had returned home drunk after an evening socializing with friends. Without telling his father beforehand, Whitman enlisted in the United States Marine Corps one month after his June 1959 graduation from high school, where he had graduated seventh in a class of 72 students. By the next month, he had saved enough money from his newspaper route to purchase a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, which he used on his route. Ann’s High School in West Palm Beach, where he was regarded as a moderately popular student. On September 1, 1955, Whitman entered St. At around the same time, he began an extensive newspaper route. Whitman also became an accomplished pianist at the age of 12. He became an Eagle Scout at twelve years three months, reportedly the youngest of any Eagle Scout up to that time. His father said of him: “Charlie could plug the eye out of a squirrel by the time he was sixteen.” Whitman joined the Boy Scouts of America at age 11. He regularly took them on hunting trips, and Charles became an avid hunter and accomplished marksman. Whitman’s father was a firearms collector and enthusiast, who taught each of his young sons to shoot, clean, and maintain weapons. The Whitman brothers regularly attended Mass with their mother, and all three brothers served as altar boys at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Lake Worth. Margaret was a devout Roman Catholic who raised her sons in the same religion. Whitman’s academic achievements were encouraged by his parents, and any indication of failure or a lethargic attitude were met with discipline - often physical - from his father. He was extremely intelligent - an examination at the age of six revealed his IQ to be 139. As a boy, Whitman was described as a polite child who seldom lost his temper.
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